The Great Cancelled at Hulu After 3 Seasons
Not-great news for fans of The Great: The historical satire has been cancelled at Hulu after three seasons, TVLine has confirmed.
The axing comes just over three months after The Great‘s third season dropped on May 12. The series was loosely based on Catherine the Great’s real-life rise to power in Russia; Elle Fanning starred as a young version of Catherine, with Nicholas Hoult co-starring as Peter III.
During Season 3 — spoiler alert for those who have yet to catch up! — Peter was killed off when he and his horse fell through thin ice, never to be seen again.
“[Showrunner Tony McNamara] had prepared me for when he was going to die, and so I wasn’t shocked by how,” Hoult told TVLine at the time. “I think it summed up Tony’s writing perfectly that the last words that Peter says [in an argument with Catherine were], ‘Actually, I…,’ and you’re not quite sure what that could have been or what he was thinking and where things would have gone had that not taken place. So it was emotional to read and emotional to film and tough to say goodbye to the character, but beautifully done.”
Across its three-season run, The Great collected seven Primetime Emmy nominations, including acting nods for Fanning and Hoult. It ultimately picked up the 2022 trophy for Outstanding Period Costumes.
Our sister site Deadline was first to report The Great‘s cancellation, which has been added to our Streaming Renewal Scorecard. How are you feeling about the news?
You may also like
It just wasn’t the same without Nicholas Hoult but still… Nooooooo!!!
Yeah, I’m not suprised. The spark of the show was really the interactions between the two of them. They should have just thrown the history book COMPLETELY out the window and let him live, just deposed. I mean they already threw it 80% out the window . . .
I was really excited to see where the show would go with just Catherine so this is pretty upsetting.
Why? Funny, smart and award winning … What the heck? Sometimes these choices seem unbelievable random .. or perhaps something more going on that we don’t know about.
Why? Because it’s an expensive show and the viewership didn’t justify it.
And Elle Fanning was never going to be up for the more lurid aspects of Catherine’s story. It was going to be boring political stuff, and racy sexytimes, and I feel like EF wanted to dial back the nudity she was required to do.
.
This show reached a solid conclusion. It was successful for all parties.
I loved this show. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn’t have been as good without Peter.
The chemistry between Elle & Nicholas was so good!
I feel like the lack of major Emmy nominations (just costumes) for season 3 was a factor.
More streaming shows being cancelled after a couple of seasons, what else is new. Hard to build an audience when people think shows will be taken away without an ending.
Exactly.
The Great was a wonderful show (earning five Huzzah’s). Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning and the entire cast were terrific. Writing was brilliant. Thanks to all.involved.
Whatever the opposite of “Huzzah” is, that’s how I feel right now.
My exact feeling!
This deserved more seasons. This latest cancelation unfortunately demonstrates how movies & TV shows have become instantly disposable in the “grand” age of streaming. It’s disgraceful.
Hoult will never get enough credit for this role, he was the great…I’m sad its cancelled but I also have to wonder if the pitch for a post peter season was just not strong enough …I will miss it, it was a lot of fun.
Darn. I loved this show. It was so funny. One of the few shows that I can remember in ages that actually made me laugh out loud. Sadly I don’t think i have any real comedies left to watch with this one gone.
Would have kept watching if they made more. But glad it at least felt like an ending. Huzzah for the years we shared.
I agree! I love the show and wish it was continuing BUT that last scene with Elle dancing did feel like a ending… and without Peter, where was the fun going to be. I’ll miss it but sometimes it’s better to go out on a high note!
Hate this news. One of my favorite indulgence shows to watch. Love the performances of the lead actors. I hope another network to puck the show up.
They couldn’t give them a short forth and final season? Probably not worth it because of the strike delays.
Noooooo!! I’ve just been finally watching this summer and have been loving it! Still have 6 episodes to go, and I was already lamenting being caught up let alone done complately… *sigh* and whatever the opposite of Huzzah is
Great show…..really hate to see it end.
Honestly, the season 3 finale felt very much like a series finale. I assumed it was planned that it was the last season.
Loved this show the actors were all excellent
The storyline was really stupid. It really won’t be missed!
The Great is one of the greats along with Arrested Development and Break Bad. The characters were so engaging and the writing was amazing. I will continue to watch anything that Hoult or Fanning appear in and anything else Tony McNamara and team writes.
Oh NO…! They had already introduced the concept of seeing ghosts…I assumed we’d see some of our dearly departed friends with the introduction of such, considering Peter III had to go sooner or later.
It was just getting juicy, for Catherine’s reign alone, I thought that was the POINT. I was actually surprised that Peter III lasted this long, truth be told.
Talk about a terrible disappointment. I hardly watch anything anymore because we GOT THE MESSAGE, it’s only been hammered into our faces for nearly 10y. This was the ONLY show where inaccuracy of races was acceptable. (Or maybe Elle & Nicholas & Phoebe made it worthwhile, along with the Aunt whose RL name escapes me.)
What a colossal bummer.