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Let’s talk about the absolute heartbreaker that was 2024 for TV fans. You know that feeling when you’re completely invested in a show, planning your week around new episodes, and then boom – cancellation news hits your social media feed? Yeah, that happened way too many times this year.

Holt McCallany and Jonathan Groff in a still from Mindhunter (Canceled – August 2019) | Credits: Netflix

Networks and streaming platforms have been wielding those cancellation notices like they’re going out of style. From swashbuckling comedies to mind-bending sci-fi adventures, some seriously amazing shows got the axe way too soon.

Let’s dive into the 15 cancellations that hit us the hardest. Grab your comfort snacks – you might need them for this one.

1. Our Flag Means Death (Max)

Remember when we thought pirates were just about treasure maps and sword fights? Well, Our Flag Means Death sailed in and completely changed the game. Like,...

Stanley Tucci recently told Entertainment Tonight that he would never play his role in “The Lovely Bones” again. The actor starred as the serial killer George Harvey in Peter Jackson’s divisive adaptation of Alice Sebold’s 2002 novel. Tucci earned an Oscar nomination in the supporting actor category for his performance, but ironically it was a role he tried to get out of before filming started.

“I would not play George Harvey again in ‘The Lovely Bones,’ which was horrible,” Tucci said. “It’s a wonderful movie, but it was a tough experience. Simply because of the role.”

“I asked Peter Jackson why he cast me in that role,” Tucci continued. “I tried to get out of playing the role, which is crazy because I needed a job. But I was like, ‘Why do you want me?’ And he said, ‘Because you’re funny.’ And I thought, ‘Okay.’ But I understand what he was saying.

Stanley Tucci earned his first Oscar nomination playing serial killer George Harvey in The Lovely Bones but it’s a role he would never want to revisit.

“I would not play George Harvey again in ‘The Lovely Bones,’ which was horrible,” Tucci told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s a wonderful movie, but it was a tough experience. Simply because of the role.”

Tucci said that he asked director Peter Jackson why he had cast him in the supernatural thriller based on the book by Alice Sebold.

“I tried to get out of playing the role, which is crazy because I needed a job,” he added. “But I was like, ‘Why do you want me?’ And he said, ‘Because you’re funny.’ And I thought, ‘Ok.’ But I understand what he was saying.”

He continued, “I think what he meant was that I wouldn’t be too — not that I wouldn’t be serious about it,...

With an array of roles on his acting résumé, Stanley Tucci admits there is one he would never want to revisit.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight published Wednesday, Tucci was asked which of his iconic roles he would never play again.

“I would not play George Harvey again in The Lovely Bones, which was horrible,” Tucci said. “It’s a wonderful movie, but it was a tough experience. Simply because of the role.”

The film, based on the 2002 book of the same name by Alice Sebold, centers on a young girl who is murdered, as she watches her family and friends struggle to move on. Tucci portrayed the serial killer who murdered the young girl along with others.

Tucci admits he had reservations about taking on the role of the murderer and questioned why director Peter Jackson chose him for the part.

“I asked Peter Jackson why he cast me in that role.

Now that we’ve all become quarantine bakers, Netflix is giving us the content we crave: Season 11 of The Great British Baking Show will premiere here in the U.S. on Friday, Sept. 25. New episodes will then debut on the streamer every Friday, just three days after they air in the UK.

Comedian Matt Lucas (Bridesmaids) joins the program in Season 11 as co-host, succeeding former presenter Sandi Toksvig. He’ll be joined by returning co-host Noel Fielding and judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.

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David Hyde Pierce has joined HBO Max and Lionsgate’s Julia Child pilot, taking over for Tom Hollander as the legendary chef’s husband, Paul Child, the streamer announced Tuesday.

Ordered to pilot back in March, the hourlong series from is described as an exploration into “an evolving time in American history – the emergence of a new social institution called public television, feminism and the women’s movement, the nature of celebrity, and America’s cultural growth” through the lens of Child’s life “and her singular can-do spirit.”

“At its heart, the show is a portrait of a marriage with an evolving and complicated power dynamic,” according to the series description.

“Happy Valley” star Sarah Lancashire is set to star as Child, with “Bird Box” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” actor Tom Hollander initially cast as Child’s “loving and devoted” husband, Paul. Additional cast members include Jefferson Mays (“I Am the Night...

David Hyde Pierce is set to star opposite Sarah Lancashire in Julia, HBO Max’s drama pilot about the famous chef, trailblazing cookbook author and TV personality, from Chris Keyser and Lionsgate Television. Pierce is joining the project in a recasting. He replaces Tom Hollander, who originally had been tapped for the role of Paul Child, Julia’s loving and devoted husband, but has exited the project.

Julia originally was cast at the beginning of the year and was about to go into production when the coronavirus pandemic shut down filming in mid-March. According to sources, the scheduling change as well as Covid travel-related circumstances led to Hollander’s decision to pull out. The English actor is based in the UK, while Julia will film in the U.S., likely in Boston. The pilot doesn’t have a production start date yet. While Hollander has opted not to travel to the U.

HBO Max’s Julia Child pilot has been forced to replace one of its key ingredients.

David Hyde Pierce, best known for playing Dr. Niles Crane on “Frasier,” has joined the cast as Julia’s devoted husband Paul Child. The role was initially meant to be played by British actor Tom Hollander, however, he stepped away from the project due to scheduling conflicts, sources say.

Julia herself will still be played fellow Brit Sarah Lancashire.

The pilot will also star Brittany Bradford as Alice, Associate Producer of the show “I’ve Been Reading” who champions Julia after her appearance; Fran Kranz as Russ, producer on the show “I’ve Been Reading” who begrudgingly joins Julia’s cooking show; Fiona Glascott as Judith, the editor with a knack for pulling manuscripts out of the reject pile and turning them into bestsellers; Bebe Neuwirth as Avis, Julia’s biggest champion, confidant and...

There were two films this year that could have snagged Stanley Tucci an Oscar nomination, but it was his portrayal of George Harvey, in The Lovely Bones, not Paul Child, in Julie & Julia, that got him his first Academy nod. As the neighbor who rapes and murders Susie Salmon, Tucci could have been a monster, but, instead, he's subtly unsettling, with his obsessive and recessive ways, building dollhouses...

We've spent the better (hotter?) portion of the summer reviving our fascination with the concept of the Ultimate Hotties of the Year -- in subcategories like Comedy, Action/Thriller, Crime-Fighting, Geek, and Vampires (apparently they're popular). In 2007, readers voted Angelina Jolie and Wentworth Miller as prom king and queen; this year, Robert Pattinson led your Top 25. And since favoritism can be limiting, here are the 25 hotties you can't believe we missed. Now that '09's long, strange trip is over, some EW staffers decided -- in the spirit of "why the heck not?" -- to create our own lists of Things That Are Hot. Slezak and Mandi followed the rules and chose broadly but from within the parameters of the past year, while Dalton and Josh went the esoteric route of just naming random people and/or characters they've at one point found intriguing. Hey, whatever. They go around the...