Every Show Netflix Canceled In 2018

When you’re a streaming giant like Netflix, you make a lot of TV shows. Of course, when you make a bunch, that means you are eventually going to have to cancel some to make room for the new ones. For Netflix in 2018, that meant 14 different shows went down swinging.

Of course, there’s the higher profile cancellations, like a number of the series Netflix made with Marvel. Beyond those, though, there’s a surprising number of shows you might have missed along the way that were canceled after a single season. What’s more, there are some heavy hitters that became breakout hits on the streaming service and sadly had to say goodbye this year.

So as we look forward to 2019 and what will surely be hundreds of new TV shows and original movies from Netflix, let’s take a moment to reflect on the series, good and bad, that we’re saying goodbye to. Whether it’s a show like Lady Dynamite or the carbon copy of The Soup that Netflix called The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale, pay your respects to the shows we list.

This is Netflix, though. They’ll never really be lost. Instead, they’ll be buried somewhere in the algorithm for you to find again one day and relive the glory.

Fortnite Rings In New Year With Fireworks

Fortnite appears to be ringing in the new year for anyone who happens to be in the game when the ball drops. A video captured from a streamer in New Zealand–where 2019 came earlier than many other territories–shows the festivities as they occurred, and we’re likely to see the same across other time zones as well.

Streamer Rocky posted the video, which includes a giant spinning disco ball, some fireworks, and “2019” appearing in its own fireworks in the sky. You can actually hear the participants realize what’s happening as the video goes on, and one remarks that it’s “3 AM.” So the event is location-based, but it may or may not happen at exactly midnight for you.

Fortnite has become known for hosting special in-world events that can only be witnessed if you happen to be in the game at the exact time it all goes down. Usually these are reserved for big events during seasonal transitions or when building the meta-story about what will happen next. For weeks Kevin the cube slowly lumbered toward Loot Lake, for example, but only players in-game when it touched down got to see it flop over the edge and melt.

Currently Fortnite is in Season 7, offering a bevy of new cosmetics for those who complete the Battle Pass. You can check out our challenge guide for tips on how to complete the various tasks and earn your stars. Meanwhile, Epic is fending off legal challenges from the most unexpected of places: various celebrities and viral video stars suing over the use of their dances.

Two Of January’s Xbox One Games With Gold Are Now Available

Xbox Live Gold subscribers can now get their first free games of 2019. That’s because two of January’s Games with Gold are now available on Xbox Live. Better yet, the games in question were well-received–which isn’t always the case for these freebies–so you’ll probably want to give them a shot if you haven’t tried them yet.

The Xbox One game is Celeste, a side-scrolling platformer about a young woman trying to make her way to the top of a mountain. The many obstacles in your way are challenging to overcome, but thanks to a forgiving checkpoint system, you never lose too much progress when you die. In our Celeste review, Oscar Dayus wrote, “Parts of Celeste are challenging to play–in both its gameplay difficulty and its subject matter–but it is a memorable experience worth seeing through.” Celeste is free throughout the whole month of January.

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The new year’s first free Xbox 360 game (also playable on Xbox One via backwards compatibility) is Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. This isometric action game from 2010 has you and an optional co-op partner solve environmental puzzles and defeat enemies in the Mayan jungle. It’s free to download until January 15.

One of December’s Games with Gold, the Xbox One puzzle/platformer Never Alone, is also still available for free until January 15. Then, starting January 16, you’ll be able to grab the Xbox One racing game WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship and the Xbox 360 open-world shooter Far Cry 2.

Games With Gold January 2019

Xbox One

Xbox 360

The Best Xbox One Games of 2018 By Score

Onrush

Onrush

When it comes to crumpling metal and high speed thrills, not all of Onrush’s game modes are on equal footing in terms of consistent excitement. Yet its foundations are so strong, and so unique, that it’s easy to lose hours upon hours barreling around these disparate tracks. The question of longevity will, of course, depend on post-release support, with new classes, game modes, and tracks potentially on the horizon. Considering you need 12 players to fill a full room, it would be a shame if Onrush doesn’t find the kind of audience that will give it the lifespan it deserves. Part of this will depend on how Codemasters iterates on the game from here on out, but they’ve shown a proficiency in knowing how arcade racing games click, and Onrush is such a bold, refreshing twist on the genre that there should be little hesitation in putting your faith in them to succeed. — Richard Wakeling [Full Review]

16 Biggest Box Office Flops of 2018

With 2018 winding down, it’s time to start reflecting on the year that was, including the winners… and today’s focus, the losers at the box office. First, though, let’s set a few ground rules.

First off, the movies on this list have all opened in wide release, at least over 1,000 theaters nationwide, so while Gotti ($4.3 million worldwide, $10 million budget) would certainly be considered a bomb, it also only opened in 503 theaters. While it’s numbers are dismal, a movie like Gotti doesn’t have a wide enough release to have the potential to make blockbuster numbers anyway, so it doesn’t really make much sense to include a movie like Gotti here, as far as I’m concerned.

I’m also not including movies that technically ‘made money,’ even though I’m fully aware that movie math isn’t quite the same as traditional math. In the eyes of many, Solo: A Star Wars Story ($213.8 million domestic, $392.9 million worldwide, rumored $300 million budget) could be considered a “bomb,” especially since it’s the lowest-grossing movie in Star Wars history…even though it’s still the ninth highest-grossing movie domestically this year. The “budget” doesn’t include publicity and advertising, which Variety reported last year can cost anywhere between $20 million and $150 million for each movie, but isn’t a commonly reported figure. The production budget also doesn’t include first-dollar gross points paid out to actors, directors, producers and writers and a myriad of other costs, and the most common metric is that a movie needs to at least double its production budget to truly break even.

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Netflix’s New True Crime Series Will Haunt You

Note: this is a spoiler-free review of The Innocent Man, which debuts on Netflix on Friday, December 14.

True crime fanatics who happen to have a Netflix subscription are never starved for options. Making a Murderer Season 1 really opened the floodgates and established Netflix as a force to be reckoned with in the true crime area. But for those hoping to scratch that very specific Making a Murderer itch, even Season 2 was found wanting in some respects. There just haven’t been enough new developments with that particular case to warrant a whole new season. With that in mind, The Innocent Man may be the more satisfying follow-up to Making a Murderer. Just don’t expect a series that breaks any new ground with the genre.

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