Why was The Great North canceled? Possible reasons explored

The Great North has officially concluded its run after five seasons. On Friday, Fox announced its decision to cancel the animated series, leaving fans disappointed. The show enjoys a dedicated following, and hence, its cancellation came as a shock to many.

Set in Alaska, the show tells the story of the Tobin family, where the father, Beef, tries to keep his children together despite their varying personalities. While he could come across as overbearing, he has unconditional love for his children and wife.

The question that now arises is why was The Great North canceled despite its following and touching theme. There are a number of possible reasons behind Fox's decision, including low viewership, increased production budgets, and the network’s focus on legacy sitcoms.

Reasons behind the cancellation of The Great North

Though The Great North enjoyed a dedicated following, its viewership dwindled over the years. While the first season averaged a million viewers, the viewership for the fifth season reached an average of half a million.

On the contrary, long-running animated shows on Fox like The Simpsons had a peak viewership of 3.31 million viewers during its 36th season. Hence, Fox seems to have shifted its focus to legacy shows and decided to axe a relatively new program.

In May this year, the network renewed all its major animated sitcoms for four additional seasons, including The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, and Family Guy. American Dad! was also announced to be returning to Fox for its 25th season after spending years on TBS. But The Great North was left out of the deal, which hinted at the network’s changed vision for animated shows.

Cost could have also played a role in the show’s cancellation. The series features the voices of industry veterans like Nick Offerman and Will Forte, and their contract renewals lead to increased production costs. When the budget of a show becomes so high that the ratings fail to justify it, the series is often canceled, and the same could have been the case with The Great North.

And while the viewers got to know about the show’s fate recently, series creators seem to have known Fox’s decision for a long time. That is probably why the Season 5 finale, which aired on September 14, 2025, featured a credit roll that displayed some highlights of the previous seasons.

Meanwhile, the song Thank U played in the background, which signals that the team was aware that the Season 5 finale would be serving as the series finale. Hence, the show has been canceled due to multiple reasons, but it is going to be remembered by its fans for its heartwarming storyline and stellar performances.

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Created by Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin, Wendy Molyneux, and Minty Lewis, the series features the voices of Nick Offerman as Beef Tenderloin Tobin, Will Forte as Wolf Tobin, Jenny Slate as Judy Tobin, Paul Rust as Ham Tobin, Aparna Nancherla as Moon Tobin, and Dulcé Sloan as Honeybee Shaw-Tobin.

All seasons of The Great North are streaming on Hulu.

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