Why was Fantasy Island canceled on FOX?

Fantasy Island is one of the series that didn’t survive the 2022-2023 television season as its recently been cancelled by FOX. The reboot, which debuted in 2021, served as an updated iteration of the beloved series that ran from 1977-1984.

Considering its short-lived status, despite being a program with a devoted fanbase, what led to the show’s cancellation? Here’s what we know!

Why was Fantasy Island canceled?

Based on TVLine’s reporting, the cancellation looks to be due to low viewership. Season 2 averaged 2.8 million total viewers and a 0.3 demo rating, these numbers are based on Live+7 ratings meaning it’s a combination of on the night viewership and delayed viewing across seven days. As such Fantasy Island ranked last among CBS’ eight dramas and tied the short-lived 2022 series Monarch for last in the demo.

This is disappointing news for fans, of course, especially given the amount of changes that’d been made to the show’s schedule during its run. Its first season premiered in August 2021, but its second season didn’t get a summer release date. Rather it was moved to the midseason schedule on FOX. It didn’t help matters that during its season 2, Fantasy Island was often preempted which led to confusion on when new episodes would make their debut and when the show would once again be delayed due to a special event airing on the network.

Given the amount of times that the show dealt with preemptions, it’s understandable that viewers struggled to keep up with season 2. Unfortunately, however, this meant a low audience rate. Fantasy Island is the third FOX series canceled this year. The Resident and Call Me Kat also won’t be returning for the 2023-2024 television.

For more information on which shows have been canceled and renewed on the Big 5 networks click through to the next page.

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