Netflix's 6-Part Neo-Western Is So Good, It Got Renewed For 3 More Seasons After Being Canceled

One of Netflix’s best Neo-Western cop shows was canceled after only three seasons, but the streaming service was smart enough to give the acclaimed series another three outings. Netflix has a bad reputation for canceling shows in their prime, and short-lived critical hits like I Am Not Okay With This, The Get Down, Sense8, and the early Sydney Sweeney vehicle Everything Sucks prove that this reputation isn’t entirely unwarranted.

That said, the streaming service deserves credit for also renewing shows that other outlets didn’t believe in. Much like Prime Video picked up The Expanse when SyFy canceled the critically adored space opera after only three seasons, Netflix has been known to keep acclaimed shows alive when their original creators decide to give them the axe prematurely. This was the case with one iconic Neo-Western cop show, which is now one of the streaming service’s best entries into the genre.

Shortly after the success of the Elmore Leonard adaptation/Timothy Olyphant starring vehicle Justified arrived on screens, the A&E series Longmire recognized that this Neo-Western trend could become something big. Based on author Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire Mysteries series of novels, Longmire focuses on Robert Taylor’s titular sheriff, Walt Longmire. In the fictional Absaroka County, Wyoming, Longmire balances his friendship with Lou Diamond Phillips’ Cheyenne tribe member Henry Standing Bear and his difficult relationship with his adult daughter Cady with his professional duties.

After Olpyhant’s successful but brutal HBO Western Deadwood ended, the genre went inactive for a few years on the small screen. However, the success of Breaking Bad resulted in a string of Neo-Western crime dramas like Justified, Longmire, and Ozark, eventually spawning both Dark Winds and the entire sprawling Taylor Sheridan televisual universe. Longmire’s first season was A&E’s highest-rated original drama, but this didn’t stop the network from axing the show after only three seasons in 2014.

While the critical acclaim of Longmire should have saved the series alone, its abrupt cancellation was made even more inscrutable by its ratings popularity. Season 1 earned an average viewership of 4.15 million, while season 3 maintained an average audience of 3.86 million, a superb performance that proved the series more than deserved to remain on the air for at least another season.

Luckily, A&E’s loss was Netflix’s gain, and Longmire lasted another three acclaimed seasons on the streaming service from 2015 to 2017. Netflix’s next hit Western wouldn’t arrive until 2025 with the small-town romance Ransom Canyon, but between Longmire and Dark Winds, the streaming service helped popularize two of the emerging genre’s greatest cop shows.

Longmire Remains One Of Netflix's Best "Saved Shows”

While the iconic sitcom Arrested Development will likely always be the most iconic series saved from cancellation by Netflix, it is far from the only notable instance of the streamer stepping in to ensure the survival of a struggling but acclaimed series. Lifetime’s You is now synonymous with Netflix since the streaming service took over its five-season run.

Meanwhile, Lucifer became a global hit after Fox canceled the show and Netflix picked it up. Of course, no look back on the shows saved by Netflix would be complete without a mention of the iconic teen drama/martial arts show Cobra Kai, which started life on YouTube Red before migrating to Netflix after a few seasons.

The Karate Kid spinoff originally seemed like a goofy throwback to the nostalgic ‘80s series, but gradually went on to become one of the most poignant, complex, and inventive martial arts shows ever, and a great character study to boot. Like Longmire, this series might never have reached its full potential if it weren't for Netflix.