"We'll See Who's Done": How Timothy Olyphant Bet Against Netflix To Try To Save His Show

When Timothy Olyphant's Netflix series, Santa Clarita Diet, was in danger of cancellation, the actor wouldn't let it go without a fight. Though Olyphant's movie and TV credits are dominated by Westerns, such as Deadwood and Justified, Santa Clarita Diet stands out as a quirky comedic gem in his filmography.

Olyphant and Drew Barrymore headline Santa Clarita Diet as married realtor couple, Joel and Sheila Hammond. Their suburban existence is happy, albeit a bit bland — that is, until Sheila eats a contaminated clam and turns into a zombie with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. Joel and Sheila spend three seasons trying to adjust to their new normal before Netflix brought the hammer down on Santa Clarita Diet — much to Olyphant's chagrin.

Santa Clarita Diets Producers Wrote A Cliffhanger After Netflix Canceled The Show

As the world's biggest streaming platform, Netflix is no stranger to canceling its own shows, forcing many fan-favorite series to end on unresolved cliffhangers. However, in the case of Santa Clarita Diet, the streamer reportedly gave producers a heads-up that the show would be ending after season 3.

This didn't sit well with Timothy Olyphant, who served as an executive producer for Santa Clarita Diet alongside Drew Barrymore. Upon receiving the news, the producers made the risky decision to try to force Netflix's hand into greenlighting more seasons by writing a cliffhanger ending for Santa Clarita Diet season 3. Olyphant recounted the ultimately failed attempt to Vanity Fair:

When Netflix said, 'Hey, I think this will be it. Season 3, you guys are done,' we said, 'Oh yeah? We're gonna write a cliffhanger, and then we'll see who's done.' Turns out we're done. They were like, 'Yeah, go ahead. You guys wanna go out on a cliffhanger? Go out on a cliffhanger. We're Netflix, we got something else coming out the very minute this thing ends. In fact, we've got many things coming out from countries all over the world. So you guys write your little show, and thank you very much.'

Sadly, Olyphant is right — Netflix operates on such a massive global platform and produces so much content that no single show is precious or necessary to the streamer, no matter how good it is. But, even though a cliffhanger ending is always frustrating for a TV audience, at least, in a way, Santa Clarita Diet went out on its own terms.

Why Netflix Canceled Santa Clarita Diet

Typically, when a series gets canceled, it's due to at least one of two major factors — viewership or money. Since Netflix doesn't release all of its viewership data, the reason for Santa Clarita Diet's season 3 cancellation is likely budgetary.

According to a 2019 report from Deadline, Netflix funds its original content on a "costs-plus" model, meaning the streamer pays for all production costs upfront, plus a 30%+ premium. As seasons progress, bonuses get bigger and bigger, particularly when a show hits its fourth season.

This explains why so many Netflix shows are canceled early; unless they're a massive franchise like Stranger Things or Bridgerton, to put it harshly, they're simply not worth their keep. Sadly, despite its talented stars, their unmatched chemistry, and the overall horror-comedy hilarity of Santa Clarita Diet, it fell into this category.

Santa Clarita Diet Is One Of Timothy Olyphant's Best Shows

Timothy Olyphant is one of Western TV's greatest actors, but he is just as skilled at tickling an audience's funny bone as he is at slinging a gun. In his pre-Santa Clarita Diet TV career, Olyphant had a few comedic roles in shows like Sex and the City, My Name Is Earl, and The Office, but these were all in a guest-starring capacity.

As one of the two main stars of Santa Clarita Diet, Olyphant absolutely shone. He was hilarious and lovable as the hapless straightman foil to Barrymore's unhinged zombie, never falling into the doofus husband stereotype that has cheapened myriad sitcoms. Even when Joel is in over his head — which is most of the time — Olyphant plays him with a winning combination of dignity and earnestness that makes it impossible not to root for him.

Olyphant's TV career looks to continue its flourishing trajectory in 2026, as the actor will be starring in two television adaptations of popular books — Lucky on Apple TV and The Five-Star Weekend on Peacock. Though these series will undoubtedly be worth watching, based on Olyphant's sheer presence alone, it remains to be seen whether they can beat Santa Clarita Diet, one of the actor's absolute best shows.