Disney+ pulls the plug on American Born Chinese after just one season

2024 might have only just begun, but Disney+ is showing no mercy. Just days into the new year, Disney+ has announced it will not be moving forward with a second season of its fantasy series American Born Chinese, canceling the series after just one season.

The news of the show's cancellation comes over seven months after the release of the show's first season on May 24, 2023. According to Deadline, the timing also aligns with the expiration of the cast's contracts which is likely why Disney+ held off on making the announcement today rather than cancelling the show before the cast options had expired.

While it's definitely a disappointing announcement for fans of the Michelle Yeoh-led series, the news isn't exactly surprising. American Born Chinese received rave reviews from critics and fans; however, the show failed to perform well in the ratings, never managing to crack the Nielsen Top 10 streaming ranking which is never a good sign for a new streaming original. It also doesn't help that Disney+ has a tendency of canceling its original series after just a few seasons with High School Musical: The Musical: The Series being the sole Disney Branded Disney+ show to run for more than two seasons.

American Born Chinese has been canceled, but it's being shopped around

Although Disney+ has decided not to bring American Born Chinese back for a second season, the studio behind the series is not ready to give up on the show just yet!

According to reports, 20th Television is planning on shopping the show around to other networks in hopes of finding it a home and continuing the show's stories. That's right, 20th Television is going to try to save the show by finding it a new home.

It's unclear who 20th Television might try shopping American Born Chinese to but we imagine the studio will likely be pitching it to streaming services. What will be interesting is to see whether the studio will be successful in saving the show or if their efforts will prove fruitless. What definitely should help the show is it's all-star level cast led by Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh.