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If there’s anything we’ve learned from the past seven seasons of The Good Doctor, it’s to never lose hope. With its series finale officially here, it’s understandable why fans want to know whether The Good Doctor is really ending for good or if the series could be saved from cancellation S.W.A.T., 9-1-1, and other primetime shows that found a second life.
Is The Good Doctor ending for good?
Unfortunately, The Good Doctor is ending for good and wasn’t renewed by another network after ABC’s cancellation. However, there was a petition to save the show. After ABC’s announcement that The Good Doctor in January 2024 would end after its seventh and final season, fans started a petition on Change.org to save the series. At the time of The Good Doctor‘s series finale, the petition had more than 2,000 signatures. “Calling all fans of The Good Doctor! We need to let ABC Network know that we are going to fight for our show. Let’s make them hear our voices. It’s not time to say goodbye to our beautiful show and amazing cast,” the petition’s description read.
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It continued, “I believe that even if there is a 1% chance of success it is worth fighting for our show rather than accept that there is no hope. We need to let the cast and crew know that we want The Good Doctor to continue after Season 7.”
Though The Good Doctor is ending for good, it’s understandable why fans hope the show could be saved. In May 2023, CBS announced that its police drama, S.W.A.T., had been canceled after six seasons. After backlash from fans and the cast and crew, CBS uncanceled S.W.A.T. and renewed it for a seventh and final season days later. CBS uncanceled S.W.A.T. again and renewed for an eighth season in April 2024 following the series’ high Netflix viewership over the summer of 2023.
Another recent example of a show that had been saved from cancellation is 9-1-1, which was canceled by FOX in May 2023 after six seasons before it was shopped around and saved by ABC. While The Good Doctor may not have been saved immediately, there’s always hope that it could be rebooted in the future. American Idol, which was canceled by FOX after 15 seasons in 2016, was rebooted by ABC in 2018. Suits was canceled by USA Network after nine seasons in 2019. Four years later, news broke that a reboot of the show, titled Suits: L.A., was in the works at NBC after the success of the original show on Netflix.
The Good Doctor has also attempted a spinoff once before. The Good Lawyer, starring Felicity Huffman and Kennedy McMann, aired as a backdoor pilot to The Good Doctor in the spring of 2023. It was well-received by ABC’s executives, with praise for McMann and Huffman’s performances, according to Deadline.
However, news broke in November 2023 that the spinoff would not be moving forward as a series. According to Deadline, the canceled spinoff was due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes and Writer’s Guild of America strikes, which delayed the odds for the series to get picked up as ABC filled its schedule with other returning scripted series.
Why was The Good Doctor canceled?
ABC announced in January 2024 that The Good Doctor had been canceled and would end after its seventh and final season. “Playing Dr. Shaun Murphy has been an immense privilege and one of the most remarkable and rewarding experiences of my life,” star Freddie Highmore, who played Dr. Shaun Murphy, said in a statement to Variety at the time. “I will always be grateful to David, Liz, and Erin as well as the hugely talented – and lovely – cast, writers, and crew who made this show possible. Caring deeply is what got us here. Thank you to Sony and ABC, and to everyone who has watched along at home. With love from Vancouver… tequila, stat!”
According to a report by Deadline at the time, The Good Doctor – as well as other series like Young Sheldon, Station 19, and SEAL Team – were all canceled after their seventh seasons in January 2024 due to declining viewership and increased financial pressure in the linear TV business. “A lot of it comes down to budgets for most series,” a source told the magazine at the time about the string of cancellations.
