Why was Magnum PI canceled at NBC? Three reasons

You may have heard the news at this point, and we are still reeling: There is no Magnum PI season 6 coming to NBC. The decision was just made, per Deadline, to conclude the show with season 5. This is in spite of the cast and crew expressing optimism for more, plus also there even being some tentative production plans for another chapter.

So how did we get here? We do think that at one point, there were serious considerations for another chapter of the Jay Hernandez series; unfortunately, it seems to be the combination of a number of bad things all at once.

1. Streaming – This is probably the factor that we underestimated the most. NBC was able to put season 5 on their Peacock streaming service, but have been unable to secure the first four seasons, where originally aired on CBS. This made the streaming economics not as profitable as they would otherwise be. The show performed well enough in live TV airings and also repeats, but those were only a partial piece of the puzzle.

2. Labor strikes – The writers’ strike probably would not be as much of a primary factor were it not for the also looming challenge of an actors’ strike, as well as the fact that NBC already has ten episodes for season 5 for the 2023-24 season. They were in a situation where basically, they don’t theoretically have to start banking season 6 episodes early. However, greenlighting more episodes in an economic climate like this is a challenge, and if you wanted to wait on a renewal until the writers and possible actors’ strikes are over, you would need to extend the cast. That creates even more economic uncertainty.

(This whole strike situation is insanely frustrating; the writers’ requests this whole time have been nothing short of reasonable.)

3. Just bad luck – Think about what we just said. There were multiple unusual and difficult challenges that the show was confronted with and they were just too much to overcome. We honestly don’t believe that this has to do with NBC disliking the show, or even a lack of promotion. (There was a pretty good campaign.) Everything just came together at a bad time and for now, this network is clearly opting to a very conservative approach.

Related – Read more about NBC’s decision to end the show now

Are you still shocked and devastated that Magnum PI season 5 is the final one at NBC?

Share right now in the comments, and we will have more news once there is more to share.

(Photo: NBC.)