The Real Reason Behind the New Amsterdam Cancellation: Declining Ratings and the Future Spinoff
- 14 oct
- 5 Min. de lectura
Great medical dramas often share common characteristics: they are typically emotional, inspirational, and present characters facing significant professional and personal challenges. New Amsterdam, the NBC drama based on Eric Manheimer's book Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital, certainly fit this mold. Starring Ryan Eggold as Dr. Max Goodwin, the show centered on a medical examiner at a struggling New York hospital determined to "shake things up" from the inside. Dr. Goodwin famously fought the bureaucracy of the healthcare system, always prioritizing patients—even if it meant facing opposition from his higher-ups when eliminating waiting rooms or upgrading hospital food. Supported by a dedicated staff who also believed in doing the right thing, the series resonated with audiences for five seasons.
Despite its initial success, however, the show’s journey concluded, leading to the New Amsterdam cancellation. While the series wrapped its story in a satisfying manner, the cancellation announcement, particularly the stated reasons—including significantly declining ratings and production impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic—surprised fans and even the show’s creators. Although the show could point to moderate success, it was clear that the "writing was arguably on the wall" due to the significant dip in viewership.
The Core Conflict and Initial Success of New Amsterdam
The core appeal of New Amsterdam lay in its protagonist’s idealistic mission. David Schulner, who created the show, brought to life the character of Dr. Max Goodwin, who was fed up with institutional inertia and dedicated to ensuring patients truly came first. The show stood out for its commitment to tackling these systemic issues.
When the series premiered, it was a considerable hit for NBC. For comparison’s sake, the first season averaged over 10 million viewers. This high performance established the series early on as a major player in the television landscape. However, the medical drama genre is highly competitive, and some critics noted that New Amsterdam didn't necessarily "break any new ground," sometimes seeming like a "patchwork" of similar shows like ER and Grey's Anatomy. Nevertheless, it was a drama that enjoyed "five pretty successful seasons" on the air.
The Downward Trend: Decoding Declining Ratings
The single most determinative factor cited in the New Amsterdam cancellation was the steady erosion of its viewership. While the show started strong, averaging above 10 million viewers in Season 1, the audience dropped consistently as the series progressed.
By the time the final installment aired, the average viewership had fallen to just over five million. While those final viewing numbers weren’t necessarily considered "bad by any means," a pattern of consistently declining ratings is typically sufficient grounds for TV executives to discontinue a show and reallocate network resources elsewhere. Furthermore, the show was reportedly performing below the expected standard set by other NBC series airing concurrently. This financial and strategic calculation led to the show being canceled alongside several other series in 2022.
External Pressures: Pandemic and Competition
Beyond internal viewership decline, external factors also contributed to the decision to end the drama. The cancellation of the proposed Season 6 was explicitly attributed not only to the declining ratings but also to the significant impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the production of the show.
In addition to these logistical hurdles, the show had to contend with its competitive position. While New Amsterdam offered emotional and inspirational storytelling, its status as a highly successful network show was undermined by its performance relative to its peers. The combination of network underperformance and production challenges created an environment where cancellation became a pragmatic business decision.
Surprise, Grief, and the Remaining Stories
Despite the clear financial rationale based on the numbers, the New Amsterdam cancellation still came as a surprise to certain viewers and, notably, members of the production team.
Executive producer Peter Horton voiced strong feelings that the show ended prematurely, believing New Amsterdam "still had plenty of gas left in the tank". In 2023, he told Deadline that he felt the series "could have, should have run for another couple years". Horton lamented that the show had "so many stories to tell" and praised the "raft of amazing characters" created by David Schulner, expressing a desire to explore them further. He concluded that he didn't believe the audience was "ready for it to end, either".
Streaming Popularity vs. Network Reality
Horton pointed to evidence suggesting strong audience engagement, even after the initial decline in live network viewership. At the time of his 2023 interview, the series occupied the third spot on Netflix, indicating that the medical drama was successfully finding a "wider audience" through streaming services.
However, this metric of success did not translate into an immediate lifeline. Unfortunately for fans hoping for a rescue, the streaming giant did not step in to save the show. Despite this disappointment, the sources confirm that the final season was able to successfully wrap up the overarching story on a satisfying note.
The Future of the Franchise: A New Amsterdam Spinoff
While the main series concluded after five seasons and Season 6 was scrapped due to declining numbers and pandemic challenges, the narrative of the franchise is not entirely over. Alongside the news of the primary series' conclusion, NBC announced plans for a continuation of the universe.
The future of the compassionate, patient-first approach championed by Dr. Goodwin will live on through a planned spinoff series entitled "New Amsterdam: Tomorrow". This development suggests that while the network made the strategic decision to end the costly primary series due to declining ratings, there remains confidence in the underlying characters and themes, justifying the continued development of the brand in a new format. The announcement of the spinoff softens the blow of the original New Amsterdam cancellation, providing a path forward for the franchise and its dedicated fanbase.
🔖 Key Takeaways
🗝️ Cancellation Triggers: New Amsterdam was canceled after five seasons, with the decision for Season 6 specifically driven by consistently declining ratings and production impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
🗝️ Ratings Decline: The show suffered a significant drop in viewership, falling from an average of over 10 million viewers in Season 1 to just over five million in the final season. This decline put the show below the standard set by other NBC series.
🗝️ Creative Frustration: Executive Producer Peter Horton believed the show had enough creative energy and interesting characters to run for "another couple years" and noted that the audience wasn’t ready for the ending.
🗝️ Streaming Popularity: Despite the network performance issues, the show demonstrated significant popularity on streaming platforms, ranking highly on Netflix, though the streaming service did not intervene to save the series.
🗝️ Franchise Continuation: The New Amsterdam universe will continue with a planned spinoff series titled "New Amsterdam: Tomorrow".
🌐 External sources
