Netflix Brings New Life To Cancelled TV Series — But It Won’t Last

Unfortunate news for fans who discovered the cancelled Syfy series Resident Alien on Netflix — despite finding a new audience on the streaming service, the platform has no plans to develop new episodes.

Resident Alien follows an alien (played by Alan Tudyk) who crash-lands on Earth, and finds himself in the small town of Patience, Colorado, eventually taking on the human disguise of a medical examiner named Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle. While initially arriving on the planet with the intent of destroying all humans, the extraterrestrial finds himself quickly warming to what he once disliked about mankind, especially his kind-hearted assistant, Asta Twelvetrees (Sara Tomko).

Resident Alien ran for 4 seasons and 44 episodes on the Syfy network, from 2021 to 2025, with an impressive 94% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes upon its debut. The series arrived on Netflix in February 2024, debuting with the first two seasons of the show, introducing it to a whole new, as well as a far wider, audience.

The fourth and final season of the science fiction show landed on Netflix on June 6, and is looking to continue the trend of impressive viewing figures compared to its original home on Syfy. According to data accumulated by What’s On Netflix, seasons 1-4 of the series accumulated 403.2 million viewing hours on Netflix between 2024 and 2025, equating to approximately 45.8 million views.

Back in August last year, it was confirmed that the fourth series would be the last, with high costs versus low viewership cited as the main reason for its axing, as Syfy reportedly searched elsewhere for new shows to bring in viewers.

As for a revival series, What’s on Netflixhas reported that the streamer is unlikely to pick up the series for new episodes, pointing out that Netflix has abandoned its once-common habit of rebooting cancelled shows with a cult following.

This story was originally published by Men’s Journal on Jun 8, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men’s Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.