Apple TV+ has canceled Palm Royale after two seasons, adding another title to the ever-growing streaming graveyard of shows that disappeared before anyone really noticed they existed.

The Kristen Wiig-led period dramedy, set in 1960s Palm Beach, wrapped its run with a tidy ending—Wiig's Maxine got married, accessed a trust fund, and distributed wealth among friends. At least viewers won't be left hanging, which is more than you can say for most streaming cancellations.

Here's the thing about Palm Royale: it had a genuinely stacked cast. Kristen Wiig. Allison Janney. Carol Burnett. Laura Dern. Ricky Martin. Season 2 brought in John Stamos, Patti LuPone, and Vicki Lawrence. That's not just a good cast—that's an embarrassment of riches that would be the envy of most network shows.

And yet, nobody watched. Or at least, nobody knows if anybody watched, because Apple TV+ doesn't release viewership numbers. This is the fundamental problem with the streaming era: shows can be critically acclaimed, beautifully made, and starring A-list talent, and they'll still get canceled because of metrics the audience never sees.

Palm Royale earned a SAG nomination for Wiig and a GLAAD Media Award nomination. That suggests quality and cultural relevance. But in the streaming wars, quality doesn't guarantee survival—you need to move the needle on subscriber acquisition and retention, and those calculations happen behind closed doors.

This is Apple's pattern. They greenlight prestige projects with big names, give them decent budgets, and then quietly cancel them after a season or two when they don't become instant cultural phenomena. , , —all gone. Even , one of their flagship series, feels like it's on borrowed time.