{"id":420434,"date":"2026-01-21T08:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T08:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/420434\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T08:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T08:19:10","slug":"boots-the-waterfront-most-watched-2025-netflix-series-to-get-ax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/420434\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Boots’ & ‘The Waterfront’ Most Watched 2025 Netflix Series To Get Ax"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tNetflix<\/a> just released its semi-annual What We Watched<\/a> report, covering viewership data from July-December 2025, and it provides some insight into the streamer\u2019s surprise cancellation decisions on freshman dramas Boots<\/a> and The Waterfront<\/a>. Of them, the former premiered during that window, the latter just outside it.<\/p>\n

\n\tBased on the numbers, the axing of Boots<\/a>, the last show from legendary producer Norman Lear, remains a head-scratcher.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe military coming-of-age comedy-drama, which garnered equally strong 90% on Rotten Tomatoes from both critics and viewers, was No. 23 on the list of most-watched series during the July-December period with 30.7M views from its October 9 release through the end of 2025.<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThat is a very respectable showing, with Boots drawing larger audiences than several high-profile series released around the same time. <\/p>\n

\n\tThat includes Season 2 of top comedy Nobody Wants This, which debuted October 23. It was No. 24 on the list with 30.4M in its first 10 weeks vs. 30.7M for Boots over 12 weeks. Season 2 of the Kristen Bell-Adam Brody rom-com, which was renewed for a third season<\/a> two weeks after its release, was down from the 56.8M views Season 1 garnered from its September 26, 2024 premiere through end of 2024. (The difference of less than four weeks in the two seasons\u2019 data windows cannot close the 36M view gap between them.)<\/p>\n

\n\tBig-budget fantasy drama The Witcher, already renewed for a fifth and final season<\/a>, ranked No. 29 with 25.4M views for Season 4, which dropped October 10.<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: Netflix Execs Keep Stumping For Warner Bros. Deal, Say The $83B Stunner Is In Line With Pivots On Ads & Sports<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tSeason 3 of The Diplomat, which had received an early Season 4 renewal<\/a>, was even lower at No. 41 with 20.8M. Its release came just a week after Boots, Oct. 16. The political thriller\u2019s delivery was on par with Season 2, which posted 20.2M views from October 31-December 31, 2024.<\/p>\n

\n\tAdditionally, Boots outperformed two major series that had debuted earlier in the fall, drawing viewership over a longer period in the report: limited series Black Rabbit, starring Jason Bateman and Jude Law, which amassed 24.6M viewers following its September 30 release, for No. 32, and Tyler Perry\u2019s Beauty in Black Season 2 Part 1 (24.2M, No. 33), launched September 11. In December, the latter was renewed for a third and final season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tBoots was the highest ranked series on Netflix\u2019s What We Watched July-December 2025 report that has been canceled following its run. The second highest-rated was The Waterfront<\/a>. (There are a couple of shows between them on the list whose fate is TBD, including House of Guinness and The Abandons.)<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: \u2018With Love, Meghan\u2019 Ratings Crater Amidst Reports It Won\u2019t Return For Season 3<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tKevin Williamson\u2019s The Waterfront ranked No. 47 with 19.3M views. Released June 19, it also logged 21M in its first 11 days of release, which fell into the previous Netflix reporting window for a 40.3M total over slightly more than six months, also a very respectable delivery but at a higher price point than Boots given the crime drama\u2019s well known stars and big set pieces.<\/p>\n

\n\tBoth Boots and The Waterfront come from outside studios, Sony Pictures TV and Universal Television, respectively, while the vast majority of series mentioned above are Netflix productions.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt is unclear whether that played a role. (Other renewed Netflix series such as Untamed and The Hunting Wives also are outside productions.)<\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: Dave Chappelle Again Top Stand-Up On Netflix\u2019s Biannual What We Watched Report As \u2018The Unstoppable\u2019 Draws 14M Views<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tWith potent viewership \u2014 now confirmed by Netflix\u2019s report \u2014 strong reviews and a popular culture impact, Boots had made a strong case for renewal. (The dramedy had spent four weeks in Netflix\u2019s Top 10 for English series, peaking at No. 2, and\u00a0averaged a strong 9.4 million views<\/a>\u00a0during its first full week, doubling its total from its debut week, after\u00a0the Pentagon brought attention to the series<\/a>, calling it \u201cwoke garbage.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\tTo help the series\u2019 chances, Sony TV in August\u00a0extended the options on several key cast members<\/a>, including\u00a0Miles Heizer, Liam Oh, Kieron Moore, Dominic Goodman, Angus O\u2019Brien, Blake Burt and Rico Paris. <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is a conundrum why Netflix ultimately opted not to renew Boots, with completion rate, which is not made public, and Season 2 creative direction among the possibilities. <\/p>\n

\n\tRELATED: 2026 Premiere Dates For New & Returning Series On Broadcast, Streaming & Cable<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tCreated by Andy Parker based on Greg Cope White\u2019s memoir\u00a0The Pink Marine,\u00a0Boots\u00a0is set in the tough world of the U.S. Marine Corps in 1990, when being gay in the military was illegal. It follows directionless, closeted Cameron Cope (Heizer) and his straight best friend Ray McAffey (Oh) as they join a diverse group of recruits.<\/p>\n

\n\tGreenlighted in 2023 and impacted by the Hollywood strikes, Boots was completed before the 2024 presidential election which brought on very different government views on the series\u2019 subject matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Netflix just released its semi-annual What We Watched report, covering viewership data from July-December 2025, and it provides…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[76703,88,217,200898,92,200899],"class_list":["post-420434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-boots","tag-entertainment","tag-netflix","tag-the-waterfront","tag-tv","tag-what-we-watched"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}