As part of a new content purge, Disney took a dozen major TV shows off of its streaming service, Disney+.
Even though the biggest TV streaming platforms in the game are all still performing quite well, major studios have been looking for different ways to cut costs during a time when Wall St. investors are reevaluating media companies and the truth worth of their streamers' subscriber base.
Hulu took the purge route recently by removing nine separate programs from its own service, including Kat Dennings' Dollface and Aubrey Plaza's animated project, Little Demon.
Disney+ Removes 12 TV Shows From Service
Disney+ removed twelve television shows as part of a content purge that took place on May 26. This comes as part of an initiative from Disney that will help the company save on a number of major fees, namely licensing costs.
It's also the first time that Disney's streaming service will purge original titles that were developed exclusively for streaming purposes.
All 12 shows are listed below along with their Tomatometer and Audience Meter Scores on Rotten Tomatoes:
1.) The Mysterious Benedict Society
- Average Tomatometer: 86%
- Average Audience Score: 90%
Trenton Lee Stewart's famous children's novel comes to life in The Mysterious Benedict Society, in which Tony Hale's Mr. Nicholas Benedict gathers four children together into a team to stop a global crisis called "The Emergency."
The group looks to infiltrate a facility run by the villainous Dr. L.D. Curtain who sends subliminal messages that invade the subconscious using children and would allow him to control much of the world's population.
Although it was canceled after only two seasons in January 2023, it earned outstanding reviews and reception from both critics and fans during its run.
2.) Big Shot
- Average Tomatometer: 78%
- Average Audience Score: 81%
John Stamos embodies the temperamental former men's basketball coach from the highly-touted University of Wisconsin in the NCAA, although he winds up fired and forced to relocate to coach a girls' team at California's Westbrook High School.
Co-starring alongside Yvette Nicole Brown, this show tackles some real-world themes, including the value of teamwork, humility, and the pressures of being a high-profile student-athlete.
In the two seasons of Big Shot's run, before the series was canceled in February, both fans and critics thought fairly highly of the story, although it was never amongst the best of the best in terms of ratings.
3.) Turner & Hooch
- Average Tomatometer: 57%
- Average Audience Score: 91%
Josh Peck takes on the role of Scott Turner Jr., the son of Tom Hanks' character from the original Turner & Hooch movie, as he partners up with a new pooch that has the same name as the one that worked with his father.
Turner works as a U.S. Marshall as he learns to work with this new unruly dog, all while dealing with his father's death and trying to handle those emotions.
Only running for one season, Turner & Hooch was largely panned by critics, although general audiences loved this semi-blast to the past on the small screen.
4.) Willow
- Average Tomatometer: 86%
- Average Audience Score: 90%
Disney+ continued with the sequel series trend with an eight-episode Willow series, taking place more than two decades after Queen Bravmorda's defeat, centering on a team of six new unlikely heroes.
Starring Harry Potter and Willow vet Warwick Davis alongside The Falcon and the Winter Soldier's Erin Kellyman and Spider-Man's Tony Revolori, this series brought plenty of exciting, fantastical, and otherworldly elements to the forefront.
Even though it was canceled after one season, it earned high marks from both critics and fans, with both audience and critics rating ratings on Rotten Tomatoes coming in over 85%.
5.) Just Beyond
- Average Tomatometer: 88%
- Average Audience Score: 56%
Based on Boom! Studios' graphic Just Beyond novels that were written by Goosebumps author R.L. Stine, this series brings a unique set of horror-comedy adventures to the small screen.
This show gave fans an anthology-style adventure with eight unique stories that didn't tie into one another, touching on some supernatural elements while also diving into quite adult themes such as grief and brainwashing.
Critics heaped plenty of adulation on this one-of-a-kind show, although fans didn't necessarily warm up to it very much during its only season.
6.) The World According To Jeff Goldblum
- Average Tomatometer: 83%
- Average Audience Score: 75%
Longtime movie icon Jeff Goldblum has the opportunity to let out his own personality and style with two seasons of episodes dedicated to seeing the world through his eyes.
In this series, Goldblum looks back at experiences from his own life, which have all shaped his perspective on the world thanks to nearly 50 years of being an actor.
While The World According to Jeff Goldblum never became one of the highest-rated shows, it earned solid reviews from both fans and critics.
7.) The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers
- Average Tomatometer: 87%
- Average Audience Score: 79%
Following the efforts of the iconic '90s Mighty Ducks movies, Game Changers returns to the team after they become a powerhouse organization that's now quite selective about who makes the roster.
Starring Lauren Graham and bringing back Emilio Estevez, this series highlights a young boy who's cut from the Mighty Ducks roster and forms his own team after being encouraged by his mother, and they even bring back Estevez' Gordon Bombay to coach the kids.
Critics were highly supportive of this new series with excellent reviews, and fans weren't far behind with their own ratings, both coming at 79% or higher.
8.) Marvel’s The Runaways
- Average Tomatometer: 84%
- Average Audience Score: 69%
Set adjacent to the MCU, Runaways tackles the story of six teenagers from unique backgrounds that band up to take down their criminal parents, who run an organization called Pride.
Tackling the challenges of going through adolescence combined with superpowers and family drama, Runaways features plenty of drama and action as it provides a story built for younger fans of the superhero genre.
While audiences only partially warmed up to this Marvel series, critics thought highly of this young adult adventure.
9.) Diary of a Future President
- Average Tomatometer: 100%
- Average Audience Score: 85%
Executive produced by Gina Rodriguez, Diary of a Future President highlights 13-year-old Cuban-American Elena as she makes her way through adolescence and narrates the events of her daily life through her diary.
Rodriguez even portrays an older version of Elena through flash-forward moments, in which the young girl shows her desire to eventually become the President of the United States.
While fans and general audiences heavily gravitated towards this show, official critics offered the series the highest of praise with an incredible 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
10.) The Right Stuff
- Average Tomatometer: 55%
- Average Audience Score: 71%
Loosely based on the 1979 book of the same name and its 1983 film adaptaion, this limited American historical drama explores the origin story of the United States' outer space program.
The eight-episode series takes a gritty look back at what would be the USA's first reality show, with the original Mercury Seven astronauts and their families becoming celebrities through TV exposure.
The Right Stuff was one of the lowest-rated shows on this list, with barely over half of critics viewing this series positively while only close to 70% of fans had the same opinion.
11.) Marvel’s Hero Project
- Average Tomatometer: 92%
- Average Audience Score: 84%
Marvel's Hero Project is a documentary-style show that follows a set of young kids who make positive changes across their communities, some of whom deal with their own challenging disabilities or difficult situations.
The series helps show how young people can be heroes in their own right, and every kid featured in the project gets their own Marvel comic highlighting their efforts as well.
This heartwarming Disney+ entry sat well with both critics and general audiences, rating well above 80% from both sources on Rotten Tomatoes.
12.) Encore!
- Average Tomatometer: 70%
- Average Audience Score: 88%
Encore! is a reality-based TV program hosted by Kristen Bell and Will Gluck, based on a pilot special that originally aired on ABC in December 2017.
This 12-episode series reunites cast members from different high school musicals across the country, including productions of Annie, Beauty and the Beast, and more as they reminisce on the experience and have another go at the material.
While critics were only mostly favorable towards this show, it won the general audience over with excellent marks all the way around.
