come in all shapes and forms, ranging from the laugh-out-loud humor of "Scrubs" to the hard-hitting realism of "The Pitt." However, they are typically unified in the sense that their stories are emotional, inspirational, and present characters with professional and personal problems to overcome. This brings us to "New Amsterdam," the NBC drama that enjoyed five pretty successful seasons on their air before it was canceled alongside several other shows in 2022.Created by David
Schulner from Eric Manheimer's book "Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital," "New Amsterdam" stars Ryan Eggold as Dr. Max Goodwin, a medical examiner at a dingy New York hospital who wants to shake things up from the inside. He's fed up with the bureaucracy put in place by the healthcare system and believes that patients should come first. As such, he's more than happy to get rid of entire waiting rooms and upgrade the hospital food menu to ensure everyone is treated well -- even if his higher-ups oppose his methods. Fortunately, Goodwin has the support of his staff, who also believe in doing the right thing for their patients.
Admittedly, "New Amsterdam" doesn't break any new ground, with some critics arguing the series is a patchwork of other medical dramas -- you know, "ER," "Grey's Anatomy," and shows of that ilk. That said, its cancellation still came as a shock to some people, even though the writing was arguably on the wall for a while.
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New Amsterdam's Cancellation Surprised The Show's Creators
While "New Amsterdam" was a moderate success for NBC until its final season, fans dropped out as the series progressed. For comparison's sake, season 1 averaged over 10 million viewers, while the final installment averaged just over five million. Those numbers aren't bad by any means, but consistently declining ratings are usually enough of a reason to convince TV execs to pull the plug on a show and focus the network's resources elsewhere. What's more, "New Amsterdam" was performing below the standard set by other NBC series at the time, so its cancellation makes sense.
Despite the dwindling ratings, however, executive producer Peter Horton believes that "New Amsterdam" still had plenty of gas left in the tank, noting that the series should have continued for at least another couple more years. As he told Deadline in 2023:
"I still think this thing could have, should have run for another couple years. There are still so many stories to tell, and these characters are so interesting. David came up with just a raft of amazing characters, and I want to know more about all of them ... I don't think the audience is ready for it to end, either."
Horton added that "New Amsterdam" occupied the third spot on Netflix at the time of the interview, suggesting that the series was finding a wider audience. Unfortunately, the streaming giant didn't attempt to save the medical drama, but fans can rest assured knowing that the final season wrapped up the story on a satisfying note.
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