The Reason 'The Good Doctor' Was Canceled Is More Complicated Than You Think

Since the show kicked off in 2017, star Freddie Highmore was central to its appeal. A child actor familiar to audiences from the likes of Charlie and the Cholocate Factory, Highmore effectively became a massive TV star thanks to his run as Norman Bates on the AMC series Bates Motel, a prequel to Psycho. As Dr. Shaun Murphy, Highmore plays the title character again

According to Deadline, Highmore's contract was set to expire with the the conclusion of the seventh season. This is not uncommon in the world of TV production, with both actors and behind-the-scenes figures expecting greater compensation when they re-negotiate for Season 8 and onward. In this case, both Highmore (who was also an executive producer on the series) and showrunners David Shore and Liz Friedman were due for re-negotiation.

This jived with many fans' assumptions about the otherwise inexplicable decision to cancel. It's a familiar story for successful shows, from Game of Thrones to Cheers: when a show hits big and runs long, the talent can become unsustainably expensive.

The big twist, however, is that Deadline also reported “Highmore had not been formally approached about a new deal” when ABC made the call to cancel. Additionally, the actor was said to be open to continuing the show, signaling that he wouldn't put his interests above the show.

So, while Highmore's contract may indeed have been a complication, that was not, in fact, the reason The Good Doctor ended.

If it wasn't the potential for prohibitively expensive new contracts for Highmore, Shore, and Friedman, then what brought The Good Doctor down? Larger economic concerns for both ABC and the production companies behind scripted shows like this one.

Fundamentally, ABC kiboshed more seasons of The Good Doctor in order to save money. The network's priority shifted to focus on a spread between cheaper-to-produce reality shows and more expensive hourlong dramas. This particular hourlong drama was a co-production between ABC Signature and Sony Pictures TV, meaning ABC had to pay Sony TV a licensing fee to actually air episodes, and major networks are increasingly deciding that the juice isn't worth the squeeze when vertically-integrated and reality programming are an option.

The Good Doctor was relatively cheap for such a show. Filming in Vancouver helped save on the budget, as did the fact that only Highmore and supporting player Richard Schiff were the only castmembers to carry on since the show's first season. Still, compared to a reality competition show, it represented a major expense. 

That was also true for ABC's Station 19, as well as CBS's Young Sheldon and Blue Bloods, all of which were canceled at the conclusion of their seventh seasons despite remaining popular with viewers.

Shemar Moore, a gentleman and star of fellow Sony TV co-production S.W.A.T., which was briefly canceled in Season 6 before being brought back unexpectedly, summed it all up nicely, saying, “It's all about money, y'all.”

“This has been a weird year,” creator and co-showrunner David Shore said during a panel at the Television Critics Tour in February 2024, almost exactly a month after news of the cancellation broke. And he couldn't have been more correct: in 2023, both the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists went on strike, effectively stopping work on most productions for 100+ days.

That exacerbated every issue that led The Good Doctor to be canceled, with budgetary concerns and a general feeling of doom both mounting over the course of months. It also meant that the final season consisted of a paltry 10 episodes, rather than the 13 that were originally planned. Even that was a downgrade, as previous seasons were popular enough to sustain 18-22-episode orders.

“Only doing 10 episodes is unfortunate,” Shore said. “But being able to go out on your own terms is a blessing.” The show was able to properly end with the episode appropriately titled ”Goodbye," giving the fictional Dr. Murphy and his very real fans some closure.

They needed that closure, given that a planned spinoff was not picked up largely as a result of the strikes. The Good Lawyer was a backdoor pilot featuring Felicity Huffman and Kennedy McCann as characters who first appeared when Dr. Murphy needed legal counsel on The Good Doctor.