The biggest TV shows leaving Netflix this month after fans share ‘devastation’

It’s been the heartbreak heard around the world. 

Netflix subscribers were left distraught this week as news broke that they will no longer be able to return to Friends for a comfort watch.

The show is officially exiting the streaming platform on December 30, presumably to head over to the newfangled UK outpost of HBO Max.

It was this week announced that the service will be launching in the British Isles come March – although, given that it was followed just a day later with the news that Netflix is acquiring Warner Bros. Discovery, which in turn owns HBO, that announcement is now looking a bit foggier.

It’s certainly been a big week for TV news.

The reality is, we don’t know for now how exactly that big union of Netflix and Warner Bros. is going to shake out. The reality is that the implications of it won’t be felt for a little while at least, if the deal even goes through.

So anywho, let’s focus on what we do know and that is that Friends is indeed leaving Netflix on December 30 – and it isn’t the only popular show turning its back on Tudum. So what else are we going to have to prepare to say goodbye to? 

(At least, until Netflix and Warner Bros come together for a streaming service on a par with the Death Star.) 

Friends 

The One Where We Already Told You About It In The Introduction.

The sitcom, with its giant coffee cups, never-ending Ross and Rachel courtship and not-so-realistic picture of New York real estate, has been a certifiable hit on Netflix.

But the show’s profile on the platform has now put up an eviction notice, letting subscribers know that Friends will be gone by the penultimate day of the month (December 30).

Fear not, Friendsaholics! There are other places to stream the show.

If you’re a reliable re-watcher, it might be worth investing in the seasons on Amazon Prime Video to watch in perpetuity. Each box set is available for £14.99, with individual episodes going for £2.49 a piece. Alternatively, the show is available to buy on Apple TV. 

Birdsong

This beloved BBC drama, adapted from a Sebastian Faulkes novel, is also not long for this Netflix world. 

From the creator of The Split and Eric, Birdsong is a period drama starring Eddie Redmayne and Matthew Goode in World War I.

The two-part programme covers flashbacks from soldier Stephen’s (Redmayne) past forbidden love affair with a French woman and his life fighting in the horrific trenches of northern France.

Catch it while you can this month.

Law and Order: SVU

This long-running, hugely popular US show began in 1999 as the first spin-off from the equally popular police procedural Law and Order, which is filled with endless early-career cameos from huge actors, including Robin Williams and Pedro Pascal. Yes, really.

But in 2019, the Special Victims Unit series became the longest-running primetime live-action series on American television.

SVU has aired more than 550 episodes, surpassing the episode count of the original Law and Order.

But now the five seasons on Netflix are leaving on New Year’s Eve, so enjoy it while you can. 

Mad Men

It’s been a funny old week for Mad Men, after the show made waves in the US with its new error-riddled 4K remaster for HBO Max.

The new remaster of the advertising bigwigs of Madison Avenue only hit screens on Monday, but fans of the show soon took to social media to point out a series of missteps – including two obvious barf machine operators when Roger Sterling vomits all over the office carpet.

The good news is that the version available on Netflix in the UK is still background-crew-member-free.

Presumably, this one is also bidding adieu to the streamer this month in order to join the HBO Max arrival in the UK.

How I Met Your Mother

A spiritual successor to Friends, it might make a sort of sense that How I Met Your Mother is also going, going, gone.

With nearly-as-many nine seasons in the tank, the sitcom similarly follows a group of New York-based chums trying to make their way in the world.

The whole conceit of the show is that leading man Ted is telling his two children in the present day the exact sequence of events that led to him meeting and marrying their mother.

But be warned: the finale was not quite the homerun that the Friends one was. 

If the show has vanished from the streamer this month when you were partway through your binge, you can now find it over on Disney Plus. 

The Big Bang Theory

Another entry, another sitcom. This month is going to prove a tough one for the comedy fans who subscribe to Netflix.

The Big Bang Theory was first added to the platform in 2016, annually dropped new seasons until the show wrapped up its run in 2019. But now the entire thing is leaving the platform, for the same reasons that Friends is going (it’s also owned by Warner Bros Discovery).

Starring Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch as a gang of nerdy scientists, as well as their regular neighbour, you’ll be able to keep watching until December 30.

The brilliant news for those with and without Netflix is that you can currently stream the show completely free of charge over on Channel 4.

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