The decision to cancel Difficult People is a significant one. When it landed at Hulu in 2014, the comedy was among a handful of originals scooped by the streaming service, alongside JJ Abrams' Stephen King series 11/22/63 and Jason Reitman's Casual, which was recently renewed for a fourth and final season. Another Hulu fave, The Mindy Project, also just came to an end (although creator Mindy Kaling will be sticking around to pen an anthology show based on Four Weddings and a Funeral).

Unfazed, Hulu has been picking up steam this year, buoyed by the Emmy-sweeping success of The Handmaid's Tale. The streamer is spending $2.5 billion on programming, and its upcoming prospects include the Jeff Daniels-starring miniseries The Looming Tower, pre-apocalyptic crime drama Hard Sun, and Marvel's Runaways. Oh, and season two of The Handmaid's Tale is hitting the service in April.

But, as evidenced by the demise of Difficult People, casualties are part of the expansion process. That's something Amazon and Netflix can relate to, both of which have thrown plenty against the wall, with not every show sticking.