Here’s a rule in today’s ever-changing TV landscape: Big hits are very hard to come by.

Here’s another: Netflix only rarely cancels shows.

On Monday, however, the streaming service said that it was pulling the plug on “Marco Polo,” its pricey 13th-century drama about the Mongol empire, after only two seasons.

Despite devoting billions to original programming, introducing dozens of new TV shows, Netflix has been reluctant to cancel its offerings. It previously pulled “Lilyhammer” and “Hemlock Grove,” and announced in September that “Bloodline’’ would not be returning. Those shows, however, lasted three seasons; “Marco Polo” will not.

Netflix — along with the other streaming services like Amazon and Hulu — does not disclose ratings, so it’s difficult to know just how poorly “Marco Polo” fared. But reviews for the series were unkind, and there has been next to no cultural excitement surrounding it.