Copyright Screen Rant
Netflix has a constant rotation of iconic shows, but some beloved titles have to leave in the month of November. From long-running Netflix shows to one-season wonders, the streaming service has a broad catalog spanning every genre imaginable. Each year, new releases bring creative new premises — but each month, many fan-favorite titles are sadly removed from Netflix’s vast library. To warn prospective viewers, Netflix adds red banners to indicate when a title is “Leaving Soon” for another platform. Whether it’s a time-consuming slow-burn or a short weekend binge on Netflix, plenty of well-crafted titles often slip through the cracks and are gone before you know it. Thankfully, there’s still time to catch the best shows departing Netflix in November. 6 First Wives Club Leaving: November 15 First Wives Club (2019) is a refreshing take on the 1996 film of the same name. In the loose adaptation, Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton’s characters are updated for the current era, swapping out Elise, Brenda, and Annie for Hazel (Jill Scott), Bree (Michelle Buteau), and Ari (Ryan Michelle Bathe) as the friend group commiserates their failing marriages. Each of the three main characters in First Wives Club is experiencing different relationship troubles: Bree’s husband is cheating on her, Ari’s marriage has grown loveless, and Hazel is going through a public divorce as a musical artist. Aside from their complicated friendship history, the three women join forces to subtly seek revenge against the men who have wronged them. Just like the classic film, the true heart of First Wives Club is a story of sisterhood. The bond between the main characters waned throughout their lives, but the trio came back together when it mattered most and weathered every marital storm. There are plenty of shocking twists and devastating turns, but First Wives Club is an overall uplifting watch. First Wives Club leaves Netflix in mid-November, but the friendship comedy can be streamed on Bet+ and Paramount+. 5 Reba Leaving: November 6 Many know Reba McEntire as the “Queen of Country” music, but she helmed one of the most definitive shows of the 2000s long before she was on The Voice. The sitcom, simply called Reba, follows the Hart family’s eponymous matriarch as she navigates life alongside her ex-husband, his mistress, her pregnant teenage daughter, and two more young children to boot. The Reba cast of characters was full of standout performers, like JoAnna Garcia Swisher, who plays teen Cheyenne. Similarly, Steve Howey’s Van, Cheyenne’s love interest, became one of the sitcom’s funniest yet most integral characters. Plus, the unlikely friendship that blooms between Reba and Barbara Jean (Melissa Peterman) is a touching if not surreal subplot throughout the show’s six seasons. Despite airing over 100 episodes, Reba is an easy watch that flies by once you start it. Not everything has aged perfectly, but it’s undeniably a cultural capstone of the time period it represents. Like any family sitcom, you’ll scream at the screen just as much as you laugh, cry, and cheer on your favorite characters. During its 18-month stint on Netflix, Reba has also been streaming on Hulu and will continue to be available there after November 6. 4 Face Off Leaving: November 7 For 13 seasons, Face Off showcased the best prosthetic makeup artistry from across the country in a season-long battle for the crown. Each episode gave the contestants a specific concept or theme to use as the basis for a makeup design, and — be it independently, in a duo, or for a team challenge — the artists presented their makeup for critiques. The judges' panel had slight variations throughout the years, but three were the main judges: Glenn Hetrick, Ve Neill, and Neville Page. Other industry professionals, from actors to directors to fellow artists, rotated as guest judges. Each week, the best makeup artist was spotlighted and celebrated, while having the worst look meant the artist was sadly eliminated and sent home. No other reality TV competition show fills the void left by Face Off. There are many make-up-based competitions, but none with such entertaining, intensive challenges and spectacular finished products. Face Off’s best horror looks still haunt me to this day, and certain character concepts garnered a legacy of their own thanks to the SyFy original. Face Off will be streaming on Peacock and FuboTV after its November 7 departure from Netflix. 3 Archer Leaving: November 13 When it comes to adult cartoons, certain titles — such as Family Guy, Rick and Morty, etc. — are as popular as they are ubiquitous. While juggernauts like The Simpsons clock in at 37 seasons and counting, FX’s best animated comedy, Archer, finished airing after 14 seasons. Nevertheless, Archer is much cleverer than most give it credit for. The comedy is a parody of mid-century espionage thrillers, but the super spies of the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) are far from flawless. The titular agent, Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin), is a James Bond variant whose very existence pokes fun at himself. The most interesting seasons of Archer, however, occur after the agency closes down. Archer goes into a coma after the season 7 finale, and seasons 8–10 follow his inner machinations as three standalone dream worlds, ranging from retro-futurism to film noir. The series never takes itself too seriously, but it is a truly ambitious feat of animated storytelling that toes the line of delightful absurdism. Though only 13 seasons are currently on Netflix, all 14 seasons of Archer are available on Hulu. 2 A.P. Bio Leaving: November 15 Glenn Howerton’s most memorable role is undoubtedly Dennis Reynolds, one of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s raucous “Gang” members, but his acting truly shines in the NBC sitcom A.P. Bio. Howerton’s Jack Griffin is tasked with teaching the titular class, but his narcissism and background as a professor of philosophy prevent any actual learning. A.P. Bio becomes a hilarious subversion where the high school students are begging to learn science lessons, but Jack instead employs them as spies, pranksters, and masterminds to help carry out futile revenge plots and, later, inspire a best-selling book. Throughout the series, there’s a heavy layer of self-referential deprecating humor, especially against its setting of Toledo, Ohio. Despite cultivating a devoted fan base, A.P. Bio was canceled twice, leaving some storylines permanently unresolved after the season 4 finale. Regardless, the raunchy humor and genuinely touching development of Jack and his class make A.P. Bio an incredibly underrated sitcom. A.P. Bio is streaming on Peacock, the same distributor that created its third and fourth seasons. 1 Six Feet Under Leaving: November 1 A classic show that became a streaming success is Six Feet Under, which drew in impressive viewership after its arrival on Netflix. Following the central Fisher family and the funeral home they run, Six Feet Under is a wonderfully morbid black comedy and, without question, one of the best shows HBO has ever released. Six Feet Under’s focus on death can be jarring, but each episode is a poignant vignette that questions how the characters (and, by extension, the viewers themselves) view life and death. The acting is superb, the writing is even better, and there’s a sense of freedom in accepting the inevitability of death vis-à-vis cold opens that introduce the episodic corpse. Six Feet Under is more than just original, however. It touches on universal themes of grief, love, exploring your identity, and the fear of human mortality. In the end, everyone dies — yet, that may be the happiest ending of all.
