Kaley Cuoco’s fan-favourite series The Flight Attendant cancelled after 2 seasons

The Max series also starred Zosia Mamet, Michelle Gomez and Rosie Perez

The Flight Attendant has been cancelled by Max and will not return for a third season, it was announced on Friday (19 January).

The dark comedy thriller, which starred Kaley Cuoco, debuted in November 2020, with a second season airing in April 2022.

In a statement, Cuoco said: “What started out as an attention-grabbing book cover quickly evolved into an extraordinary flight of a lifetime.

“I always envisioned TFA as a limited series and thanks to an incredible creative team, we were able to deliver two thrilling seasons. Personally, playing Cassie has been a dream come true and I am so grateful for everyone who played a part in bringing this extremely original series to life.”

The series was based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Chris Bohjalian, and was developed for television by Steve Yockey. In a statement, Yockey said: “‘The Flight Attendant’ was a true passion project and the reception from viewers and critics alike was pretty stunning.

“Our unorthodox spectacle of a show really found people. As we all move on to new projects, those two seasons of television and the incredible team of professionals behind them will always stay at the top of my list.”

Kaley Cuoco in ‘The Flight Attendant’ (Jennifer Rose Clasen/HBO Max)

The series earned Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for its first season, and Cuoco was again nominated for an Emmy for the second season.

It also received praise for its handling of Cuoco’s character Cassie’s alcoholism and journey to sobriety. In an opinion piece for The Independent, writer Harriet Williamson said she was going through the same thing as Cassie in The Flight Attendant, and “it’s not easy”.

“Like Cassie, my relationship with alcohol was problematic,” wrote Williamson. “I used drinking as a crutch, a comfort blanket and an anaesthetic. It was a coping strategy that became the issue in and of itself – like repeatedly pouring neat bleach onto your hands in the hope of killing germs.”

In a four-star review of The Flight Attendant’s second season, television critic Amanda Whiting wrote: “As all shows with such efficient first seasons must, the second outing of The Flight Attendant walks the tightrope of modest reinvention, finding more road by shifting away from spycraft in the direction of character study.

“The result is a less tight whodunnit, but something that remains at its best when Cassie is complicating her own life, doubling down on mistakes while struggling to convince herself and everyone around her that she’s simply cruising.”