“Doctor Odyssey” Won’t Be Returning Any Time Soon

June 28, 2025 Roger Palmer

Last year, Disney released a new high-octane procedural series called “Doctor Odyssey”, which was created by Ryan Murphy and released on ABC and Hulu in the United States, and as a Star Original on Disney+ around the world.

The show follows Max, who is the new onboard doctor for a luxury cruise ship where the staff work hard and play harder. It’s all-hands-on-deck as Max and his small but mighty medical team navigate unique medical crises and each other, miles from shore.

While the show pulled in over 16 million viewers for the premiere, the show has been in limbo during the renewal season and was the only show not to get renewed for the upcoming fall/winter season. The viewership for the series declined as the show was released week to week, unlike many other new shows such as “High Potential”, which was released during the same time.

Unfortunately for fans of the show, it appears that “Doctor Odyssey” will not be moving forward with a second season, as the cast options are expiring on Monday, releasing the actors to work on other projects. The show stars Joshua Jackson, Phillipa Soo, Sean Teale and Don Johnson.

The crew working on “Doctor Odyssey” has also moved on, with many of them working on other projects that Ryan Murphy is developing for Disney. As he’s working on multiple shows, including “9-1-1”, “All’s Fair”, and “American Love Story”, he’s also collaborating on various other projects.

Officially, the show has not been formally cancelled, and apparently, Ryan Murphy has been considering alternative creative options for the show. However, if “Doctor Odyssey” returns for another season, the cast will need to sign new deals, and it’s already too late to get the show ramped up for this fall/winter season.

Roger’s Take: I’m not surprised by the decision to “cancel” the show, I’m one of the people who watched the first few episodes but drifted off as it was a little cheesy. It’s likely an expensive show to produce, and it did feel like a TV show from a different era. The other big issue is that Ryan Murphy is working on so many different projects, it does seem like he is constantly moving onto the next idea, which isn’t a bad thing, since it gives us more variety, but it’s a shame for fans of the show, who would have loved to have seen more adventures of Love Boat 2.0.