Hyped local drama Dirty Laundry has been cancelled after just one season because "it didn't take off".

The TVNZ 1 drama, which starred Jennifer Ward-Lealand as a mother sent to jail for money laundering, was noticeably absent in the latest round of NZ on Air funding announcements.

A TVNZ spokesperson confirmed Dirty Laundry wouldn't return for a second season.

"We backed the local commission all the way as we're always proud to champion new local content," a TVNZ spokesperson said.

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"Despite having a core loyal audience, it didn't take off in the way we hoped, and so the Rafferty family's journey ends here."

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The show revolved around the grown children of the Rafferty family who discovered their mother had funded their middle-class lifestyle illegally.

It premiered on TVNZ 1 in late September and was quickly slammed by Herald reviewer Duncan Greive for a questionable domestic violence scene.

The series was awarded $6.8 million in funding from NZ on Air in 2015 for 13 episodes.

The last six episodes aired across three weeks after the show failed to take off.

It was made by Filthy Productions and written by Gavin Strawhan and Rachel Lang, the same people and group behind the much-reviled TVNZ 2 show Filthy Rich.

Lang told the Herald the idea for the show came during a visit to a sick friend in Australia.

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The entire series is available on TVNZ OnDemand.