Netflix records ‘Manifest’, but don’t expect other fans to succeed

Netflix doesn’t really want to be the “savior of discarded network shows” anymore like it was when it started out and trying to gain attention by doing things like giving Arrested Development new seasons. But they’re back in that business for now, saving the canceled NBC manifesto with a fourth and final 20-episode season so the show can end its cliffhangers and keep fans happy, having previously passed on a pickup. .

But Manifest is a unique case, and what this show’s fan base has done will be borderline impossible for others to replicate. At least so far, that has never been done in the history of the service.

The main reason Manifest found new life is very clear, fans pushed it to be America’s Best Show on Netflix for almost a month, and dragged it into the top ten for much longer. It quickly broke or almost broke a myriad of Netflix’s top ten records, thanks to a combination of binge-watching, re-watching, and evangelizing the show to others. And there too there is a kind of snowball effect. One show stays in the top 10 for quite a long time, especially at number one, and you’re going to see it attracting new viewers by default. It worked on my wife (who is now very excited about the renewal of the final season).

But the point is, even though Netflix is ​​accused of canceling other shows “too soon”, you just don’t see that kind of response from fans, and it’s extremely difficult to organize or pull it off. seeing it happen organically (and Manifest’s high performance was a combination of the two, most likely). Shows like Good Girls, The OA, Teenage Bounty Hunters and more had their own dedicated fan bases, and they made it into the top 10 for various spells, but nothing like that. Not even close, really.

There are probably other factors at play here. I guess the cost has something to do with it. Altered Carbon was canceled after Season 2, but an extremely expensive, high-profile sci-fi series like this with box office leads like Joel Kinnaman and Anthony Mackie is likely to be a much larger order. let’s say, Manifest, a series that doesn’t rely heavily on big-budget effects with a cast relatively unknown to most outside of… staunch Manifest fans. But this show and cast inspired a wave of continued support that led to this renewal, and Altered Carbon never had that. So many cancellations, even of shows that people might have liked, usually results in shrugs and thoughts like, “Well, what are you going to do?” Netflix cancels stuff all the time. But manifest? Again, the way fans have come together for this is the exception, and I highly doubt that will turn out to be the rule.

Of course, if your favorite show is canceled by a network or Netflix, you are more than welcome to try and organize something like this. But I know a lot of fanbases did, and most of them failed, with a few exceptions (Lucifer!). Manifest fans, however, went above and beyond and turned Netflix’s Top 10 list against it, making it a clearly ridiculous decision not to renew a relatively inexpensive show that was its most-watched offering for. consecutive weeks. And so, Netflix had to give in and make a deal, no matter the complications. Everyone has won.

Don’t expect to see this often.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels on Herokiller Series, and The Terrestrials trilogy, which is also on audio book.