NBC Has Cancelled Its #1 Show On Netflix, Fans Are Trying To Save It
NBC cancelled a very popular show, one that was finding an even bigger audience on Netflix. Is there a chance to save it from the ax?
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NBC has canceled one of its more popular shows, a program that was actually picking up steam on Netflix and developing something of a fanbase. But now the future is in doubt with fans, and even the show creators, wondering if there is somewhere for it to land and give it new life. According to Variety, NBC has given Manifest the ax but there are those out there trying to save it.
Manifest being canceled now is interesting timing considering the uptick in relative popularity for the show. It had done three seasons on NBC, beginning back in 2018 with the ratings starting strong but then declining some over the next two years. But the show had found some new life on Netflix. As of this writing, it was the most-streamed show on the platform in both the United States and Canada. Finding a home on Netflix had helped build a significantly bigger audience, one the broadcast channel might have been struggling to find.
And when fans of Manifest found out that NBC was canceling the show, they took to the internet quickly and in numbers. It didn’t take long for the #SaveManifest hashtag to start trending on the platform. All manner of folks began weighing in on Twitter. Things started with show creator Jeff Rake who was clearly disappointed with the decision but also hopeful the program could find a new home based on its growing popularity.
The show’s writer’s room official Twitter handle rang in as well, lamenting the decision by NBC to discontinue production, but also hoping in some vein that a platform, like Netflix would end up giving it new life.
And then, of course, the fans were quick to hop on board as well. They’ve come out somewhat en masse pleading with either NBC to reverse their decision to cancel Manifest, or for Netflix to continue on with the story. Much of the disappointment, especially from a fan perspective, is that the cancellation leaves the story open-ended and unresolved. For fans of the the show, who’d been following the mystery since the beginning, it’s a devastating blow.
Manifest premiered a few years ago on NBC and is a science-fiction mystery program about a flight that mysteriously disappears for five and half years. To the passengers, or the titular list of those on the flight, the plane experienced the requisite amount of time in the air. But those on the ground have been wondering about the disappearance for years before it suddenly shows up seemingly out of thin air.
This anomaly begins to open up other mysteries beyond just what happened to the plane during that time it was gone and why the passengers didn’t experience any kind of time-lapse. There are other science-fiction elements introduced as well, and a foreboding sense that they might not have come back to quite the same universe. Plus, many of the passengers begin to hear voices and have futuristic visions. The NBC show was clearly building to something at the time of its cancellation.
Manifest received solid, if unspectacular reviews for its first season on NBC, but did garner a solid audience with an average of 12.6 million viewers for that opening run. The number dipped to around seven million for the second season and early reports are that it’s likely around five million for the third season. The declining numbers are what precipitated the cancellation. But could Netflix pick it back up? Or maybe Peacock? Considering the popularity on the streaming platform, there’s at least some chance of us having the story concluded in a fitting fashion.
