Netflix Cancels Its Biggest Sci-Fi Series
If Netflix series seem cancellations seem to be commonplace, well they are.
If Netflix series seem cancellations seem to be commonplace, well they are. Netflix doesn’t release their viewership numbers, though they do base their cancellations on internal data. After they review the returns from a series, they then consider whether their initial financial investment on a given series is worth bringing it back for another season or moving on to producing a different series that could bring in more subscribers. To many, it is a very frustrating business model, especially if the fan base for a particular series is passionate.
Altered Carbon Cancelled By Netflix
Netflix has cancelled the sci-fi series Altered Carbon. The show completed its second season in April and according to the trades the streaming giant decided at that time they didn’t want more of it. They just didn’t get around to making it official and announcing it, until now. But now it’s official and Altered Carbon season 3 isn’t happening.
It’s not clear exactly why they didn’t want more. The show was expensive to produce and many people did feel it fell off in quality significantly in the second season. Still there was some hope among Altered Carbon fans that the show would regain its footing in season 3 and get back to the R-rated basics which made it a success in the first place. That won’t happen now.
With the removal of Altered Carbon, Netflix’s original sci-fi programming is now pretty thin. They have the upcoming show Away and the returning Another Life. I guess they didn’t want to go for the AAA rating.
I Am Not OK With This Cancelled By COVID
Six-months go in our review of I Am Not OK With This, we called it the best new show on Netflix. The angsty, realistic, teen superhero show have gotten even better in season 2, but now we’ll never know. Netflix has cancelled the show.
Initially it was supposed to be renewed. Season 1 ended on a big cliffhanger which needed answered, and word was that we were getting more. However WON says Netflix changed their mind after the Coronavirus pandemic began derailing things and increasing production costs. It soon became clear that making season 2 would cost a lot more and they aren’t willing to invest more money.
Netflix issued this statement regarding the cancellation: “We’re disappointed to have to make these decisions due to circumstances created by COVID, and we are grateful to these creators, including: Jonathan Entwistle, Christy Hall, Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Dan Cohen and Josh Barry at 21 Laps Entertainment for I Am Not Okay With This and all the writers, casts and crews who worked tirelessly to make these shows for our members around the world.”
Fans Want Anne With An E Back
Netflix recently cancelled Anne with an E, their adaptation of the popular Anne of Green Gables novels by L.M. Montgomery. The show got three seasons before getting the axe, but now fans are working to get it back.
A petition to resurrect the show has now passed 900,000 signatures and seems well on its way to crossing the 1 million mark. Normally petitions are meaningless and don’t really move networks, but normally petitions don’t get a million signatures. It’s almost unheard of.
And it seems clear that Netflix didn’t expect this level of support for Anne with an E when they cancelled it. The show wasn’t a hit, which is probably why Netflix axed it in the first place.
The petition’s success has been fueled by fan passion. To get to a million they even spent money out of their own pockets to launch a billboard campaign. Save And With An E billboards were seen in New York’s Time Square, in Canada, and across Texas.
Now they have a million signatures and that is just too many to ignore. It’s twice amount garnered the previous record-holder for a campaign of this nature. That was Sense8 with 500,000 signatures. If this continues Netflix may be forced to respond.
If Only Cancelled For Excluding A Gay Character
Netflix has recently been working with a Turkish company called Ay Yapim to produce original content for them. Their most recent effort was supposed to be a series called If Only, however Netflix has cancelled the project after a fight broke out over including a gay character.
The show was supposed to be about a couple in an unhappy marriage and in the scripts for the show a gay character was included. According to the Trades the Turkish government got wind of their plan to make one of the characters gay and refused to allow the show to continue unless the scripts were changed to remove this character.
Netflix probably could have easily removed the character or made a few changes, but instead they’ve opted to cancel the whole thing. They were already pretty deep into pre-production so for Netflix, this means flushing a fair amount of money down the toilet on principle.
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina Cancelled By Netflix
Season 3 of the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina ended on a major cliffhanger and so, Netflix is allowing them to make season 4 to resolve things. But after that, the streaming giant has announced the show is done. Season 4 will be the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’s last as Netflix has officially cancelled the show.
Series star Kiernan Shipka reacted to the Netflix cancellation with this post on Instagram…
Showrunner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa was also upbeat in his reaction to the end of his show…
V-Wars Cancellation – May 31, 2020
Netflix’s run of canceled one and done series continued when they announced that two of the three IDW-produced series on their network would not be returning for a second season. This recent announcement by the streaming giant came after they gave the green light for a second season to IDW’s Locke & Key. The two cancelled series in question (V-Wars, which premiered on December 23, 2019, and October Faction, which debuted on January 23, 2020) continues an upsetting Netflix cancellation trend.
Both V-Wars and October Faction join a long list of series that only made it through their first season. Other recent one and done’ers include AJ and the Queen, Messiah, Spinning Out, Daybreak, and Soundtrack among the many that have seen this same fate.
IDW’s V-Wars drew a Rotten Tomatoes audience rating of 96%, so its cancellation is somewhat surprising. It was picked up straight to series and starred Vampire Diaries and Lost alum Ian Somerhalder as Dr. Luther Swann, who has to deal with the ultimate horror when his best friend, Michael Fayne (played by Adrian Holmes), is hit with a mysterious disease transforming him into a vampire. The disease spreads, transforming others into vampires, pitting the normal people against vampires. Swann finds himself in a race against time trying to determine what is happening and how to combat it while Fayne rises as the underground vampire leader. The series is based on the V-Wars franchise written by New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry.
Fans of the series did not react kindly to the news of the cancellation.
October Faction Cancellation – May 31, 2020
It may be a little easier to see why October Faction was cancelled as critics and audience reaction was not as strong. The audience rating for the Netflix show on Rotten Tomatoes was a mere 49%.
The series was based on an IDW title that was written by Steve Niles. The one season starred Tamara Taylor (Bones, Altered Carbon) and J.C. MacKenzie (The Irishman, Madame Secretary) as married couple Deloris and Fred Allen who also work together hunting monsters. They return to their hometown in upstate New York after the death of Fred’s father and soon discover that their town isn’t as peaceful as it looks. They are joined by their twin teenage children, Viv and Geoff. The Allen’s are part of the Presidio, a secret organization of supernatural monster hunters that wish to remain secret.
The series co-starred Wendie Crewson (The Santa Clause franchise), Aurora Burghart (There She Goes, Sex Education), and Gabriel Darku (American Gods, Impulse). Even though the audience numbers weren’t high, reaction to the cancellation still wasn’t popular.
One thing for certain though when it comes to a new series from Netflix, don’t get attached. Netflix cancellation is always looming. Chances are good it’s a one and done.
