Fan-Power: Saving Shows From Cancellation
With the internet providing an abundance of viewing modes today, television series are being binged more than ever. These shows are made to appeal to fans and, therefore, make money. Although, since there are so many television channels and streaming sites, the amount of content has increased and we now live in the “new, new TV golden age”<sub>1</sub> – an era that has been slowly developing since the 1980’s, when television finally began creating “program(s) for demographics instead of mass numbers”<sub>2</sub>. It’s a time in which, Alan Sepinwall fears, there may be “too much good television”<sub>1</sub>.
However, with great content comes great responsibility – to your fans that is. Loyal followers of TV shows do not like being taken off guard with series cancellations. A good example is the uproar from fans when Fox cop-comedy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, was taken off the air. The show’s cast agreed that their most recent season (five) – before being cancelled – was “our strongest” yet, with Melissa Fumero, aka the show’s Amy Santiago, admitting “there’s still a lot of story to tell”<sub>3</sub>. Chelsea Peretti, who plays Gina Linetti in the show, said cancellation news spread to the cast “like wildfire”<sub>3</sub>. If the news was fire, the fans were gasoline – especially the adults aged 18-49, whose loyalty made Brooklyn Nine-Nine “Fox’s highest-rated live-action comedy series this season”<sub>4</sub>.
Even with such a large following, the show’s license fee was too expensive for Fox, at “around $1.9 million an episode”<sub>4</sub>. But that wasn’t going to stop a total social media take over, fuelled by outraged and saddened fans, who were sure their viewership was enough to keep the show going. Within an hour of the news breaking, it was the topic of discussion on a variety of platforms<sub>6</sub>, with the show sitting at number one on the trending Twitter topics by that same afternoon<sub>5</sub>.
Fans argued that a show this funny, sweet, inclusive and that dealt with real-world issues while featuring a diverse cast, didn’t deserve to be taken off the air. Not only that, but their following equated to a successful series, even on the numbers side of things. Whilst Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s live ratings were average, it’s Live+7 ratings were “very good” according to the show’s co-creator Dan Goor<sub>7</sub>. The Live+7 rating refers to the number of viewers within a week of the episode airing<sub>6</sub>. Goor also added that their popularity on streaming sites such as Hulu makes their fan-base quite substantial<sub>7</sub>, but it does all come back to turning a profit and popularity doesn’t always equal success. For example, the show’s fifth season didn’t air on Australian Netflix until September 2018 – by then, the show had already been cancelled, picked back up, and the cast had already begun filming the next season. Therefore, no live or Live+7 ratings would’ve came from Netflix Australia.
It’s likely Fox judged the show’s popularity on these ratings and assumed the following was declining. It seems they didn’t consider this delay for international steaming sites, the lag between seasons, the changing segment times the show aired on television, or any number of reasons why the hit series wasn’t seeing a monetary return. Looking at profit alone, the network may have predicted that Brooklyn Nine-Nine could become too expensive to continue running.
But this isn’t the first show to experience such an injustice. Clearly Fox’s predictions were wrong, as so many fans speaking out on the show’s behalf proves it’s continued popularity. Thankfully NBC picked up the show, just 31 hours after the public learned it was to be cancelled<sub>7</sub>. When the tweet announcing the NBC take over went public, Dan Goor said it was all thanks to the fans<sub>8</sub>. Terry Crews, who plays the show’s Terry Jeffords, also thanked fans, saying “there’s never been a greater example of the difference between (how a network judges) ratings, and what people are actually watching”. In a recent interview<sub>3</sub>, Andy Samberg, otherwise know as Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Jake Peralta, backed the show in, hoping for many more future seasons.
The whole situation make one ponder just how powerful fans can be. Obviously, yes, they control the shows ratings by choosing to watch. But with such an uproar on social media, they managed to convince a large-scale network – that had originally sold off the show to Fox in the first place – to pick Brooklyn Nine-Nine back up, in it’s sixth season, in just a day and a half!
Other shows, like Lucifer, Chuck and Medium<sub>12</sub> faced a similar fate when their respective networks threatened to take them off the air. However, they too had fans to thank for an uproar that caused the shows to be picked back up. Some film sequels/series have also been made possible by fan engagement. Television personality, Ellen DeGeneres, is to credit for the 2016 Finding Nemo sequel, Finding Dory. It was her constant mentioning of the successful first film on her social media and popular talk show that got the ball rolling for its follow-up. Once she’d put the idea in her fan’s minds, the whole idea for a sequel began to gain more traction until Pixar finally decided to make it a reality.
There’s also been cases where fan backlash has captured the network’s attention, but not enough to revive the original show. The cancellation of the popular Sense8 series caused outrage among fans and was then awarded a 2 hour wrap-up episode as a result. Raven’s Home, the spin-off from the now cancelled popular 2000’s predecessor, That’s So Raven is another unique example. Fan uproar wasn’t enough to bring back to show in 2007 when its fourth season became its last. Although, viewer loyalty was still present 10 years later as fans were thrilled to hear about the spin-off and have given the show a positive reception – it’s second season aired this year. Even reviews from The Post<sub>10</sub> and Common Sense Media<sub>11</sub> have labelled the spin-off a success among fans. Other older shows that saw successful reboots after years off the air include Will and Grace, Twin Peaks, Fame, Baywatch and Arrested Development<sub>12</sub>.
Still, there are often cases when even the fan’s protesting has no effect on the network’s decision. Despite several fan petitions and a huge call for it, Vampire Academy was denied a sequel. Popular Fox series, Last Man on Earth, was cut short after only four short seasons, even with its 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans took to social media to express their disappointment but still Fox stood by its decision to end the show.
In the same respect, fans are also comfortable chiming in when a show has been on the air for too long. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is still growing in terms of character development and relationships, so fans are excited to see what’s next. Whereas, the eight-year-old zombie series, The Walking Dead, seems to have run its course (according to fans). Whilst there have been no rumours of cancellation and the producers are still talking in terms of years ahead, it’s clear to see the series is declining<sub>13</sub>. In season seven, the show killed of beloved characters Glenn Rhee and Abraham Ford and has seen a decline in ratings ever since. The Walking Dead is also losing viewers due to it’s protagonist, Rick Grimes (played by Andrew Lincoln).
The writers anchored the show following Rick’s arc<sub>13</sub> – a problem in itself since this takes screen time away from other important character’s and events relevant to the plot. Worse still, Lincoln has decided to leave the series due to family matters<sub>14</sub>, meaning the network faces a ninth season with no lead (and barely a single character fit to replace him due to the show’s focus on Rick). Some publications argue it’s “time to kill of the whole show”<sub>15</sub> and fans are seeming to agree. One Facebook user stated “if Rick goes, I go,” and others admitting “every good thing must come to an end – one follower of the show even begged “please end the show at the end of season nine and put us all out of our misery.”<sub>16</sub> It’ll be interesting to see how the ninth season pans out next year – will fan engagement have the same impact it has had before? If fans can pull a show back on air, can they reverse it and push a show to end?
So, where is the line? Yes, television is made to be watched, but how much of a role do fans really play and what does it take to make a network change their mind? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Cited
- The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers, and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever”. Alan Sepinwall (book)
- Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University’s Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture (quote)
- TVLine’s San Diego Comic Con interview with eight of the show’s main cast (video)
- “‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Saved: NBC Picks Up Comedy After Fox Cancellation”. Nellie Andreeva, Deadline (online article)
- “Fans are furious about ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ being canceled, but it could get picked up by Hulu”. John Lynch, Business Insider Australia (online article)
- “Why ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ fans are taking its cancellation so hard”. Emily Yahr, The Washington Post (online article)
- “Brooklyn Nine-Nine Boss Teases the 99th Episode and the Show’s Future”. Tim Surette, TV Guide (interview/online article)
- @djgoor Twitter announcement (tweet)
- “Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 6 definitely WON’T be the last season ever”. Sam Warner, Digital Spy (online article)
- “TV Review: ‘Raven’s Home’ brings back charm of ‘That’s So Raven'”. Georgia Davis. The Post, Athens (online review)
- “Raven’s Home”. Emily Ashby. Common Sense Media (online review)
- TVLine website (online galleries)
- “‘The Walking Dead’: What the Hell Happened to This Show?”. Noel Murray. Rolling Stone (online article)
- “Andrew Lincoln Explains Why He’s Leaving ‘The Walking Dead’”. Ellis Clopton. Variety (online article)
- “The Walking Dead without Rick? It’s surely time to kill off the whole show”. Luke Holland. The Guardian (newspaper article: online)
- “The Walking Dead: After Andrew Lincoln departs, can the show survive the death of its main hero?”. ABC News (online article)
What do you think? Leave a comment.
If B99 was so profitable, why did Fox cancel it to begin with?
Inge – because it wasn’t profiting in the traditional way Fox expected. You can’t measure a show’s success by its Live+7 rating, you need to consider online watchers/streamers, international fans and others who view the episodes outside of that week after airing (Live+7). Plus, its popularity goes beyond profit – the characters it portrays and the messages it sends make it an important cop comedy that stands in a league of its own.
I have an ex who works in casting, and she has heard that the creators have bumped heads with some of the Fox Entertainment staff… basically they wanted to tone down some of the liberal ideology of the show, and focus a bit more on criminality. From my research I couldn’t find any validation of that and rumors in hollywood are almost always taken with a grain of salt (and yet so often based in reality in some way)… but I gathered the show’s rights were not entirely owned by Fox, and that streaming rights and other dividends ended up going to Hulu and Universal (I think?) so Fox wasn’t getting what they felt was their fair share of the deal. Probably was a mixed deal. Fox gives a lot of latitude to some of their more successful shows in terms of how liberal they want to be (attracts a higher audience #, and frankly the ad revenue targeting liberal audiences tends to be higher then the ad revenue of shows targeting mostly conservative audiences for what should be obvious reasons) but when Fox doesn’t feel like they are being treated fairly they’ll just cut.
For the record I have access to Hulu and Fox (through my cable company) and would always go to Hulu first… Fox’s streaming site is ALWAYS buggy for me.
“they wanted to tone down some of the liberal ideology of the show, and focus a bit more on criminality.”
I haven’t heard that, but I can easily believe it.
There are sly moments of Conservatism hidden in B99. A favorite of mine came when Sergeant Amy Santiago, who LOVES government rules, needed a document to get married. But to receive Document A she required Document B. Problem was that she needed Document B to get Document A.
Convinced the problem was her inability to understand the rules, Amy tracked down the retired City Offical who wrote the regulation. Santiago was shocked to discover the woman as a morbidly obese, bitter, Cat Lady. “Yes, that’s a terribly written law. Who cares? We just shove that crap through.”
In the current television landscape, the cancellation of television shows isn’t always certain death!
Cruz – absolutely. I think that’s where Fox had it wrong, they forgot to consider the show’s popularity outside of live views. Traditional television is certainly changing!
Family guy needs to be canceled and stay canceled.
Marjory – interesting point. While a great series like Brooklyn Nine-Nine faced the threat of cancellation, shows like Family Guy (which is commonly seen as overdone and outplayed) remained safe. It makes you wonder…
Supernatural was cancelled after three seasons and fans, including myself, invaded the internet to save it. It’s now in its 12th season. Save successful.
Isaac – success! It shows the power we, as fans, truly have.
Simpsons was almost cancelled, but the talent took pay cuts to save the repreative show.
Deandre – wow I didn’t know that. An interesting approach, great effort from those voice actors!
To be honest, I’d never even heard of Brooklyn 99 until the resultant uproar after it got canceled. Decided to look it up on Hulu, and I’m glad I did. Great show. Genuinely funny, diverse, a show with a prominent black gay character without constantly bashing you over the head with his blackness or gayness, etc. My wife and I love binging on it before bed.
Latl – I agree, it’s a fantastic show! I’m so glad something positive, like the addition of new fans, came from the whole thing. The new season comes out soon and my partner and I will also be binging it!
I still want Constantine back… It was a great show… Even my husband watched and he’s not into sci-fi.
Liz – it’s crazy how those great shows can bring in all types of audiences. I feel like Brooklyn Nine-Nine is the same, which is why I’m so glad it’s back! Sadly all good things have to come to an end, though.
Community’s death was by far the ugliest of a show’s death I’ve ever seen. Great show but the fourth season was awful, they lost Chevy mid season, season 5 took forever to come out and even then they lost another beloved character. Then the year long hiatus and move to whatever tf yahoo screen was. Honestly it should’ve been given at least a 7th season to make up for it all and tie up the loose ends. The 6th season wasn’t even that bad.
Mireya – it’s shame how wrong they can get it some times! Community was awesome, it deserved a much better ending.
Brooklyn nine-nine should’ve stayed cancelled, no idea what people see in that show.
Crist – my friends and I like it. For me, it’s the diversity and character development that makes it so great.
I love Veronica Mars, Sense8, Community and Brooklyn 99… all saved by the lovely fans.
Yang – so awesome to see how much of an impact we fans can make!
Fox always cancels great shows.
karma – yep! Poor Brooklyn Nine-Nine was just one example.
A firefly franchise is not enough! We needed more seasons
Yoshie – I haven’t seen it, but that opinion seems to be very popular among fans! It’s unfortunate the show wasn’t on air for longer.
B99 being saved was a true miracle that I did not expect. I was both angry and very happy, angry because of the cancellation, but happy it’s finally out of Fox’s evil clutches. Fox sucks for never promoting B99 and basically neglecting the show, and also, for neglecting Firefly for no fucking reason whatsoever, and then murdering it. I’m thankful to NBC for saving B99 but pissed for the cancellation of Community. I know things worked out in the end but, whatever. I’m still waiting for that movie tho.
MiLES – I didn’t expect it either! I’m also glad the show is away from Fox, Brooklyn Nine-Nine deserves the attention NBC is giving it. Poor Firefly and Community! Fingers crossed for a movie.
The fans of tv show Chuck were so devoted that Subway jumped in as the main sponsor and practically funded it.
Shandi – I didn’t know that, that’s awesome! It’s amazing the impact a great show can make.
One of my favorite TVShows of all time!!! Would love for it to return or at least get some TV movies made to get the gang back together.
Brooklyn nine nine is my favorite show to watch on hulu, it’s really the only reason I’m still paying for the service, that and Bob’s burgers.
CASE – both hilarious shows! I’m a fan of them too.
Personally, I wonder where were the fans of “Quantum Leap” and “Amazing Stories” when those shows were cancelled? How tragic that was!
Leora – I think social media played a massive part in this case. Perhaps if those shows had been around in 2018, the loyal fans could’ve had a loud enough voice (online) to bring them back. Indeed, where were the fans, since social media wasn’t an option?
Interesting article! The interaction between content creators, tv studios and viewer is fascinating to discuss/unravel in the modern television and media landscape.
Sean Gadus – thanks! Absolutely, with the online world so fast-paced and ever-changing, now is a more interesting time than ever to discuss the topic.
A good essay. I guess those , however, are footnotes.
Joseph Cernik – thanks. This is my first article and struggled a little with citing/referencing!
We need to bring back Lucifer!!
Horacio – another show cut short too soon! We fans deserve better.
Again, a good piece. An interesting topic. Footnoting was difficult for me the first time. Just think that after a sentence, paragraph, or quote to use [ref] [/ref] and in-between the [ref] and [/ref] insert your information. I usually do a copy and paste so anyone wanting to find a source essentially has the Internet address (unless I refer to non-Internet used sources). In that case I use a formal footnoting style (I prefer Chicago Manual or what is commonly known as Turban Style). What threw me off at first was that the [ref] came first then [/ref] with the / second.
Joseph Cernik – ah okay. Will look at this more in my next piece. Thank you!
Brooklyn 99s renewal probably was helped by celebrities as well.
riggeh – for sure! Andy probably has the biggest fan base, with people following him for both his music and his acting, next to Terry of course. But the other actors and even celebrity fans all helped create a voice for the show and eventually get it back on the air.
I’m still waiting for Timeless to be renewed for a 3rd season. NBC would be crazy not to renew it. And I’m hoping someone should save Lucifer. FOX shouldn’t have cancelled Lucifer.
Sade – it seems there’s now so many different ways of consuming content that some shows miss out. We simply don’t have time to follow every show but it still sucks when one we really like (that isn’t necessarily mainstream or overly popular) gets cancelled! Definitely goes to show the responsibility we, as fans, have in terms of communicating with the networks.
Us former Family Guy fans made a huge mistake.
Peak – it’s crazy how some shows have gone on forever and others get cut far too short! It’ll be interesting to see how long Brooklyn Nine-Nine will go for, now that it’s been picked back up.
Although I’ve never seen any of the series mentioned in your article, I too can attest to the power of the fanbase when faced with the cancellation of a favourite series or show. Back in the early 2000s there was an excellent, if slightly weird, sci-fi series ‘Farscape’ that was prematurely cancelled at the end of its fourth series, leaving the fans angry and despondent. Even the show’s producer, David Kemper described the series as “A house 80% painted”. What followed was a concerted campaign, driven by fans, to save Farscape. Mass emailing, the purchase of advertising slots in trade papers, a huge web based co-operative that just wouldn’t take ‘No’ for an answer, kept up the pressure – and it resulted in the Farscape returning as a mini-series that, at the very least least, tied up a majority of the loose ends. The mini-series was described as a ‘love letter’ to the fans. The point of this ramble is to highlight the fact that the internet can act as a dual edged sword, with power to wield its might on both sides. Fans are literate and educated and once mobilised, can produce amazing results.
Amyus – wow I didn’t know that! That’s awesome, it’s so cool to know fans had this same sort of voice even before social media got so popular. I guess it’s true – where there’s a will, there’s a way (and hardcore fans will find it)!
Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ – one of the best!!!
HookUpGeek – I agree! So excited for the new season.
I find early cancellations of shows challenging, due to jumping on the bandwagon of popular shows late. Therefore, by the time I watch them they are usually cancelled. Although, I must say I have been a fan of Brooklyn nine nine from the beginning and I am very happy it was picked back up.
I find early cancellations of shows challenging, due to jumping on the bandwagon of popular shows late. Therefore, by the time I watch them they are usually cancelled. Although, I must say I have been a fan of Brooklyn nine nine from the beginning and I am very happy that NBC picked it up
Indigo Jones – yes I have the same problem! It’s tempting to just watch older shows that are now finished, but there’s too much high-quality content being produced today to just ignore. I’m glad NBC picked it up too, I even think the whole cancellation scare might’ve prompted more people to see what the hype is all about (and become new fans)! So it all worked out for the best, thankfully.
Nice article. I’d be interested to see more of the flip side–that is, what makes fans think a show has been on the air for too long, and why sometimes networks won’t listen even when the series has clearly run its course (besides the obvious, money). For instance, I am a huge fan of Once Upon a Time, owning 6 seasons on DVD and having an entire board dedicated to it on Pinterest, among other things. But even I had to admit season seven was a clunker. I hated the vitriol I saw from other fans regarding this, but still… Anyway, nice work on a strong topic.
Stephanie M. – totally agree, that would be interesting to explore further! I’m the same with The Big Bang Theory, I bought all the seasons on DVD and heaps of merch but it’s definitely run its course. It’s hard to tell what’s popular, with every person’s taste being so different. Thanks!
interesting
jayjayhutch – thanks! I thought it was a pretty interesting topic to write about too.
Probably with fan’s support there is less emphasis on quality than on quantity.
AthenDawn – it gets tricky when it comes to these wildly popular shows. The fans want quality, they expect to see the great show the love. But at the same time, they often struggle to wait for it. Mid-season hiatuses and end of season breaks are complained about, but if these shows didn’t have those rest periods – if they kept pumping out episodes as fast as possible – I’m sure we’d see a decline in quality. It’s difficult to find that balance.
We already have declined in quality on many streaming platforms, Netflix is one of them.
AthenDawn – yep, both the audience and industry are so unpredictable. You never know what to expect, from old school television and from the newer streaming platforms!
I definitely believe it’s important for there to be communication between a show/movie’s crew and their fanbase, especially with the power of social media. It can allow for feedback, in which the creatives can look at constructive criticism (which admittedly can be drowned out by all the vapid hate on the Internet) and filter it to their future efforts on the project. It can also allow for more transparency of tv show productions, allowing audiences to see behind the scenes processes, which can both educate and inspire. Animation in particular I believe could benefit significantly from this, and has been done by creatives such the people working on Cuphead, Netflix Castlevania, Newgrounds animators, etc.
Two other great examples of fans helping to revive shows are Samurai Jack season 5 (though to be fair, Adult Swim is the network that picked it up, not entirely sure if it was directly or indirectly from fan support) and Young Justice season 3. YJ’s viewings on Netflix, encouraged by the show’s developers themselves, had increased and been frequent enough to convince Netflix to produce a third season. Though it was later moved to DC’s streaming platform, the show’s continuation is a miracle that showcased a fanbase’s power.
However, there are negative aspects such as harassment from fans that have become prevalent, especially on platforms such as Twitter. The reception to The Last Jedi is an example, in which actress Kelly Tran received constant harassment on Instagram for her character, and more recently, the lead actor of Bandersnatch, Will Poulter, quit Twitter due to online harassment.
All in all, I believe there should be a moderate relationship between creators and their fans that allow for beneficial outcomes to both parties. The toxicity should be discouraged and mitigated, enabling creators to see feedback they can hopefully find helpful to their work, and fans can be provided more entertainment.
ImperatorSage – absolutely! Feedback is essential to make sure the content is being received well and the direction for the future is appropriate. It’s such a shame there’s so much negativity online, it only takes a few ignorant people to overstep the line and ruin it for the talent as well as the fans.
I love this concept, but we couldn’t save ‘Firefly’ and I’m still waiting for the ‘Veronica Mars’ reboot, so I’m not sure how much this works.
SaraiMW – I feel Firefly is one of the examples that comes up again and again; cut too short and so many upset by the loss. The only reasoning I can offer, that makes it the exception, is the show’s timeframe. It was on-air before social media’s reign. It mightn’t have been a case of Brooklyn Nine-Nine having more fans, but rather just recent years giving those fans a platform to protest the show’s cancellation?
Once Upon A Time is another great show that sadly, also had its main characters leaving and yet the network continued it with one more season, despite fans arguing it was better to end it with season six.
The Walking Dead seems to still be in for questioning; to be or not to be.
Yvonna Tapia – I’ve had Once Upon a Time come up quite often when I talk about Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s revival. Like B99, it also seems to have quite a number of fans.
As for The Walking Dead, only time will tell. We shall wait and see
I still can’t believe The Simpsons and Family Guy have been renewed season after season while other shows have been canned from the get-go.
Timeless wasn’t given a good chance of survival – despite fans creating an uproar – it just wasn’t loud enough to reach the ears of the station heads.
I’ll be forever grateful to the fans who protested the cancellation of Supernatural – as I’m currently enjoying season 14!
Sadly, I have all of season 9 of The Walking Dead ready to watch – but after hearing that Andrew Lincoln was leaving during their season 8/9 hiatus, I figured I may as well not watch the new season, since we only have Carol and Daryl from the original cast left and their stories had been floundering for the past couple of seasons.
I will end up watching them, but probably as a farewell. I think the show should have ended the year Negan arrived as the show went downhill in a dustcart after the killing of Glenn and Abraham. It’s not the same show anymore and hadn’t been for the last couple of seasons.
NotKoreaBoo – It’s crazy isn’t it! I don’t mind The Simpsons, but both it and Family Guy being renewed year after year doesn’t make much sense to me. Makes you wonder what the network is thinking…
Such a shame about Timeless. Two season just isn’t enough time to find your niche, develop your characters and tell your whole story.
Yay Supernatural! I’m yet to catch up on it actually…
The Walking Dead is interesting because it’s almost the opposite. While Brooklyn Nine-Nine was almost cut short, it seems TWD has gone on too long and they’re running out of content. It’s also hard with that genre because you know there’s a high chance some of your favourites won’t make it through the series. So when they do get killed off, we often lose interest
I feel like I invest so much in shows that end up getting canceled
AccordingtoJazz – me too! It’s no wonder fans were outraged by Brooklyn Nine Nine’s cancellation
A very interesting article! I loved the phrase: If the news was fire, the fans were gasoline.
HannahTurner – thanks. I couldn’t help myself, it’s just so true in the case of Brooklyn Nine Nine and so many other shows!
I think this is a really interesting article but in comparison, many shows that have huge following have not always been successful in saving their tv shows. I feel Shadowhunters is a great example of this where even though tonnes of money, funding and advertising was put towards saving the show they were still unsuccessful. So whilst I feel fans are important in saving the shows, I feel there are other factors that contribute particularly storylines, costs, ratings, actors and actresses ect
ezara – such a good point. I wanted to focus on Brooklyn Nine Nine because I thought it was quite different, the fans actually won!
Such an interesting topic of discussion.
SaraElsa – glad you agree 🙂
Great article! I think sometimes it takes a big reaction from a big group of people, for Fox to realize what they have going for them and what they don’t.
brittanynieman – exactly! Power in numbers 🙂
I’m not surprised that fans have caused an uproar for some series that have been cancelled. For some, these shows are outlets, like how reading and sports are outlets for others. Take away that outlet – chain reaction. Great read!
sophiebernard – absolutely! People power can make a real difference. Thanks! 🙂
I think it’s wonderful that fans of different tv shows can from time to time have an opportunity to be heard by the producers. Not only through ratings, but voicing concerns and showing support for different shows can really make a difference, and it’s cool when it happens.
sarahjae – it’s interesting, isn’t it? We often think we, as consumers, have no impact. But clearly we actually do!
Although ratings are obviously still the main reason for a shows continuation or cancellation, fan loyalty is getting more important essentially with teen tv shows
BrigetteH – for sure! I also think the rise in social media and a greater emphasis on two-way communication has really helped give us, the audience, a stronger leg to stand on.
Transporter: The Series is another one such show that was simply cancelled just as it was coming into it’s own. I think Chris Vance was splendid. Will we ever get a third season? Someday, I hope.
The Snyder Cut(2021), possibly as a six-episode miniseries as per some reports, is also proof that the powers that be do listen if enough noise is made.
Dr. Vishnu Unnithan – I’ve never seen that one, I will have to check it out. Although, I’ve recently finished watching Veronica Mars, and it seems it has a series, got cancelled, was brought back, and also has a wrap-up movie? So there’s some hope for a third season of your series too. Fingers crossed!
As a fan its hard to accept that a show is over sometimes. Its just interesting because, when a show is cancelled and fans protest its cancellation, is that going to generate new fans? Once the show is put back on the air after fan-base lobbying, is it guaranteed to be more successful? It seems a risky move to bring back shows, if they were cancelled for genuine reasons of low-ratings and whatnot.
A great read, by the way!!
leersens – I totally agree! Hearing that B99 has decided to wrap up filming, just this week, has been devastating. Yeah it’s tough to say with the way ratings work I think! But I’m sure the movement on social media would’ve attracted some attention (e.g. if a non-fan saw everyone fighting for the show, maybe they’d be more inclined to watch and see what all the fuss is about?). It’s tough to say because I’ve been looking through the lens of a fan. Thank you!
No one should ever underestimate the power of a fanbase. Event though they haven’t succeeded yet, I keep thinking about the Daredevil fans. I loved Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and The Punisher. I understood why they were cancelled and the politics of rights ownership, but the fans fought an epic battle. Vincent D’Onofrio (Kingpin) pushed a petition to bring the show back. The petition was signed by over 400,000 fans. The fans even payed to put up advertisements on billboards in Times Square with the #SaveDaredevil. I believe that now that Disney has the rights back, Daredevil and some of the other Defenders’ shows will return. Disney heard the fans’ cries. There are rumors of Charlie Cox (Daredevil) returning in the new Spider-Man film. If that happens, there is no way that the fans will let him slip through their fingers again.
*Even
Sorry for the spelling error.
RaeganSmith – wow I had no idea! That’s such an impressive effort. Sadly sometimes the politics get in the way, which is unfortunate! But I agree, hopefully Disney can bring it back (especially if there’s so much interest from fans still!). I’ll be crossing my fingers with you to hope it comes back! Thanks for your comment.
Very interesting article. I knew that fans campaigned for the Brooklyn Nine-Nine renewal, but I didn’t realise just how large the campaign was.
I think it’s interesting that modern technologies both contribute to and combat TV show cancellation. The invention of streaming services means that more shows than ever are being created, and this competition results in more shows than ever getting cancelled, but social media has also been an instrumental part of revival campaigns.