The Cancellation Season That Wasn’t
The 2018 Spring cancellation season was brutal, but suddenly all the shows that we thought were slaughtered in their prime are finding new life.
The cancellation season got off to a rough start with the untimely death of Brooklyn Nine Nine, but within 24 hours it was revived by NBC. In my thirty years of television viewing, I’ve never seen something like that happen before. The collective outrage at the show’s unjust murder brought it back to life before many people even realized it’d been axed. Honestly, the brief brush with death was probably the best thing that ever happened for its viewership. I marathoned all the current seasons in about two and a half weeks and many of my friends are doing the same. NINE NINE!
But it wasn’t the only show to be resurrected from death this cancellation season. The Expanse was renewed for a fourth season by Amazon after being cancelled by SyFy. Much like Brooklyn Nine Nine, The Expanse has been praised for its diverse cast as well as its enthusiastic fanbase. Emboldened by the renewal of the popular cop comedy show, The Expanse fandom amplified their efforts for a show pick up and found success with the quickly expanding online streaming service. One show being brought back is stunning, but two shows being resurrected like this is unprecedented.
Now we’ve reached a third TV show resurrection with Lucifer. The popular supernatural show, like The Expanse, has found new life with an online streaming service. This time it’s Netflix to the rescue! The Lucifer fandom is also not easily defeated by the cancellation season beast, it seems. The shift to online streaming services is also interesting to note as it solidifies the ongoing debate about the future of television. Shows that wouldn’t last long with traditional network programming standards (often outdated for today’s media consumers) have a chance to thrive online, which has an entirely different model of success.
Will Lucifer be the last show to be revived this season? Do other shows from earlier seasons have a chance? Can we still #SaveHannibal? Who knows. But the future looks much brighter now than it did a year ago in regards to saving our favorites from annihilation. NINE NINE!
Author: Angel Wilson
Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They identify as queer.
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I’ve to agree with you here…in fact I’ve still hope for #SaveShadowhunters to find a new *unconventional home* now, like Netflix & co, but also for #SaveGotham (forced to come to an early end by Fox) & even as you said for older great series as #SaveHannibal, #SaveBorgias & #SaveDracula.
Luckily these days tv numbers aren’t the only thing to count, & we’ve examples of classic series as Gilmore Girls or The X-Files that have lately found a new home…then fingers crossed! ;-P)