Raise your hand if you have ever been personally victimized by Netflix or Disney; I certainly have. The story always starts the same: a new show with an interesting plot ends on a cliffhanger. The show gains popularity, and fans are certain that this show will survive. Unfortunately for them, the show is canceled, and the plot is never resolved. This has happened to me countless times: Dead Boy Detectives, The Society, Willow and The Acolyte, and yet, I never learn my lesson. But why are these popular shows getting canceled so fast?
I think it has something to do with the budget of these new streaming shows. The studios are throwing tons of money at these projects and expecting to make all of the money back right away. When the studios deem their shows a commercial failure, even if they are popular, they are axed without a second thought. In order to save money, some studios cancel and completely remove shows from their libraries to stop paying residuals.
According to television producer and writer Mike Schur, “They kind of tricked everybody. Now if you get to 20 episodes, it’s a miracle.” Studios promised showrunners bonuses for more seasons, but they cancel shows before they could make those seasons.
A key factor when determining whether or not to cancel is the completion rate. The completion rate is the percentage of viewers who have watched a show in its entirety compared to initial viewership. Shows with low completion rates, like First Kill and Resident Evil, were canceled despite popularity. Netflix smash hits, like Squid Game and Heartstopper, have some of the highest completion rates with 87% and 73% respectively. These high percentages practically guarantee that Netflix will make its money back with every season released. Studios are also expecting a Stranger Things level hit right away, without giving the shows time to grow and gain a following over seasons.
Ratings and fan approval are more ways for studios to decide on a show’s fate. But this metric is extremely susceptible to a technique called review bombing. Review bombing is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the flooding of a website with usually negative reviews.” Shows that have diversity and representation are the most common targets of review bombing. Willow and The Acolyte are recent Lucasfilm projects that have been review bombed and canceled. Both shows have diverse casts, and Willow has LGBTQIA representation. A one-star review left on The Acolyte reads, “Disney is too busy pandering to a biased left wing hate cult that won’t watch this. Star wars main fan base is heterosexual males, keep pandering to minorities and Disney/Star Wars /Marvel won’t have a fan base in the near future.”
So what can fans do to protect their favorite shows from being canceled? They can continuously watch all the episodes of the show. They can use social media to spread the word, gain popularity and grow their fan base. Studios want shows to bring in more viewers to gain ad revenue, so increasing its viewership will help protect it from cancellation.
