Netflix Chief On Cancelling ‘Everything Sucks’ & ‘Lady Dynamite’, Rescuing ‘Lucifer’ & ‘Shadowhunters’ Future – TCA
Netflix’s April cancelation of coming-of-age dramedy Everything Sucks after one season triggered an outpouring of fans who called on the Internet network to reverse its decision.
The 1990s-set series premiered to mixed reviews but developed the passionate following streaming platforms covet. Why was then the series canceled?
“I’m really passionate about the show myself,” Netflix VP original content Cindy Holland said during the network’s executive session. “We take the cancellation decisions as personally as anybody.”
She acknowledged Everything Sucks’ “passionate audience” but “because we were seeing a much low completion rate of the whole season, we realized that it is very unlikely that we would be able to grow the audience, move a whole new audience through the show and have a large enough audience to justify a season 2,” Holland told Deadline.
On the flip side, Netflix picked up a series with a passionate fan following that had been canceled by another network, drama Lucifer.
“Lucifer is a fantastic show that has really resonated with audiences in parts of the world, so we felt it was important for our licensing team to try to help that show continue for our fans,” Holland said.
While #SaveLucifer campaign ended successfully with Netflix picking up the show after its cancellation by Fox, #SaveShadowhunters is still in full swing as fans are reeling from Freeform’s decision not to order a fourth season, largely because series producer Constantin Film lost its SVOD deal with Netflix for that show and couldn’t produce it for the same license fee.
“Shadowhunters is a fFreeform show,” Holland said. “I do know the are are another 12 episodes coming to Netflix in 2019.”
Beyond she did not address the series’ future but did not that “it has a very active fan base. I probably get 100 emails or more personally.”
And before you ask, Holland said she was not aware of any Netflix discussions about picking up Timeless. The time-travel drama recently ended its efforts to find a new home after the NBC cancellation.
Holland had only great things to say about Netflix’s underrated comedy series Lady Dynamite, which was not renewed for a third season.
“Lady Dynamite is a show’s that’s really near and dear to my heart,” she said. “Even though it’s realistic, it’s really touching and funny exploration of mental illness, and I think it has an important message to say. Ultimately, we all felt that Season 2 was the right time to end that story.”
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