What to Binge This Weekend: You've Got to Stream 'Constantine' to Save 'Constantine'

Typically, binge-viewing is considered a way to catch up on a show you may have missed, either after its run or before the beginning of the next season. This weekend, though, bingers have the opportunity to potentially save a show that’s facing cancellation. The series that’s under the axe is NBC’s Constantine, an adaptation of the long-running comic book series Hellblazer that debuted in the fall to disappointing reviews and ratings.

Still, even though the network declined to order any episodes past the initial 13 that were produced, they also haven’t officially canned the show. And according to Constantine co-creator Daniel Cerone, fans now have the chance to issue a stay of execution. Yesterday, Cerone informed the world via Twitter that, starting April 24, NBC would be making Constantine’s entire 13-episode run available for free on NBC.com, Hulu, and VOD services for a limited window of time.

Aside from the “limited window of time” thing, there’s another reason not to delay your Constantine binge: In a follow-up Tweet, Cerone indicated that he’ll be meeting with the network the following Monday, April 27 to sell them on a Season 2. One imagines that walking into that meeting with sizeable streaming numbers will definitely aid his argument.

Cerone has a powerful ally in his plea for bingers — Geek God William Shatner, who has expressed his admiration for Constantine in the past and encouraged his 2.5 million Twitter followers to devote 13 hours of their life to resurrecting an otherwise doomed show.

However it winds up shaking out, this is a bold binge-viewing experiment that illustrates just how extensively our TV consumption habits have changed, as well as the continuously evolving relationship between a show’s creator and his or her audience. Believe it or not, if you binge on Constantine this weekend, you may just become a part of TV history.

All 13 episodes of Constantine are streaming on NBC.com and Hulu.