Though there are notable exceptions over the decades the general rule of thumb in TV-land is that once a series is cancelled, it stays cancelled. Fan-power has been known to save a handful of shows, but networks and executives tend to look at whether a show is profitable or not (show-business is business, after all) before felling the axe and if they can’t make it work then the title disappears to the great television station in the sky (or cable reruns, which amounts to the same thing).
Perhaps it’s a sign of how quickly and widely that ‘original programming’ is diversifying and the increase in platforms available that several victims of the 2018 primetime bloodbath have now been plucked from development hell into redevelopment heaven. NBC picked up Brooklyn Nine Nine from FOX and Amazon have stepped in to save the critically-acclaimed The Expanse which had not been renewed at SyFy.
Now Netflix has just confirmed the campaign to save Lucifer (another ex-FOX show) had also been successful. Even the most hardy fans had been skeptical as to whether the show could be resurrected: almost every avenue had apparently been explored over the last month and even though the show ( a procedural cop show of sorts, mixing the saga of the fallen angel’s misadventures in modern Los Angeles) had been popular and its fanbase loud, no-one appeared willing to roll the dice on saving its soul. It appears Netflix thought long and hard and ultimately decided to grant it a new run of episodes – effectively the show’s fourth season. At this point it appears the full creative team in front of and behind the camera will be returning.
Star Tom Ellis announced the news via Twitter after hinting that he had renewed hope a deal was being worked upon and he personally thanked the fans for their campaign and other co-stars such as Tricia Helfer quickly followed suit.
No news yet on the final fate of another on-the-bubble show, Timeless.
