Netflix announced last week the cancellation of its mind-bending sci fi series The OA which has led fans of the show to launch a campaign lobbying for at least one more season of the cult-favorite. The OA debuted on the streaming service in late 2016 without much fanfare, but the show was relatively well-received by critics (holding a 77% Fresh Rating on Rotten Tomatoes for its first season) and it slowly started to build up a fanbase. By its second year, critical approval rose even higher (to a 92% Fresh Rating) and the show had developed a dedicated and very loyal following. Unfortunately, Netlix has been in the churn mode the last few years (more on that at this link), cancelling shows after two or three seasons because they are no longer driving subscribers to the service while cranking out new originals to bump up the subscription rate. The OA followz other shows like Sense8, Santa Clarita Diet, and the Defenders entries that ended after three seasons or less.
But fans are not letting the show go quietly as that are currently taking to social media to lobby for the streaming service to at least give it a final season to resolve the cliffhanger that it ended on. The hashtags #SaveTheOA and #TheOAisReal have been top trenders on Twitter since the announcement, and fans continue to make a push for the show on the social networks. There is also an online poll at Change.org that had surpassed 55K signatures as of this writing. Plus, there is a Go Fund Me campaign to raise money for a billboard in Time Square that has exceeded its goal. Fans of Sense8 were able to get a series finale after Netflix cancelled that show, so there is definitely hope that the campaign to save The OA could have positive results.
And there is more that can be done to help the show. In addition to just getting it trending, fans should tweak their social media campaign to convince others to sign up for the streaming service to watch The OA. Netflix, and the other streaming services are motivated by the number of new subscriptions, so if the campaign could generate a surge in sign-ups, that would appeal to the bottom line. Network execs are motivated by money, so if they see and influx of revenue linked to the show, they may reconsider their stance.
It is worth noting that this churn philosophy Netflix has adopted of late is not working in its favor and will definitely have long-term consequences. Shiny new shows certainly bring new subscribers, but as people see these shows getting cancelled on a quick turnaround–especially when they are left unresolved–they will start to get disillusioned and that will eventually impact the subscription-rate. Netflix has already seen potential signs of this with its stock drop last month as it came up well short on its subscriber forecast. And the competition is getting stiffer with new players like Disney+ and HBO Max joining the market soon. Additional bad press from yet another cancellation of a fan-favorite show is definitely not something that the streamer needs at this point. It already took a beating for cancelling Daredevil and the other popular Defenders shows as well as the critical-darling non-genre entry One Day at Time. So a well-directed fan campaign could actually convince Netflix to re-think its decision on The OA and maybe at least give it one more season to resolve its storylines.
In the current television environment, there are many ways that we can make our voices heard in support of our favorite shows. We have already seen Lucifer, The Expanse, and One Day at a Time saved from cancellation and shows like Sense8 and Timeless received series finales due fan support. So be sure to lend your support and also join the #CancelledSciFiArmy as we fight to save our sci fi and fantasy shows.
More from CancelledSciFi.com:
Keep up with the ratings developments and the status of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Weekly Roundup posts. And join the #CancelledSciFiArmy on Twitter to bolster our ranks and help us fight for the struggling and cancelled sci fi and fantasy shows.
Follow our Sci Fi TV News Briefs column for a rundown of the latest news and updates on genre television.
Check out our Sci Fi TV Schedule for debut and season finale dates and follow our Weekly Listings for a rundown of the shows airing in the current week.
The attention the fan campaign for this show has received has been ridiculous. I admire every fandom who feels inspired by a show to make a change in the world but there are other fandoms who have done far more, and for far more good that haven’t gotten anywhere near as much media attention. Shadowhunters fans for example, have raised thousands of dollars for charities amongst other things and where is their praise and recognition?
55K petition doesn’t seem like a lot…didn’t the Expanse get 130K or something?
I want to see hard numbers behind this “Netflix churn”…what percentage of their shows are cancelled before S3 vs other networks? And grouping the Marvel shows in isn’t quite the same since they are now direct competitors.
Some of the numbers on the Netflix churn are at this link: https://wp.me/p4aGRF-5hw
And I will be looking at that in more detail in an upcoming post.