Netflix cancelled its high-profile reboot of the Anime Cowboy Bebop in December 2021 after one season, but fans have not given up on the show and are currently lobbying the streamer to bring it back for a second year. That space-western series stars John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, and Daniella Pineda and spent two weeks in the Nielsen Streaming Top 10 for originals, logging over one billion minutes viewed during that time. It also spent three weeks in the Netflix Top 10, pulling in over 65 million hours viewed. But despite the viewership numbers, the show apparently did not satisfy the algorithms the streamer uses to determine if one of its originals should continue, and Cowboy Bebop was cut short after one season.
But this show developed a notable following over its ten-episode run, and the fans are making it clear that they want more seasons of this live-action reboot. An online petition was started by Ryan Proffer about the time that the show was cancelled, and that has since taken a life of its own. As of this writing, it is approaching 110K signatures which is a pretty impressive tally. The request from the petition is pretty simple: they want more seasons of Cowboy Bebop. And while the fan efforts have definitely been recognized by the entertainment media, it will likely take more effort than this for David to challenge Goliath in this case.
Netflix execs sit in the ivoryest of ivory towers right now as that streaming service is a world leader in the entertainment industry. And the Netflix Red Queen frequently shouts her “Off With Their Heads!” verdict to many of the high-profile originals put out by that service, cutting down promising genre entries like Away, The Irregulars, Jupiter’s Legacy, and most recently Cowboy Bebop. An online petition will hardly warrent notice amongst the higher-ups at that company as we saw when Daredevil fans tried to save that MCU show. The Netflix brass are much more interested in what is next in the queue as they crank through orginals with their churn-and-burn strategy.
But that does not mean that fans are waisting their time trying to save the show. They just need to step up their game. I have not noticed any efforts beyond the petition to pressure Netflix into reversing their decision, so a social media campaign would definitely be a good supplement and could drive more signatures to the petition. In addition, appealing to the bottom line is what will best get the attention of Netflix execs. A campaign to drive new subscriptions encouraging people to watch the show could perk up the attention of the decision-makers at the streaming service. Conversely, a campaign to convince people to cancel the service in protest might get some attention, but it would be hard to put a dent in the streamer’s subscription base. The first of those two options is probably the better approach because it could convince Netflix that there are still profits to be made on this property. You can see more ideas for fan campaigns at our Call to Action page.
It will be hard to get Netflix execs to budge on this one, and moving the show to another venue is not an option because the streamer likely has the rights locked up for at least two years. But with the right effort, higher-ups at the streaming service could possibly be convinced that it is worth their while to take a flyer on at least one more season of the show.
Did you watch Cowboy Bebop and will you sign the petition and support other efforts to save the show?
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to quote another terrible production: “Let the past die, kill it if you have to.” Personally I don’t care one way or another except that in recent years actors and production people have been less than gracious to fans who don’t share their personal values – even going to the extent of blaming them for their own failure. In that sense I hope these cancellations at least give them cause to rethink an antagonistic relationship with the fan base – they are the customer after all.