Why did Netflix cancel Everything Sucks! despite fan outcry?
Everything Sucks! was Netflix’s journey into the 90s, with important LGBTQ and coming-of-age storylines. Just why did Netflix cancel it? That became clear at this year’s TCAs.
Vice President of Original Programming, Cindy Holland, explained at the TCAs why Everything Sucks! was canceled. It was all due to viewing figures and the potential for a second season.
It’s not surprising to hear that viewing figures played a part. While Netflix isn’t like traditional networks, there still needs to be a justification to create another season of a show. There needs to be the subscriber dollars going towards the shows and Everything Sucks! didn’t have that.
According to Holland, Everything Sucks! didn’t have enough people watching it through to the end. This suggests that enough people started it but didn’t stick with it.
Retention rates for Netflix are extremely important, knowing that viewing figures tend to drop between the seasons anyway. If there was already a large drop in the first season, Netflix knew the drop could be bigger for Everything Sucks! season 2 so chose not to risk it.
The cancellation decision does make sense. It’s a similar view major networks take on whether to renew or cancel a series. The focus has to go on where most of the interest is. Vulture had already commented about the lack of viewers staying with the whole series as a problem.
More: Everything Sucks! canceled after one promising season
Fans of the series have taken to Twitter to express their disappointment and outrage over the cancellation and the reason given. Many fans claim that the show was never promoted enough to help with the subscriber base.
That’s been a common refrain from fans of Sense8, another Netflix show that was canceled one month after their season 2 premiere. The lack of advertising and promotion of the series was scant, just as it was for Everything Sucks!
Other fans were disappointed in the timing of cancellation. It came just two months after the season dropped.
Granted, Netflix drops a full season at a time and two months should be enough time to see a full season. However, it dropped at a time when it would have been competing against major network shows.
Maybe Netflix could have waited a couple of months longer to see what the uptake was. A delayed second season would have been better than an outright cancellation.
Now fans would like to see the rights of the show pass back to Ben York Jones and Michael Mohan, giving them the option to see if somewhere else will save Everything Sucks! A Netflix show being saved elsewhere is unlikely, but there’s always a glimmer of hope, right?
Were you disappointed at Netflix canceling Everything Sucks!? Would you like to see a second season? Share in the comments below.
