Literally a day after the hit animated web-series ‘The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’ won an Emmy for most Outstanding Children’s Program, Netflix cancelled the renewal of it’s second season. This makes it Netflix’s third highly anticipated show which got cancelled in the span of a month. The reason is the same as the previous two cancelled series (‘The Society’ and ‘I Am Not Okay With This’), Netflix is having budgetary concerns and it is due to the ongoing pandemic.
Obviously the much watched shows should be safer than most, but after this high-profile cancellation, no show is safe. Any show can be axed at any time, and as per the ongoing trend, it is most likely going to be Netflix who will remove another show. The OTT has been cutting out shows before the pandemic and now, it is only likely to increase.
ABC recently cancelled Cobie Smulder lead ‘Stumptown’, hit comedy series ‘Drunk History’ was cancelled by Comedy Central and Hulu’s ‘High Fidelity’ also got cancelled by it’s network. Even HBO Max’s surprise sci-fi hit ‘Raised by Wolves’ was about to get the axe but after a resurgence of interest from subscribers, it has been set for renewal. This suggests that Netflix isn’t the only company feeling this pandemic-driven hit but Netflix has cancelled more shows from it’s shelves than any other OTT service in the past 2-3 months.
Netflix’s fingers in multiple pies (projects) is turning out to have an adverse effect due to the pandemic, as the company needs to provide more funds for making studios and/or sets safe for working, which was one of the primary reasons for the aforementioned cancellations. Many companies don’t have as many web-series in production or set for renewal as much as Netflix and most of them can afford to wait out the pandemic and/or renew projects which can start production later.
The cancellation of ‘The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’ was a surprise for everyone involved, from the audiences to the members of the cast and crew, mainly because of the major cliff-hanger the show ended on. Voiced by young yet established stars Taron Edgerton, Anya Taylor-Joy and Nathalie Emmanuel as well as veterans Mark Hamill, Helena Bonham Carter, Simon Pegg, Andy Smaberg among many others, the show took the 1982 cult classic to new heights. But alas, this web-series had an expensive voice cast as well and that most likely forced Netflix’s decision to axe the show.
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