Stop trying to make Sense8 happen, it's not going to happen. At least, that seemed to be the Mean Girls-style message Netflix was sending to Sense8 fans who tried to resurrect the recently canceled show.
Fans tried their hardest to bring Sense8 back, a show celebrated for its diversity, with petitions and hashtags including #RenewSense8 and #BringBackSense8. Sadly, that wasn't enough. While Netflix got the message, they're encouraging fans to chill with all those campaigns looking to save the show. On the Sense8 Facebook page, Netflix shared a polite, but final message with fans.
"To our Sense8 family... We’ve seen the petitions. We’ve read the messages. We know you want to #RenewSense8, and we wish we could #BringBackSense8 for you. The reason we've taken so long to get back to you is because we've thought long and hard here at Netflix to try to make it work but unfortunately we can't. Thank you for watching and hope you'll stay close with your cluster around the world. #SensatesForever."
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Netflix doesn't give a reason for the cancelation in this message, but just yesterday at the Producers Guild of America's Produced By conference, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos explained why the show was cancelled. "They did a beautiful show," Sarandos said, according to The Hollywood Reporter, but “the audience was very passionate, but not large enough to support the economics of something that big, even on our platform.” Netflix doesn't release viewer numbers, so it's unclear how many people were watching Sense8.
That's why this Facebook message may be a warning to other passionate fans whose Netflix shows may be on the chopping block. While it was once rare to hear of Netflix canceling shows, already, this year they've said goodbye to Bloodline and canceled The Get Down after just one season. There may be more cancellations in the future, according to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. "Our hit ratio is way too high right now,” he told CNBC last month. “So, we’ve canceled very few shows…I’m always pushing the content team: We have to take more risk; you have to try more crazy things. Because we should have a higher cancel rate overall.”
Other networks seem to agree. At the ATX Festival this weekend, FX boss Nick Grad said he was glad Netflix was finally canceling some things. "They can’t have 10,000 shows," he said, according to Deadline. "I think it brings them back in the ecosystem of where we’re all trying to make the best shows and the best decisions.”
So this isn't to say you should stop tweeting your love and support for your favourite Netflix shows, but know you'll need more than hashtags to keep them alive.