Has Netflix’s Second Chance Approach Paid Off?

Once considered the antithesis of the traditional ratings-hungry networks, Netflix has since developed a ruthless streak that would make Jack Donaghy proud. In the past month alone, it’s ended the party of Ibiza crime drama White Lines after a single season, cut short The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and bid farewell to its only talk show that anyone watched, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj.

However, while many shows have fallen victim to the streaming world’s most prolific Grim Reaper, there are several that would view Netflix as their savior. Indeed, the media giant has swooped in to quickly rescue almost a dozen different series that would have otherwise gone to the great big network in the sky (And this isn’t even counting shows revived long past their initial cancelation e.g. Arrested Development, Top Boy, Unsolved Mysteries).

Rather aptly, a show all about finding salvation, Lucifer, is one such adoptee having been saved from Fox’s axe after three seasons in 2018, largely thanks to a fan-driven campaign. And this faith in the devil appears to have paid off. The supernatural police procedural received some of its strongest reviews after debuting on Netflix, in part due to a shorter run which tightened up the narrative without sacrificing its hellish charms.

Tom Ellis’ star-making vehicle has transferred so successfully that a further six episodes have been added to the fifth season premiering today (August 21). A sixth and final helping – which may well see the show reach the significant 100-episode mark – is already greenlit, too. Compare that to Netflix’s own attempts at supernatural crime (Tidelands) and comedic police procedurals (The Good Cop), both one-season flops, and the acquisition of Lucifer looks even more shrewd.

Likewise Longmire, a slightly more grounded crime drama also given a last-minute reprieve by Netflix after being unceremoniously given the boot – despite breaking ratings records – in 2014 by A&E. As with Lucifer, the slow-burning neo-western enjoyed another three seasons before being put to rest for good.

However, when it comes to Netflix as a last chance saloon, no other show has benefited more than Black Mirror. Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones’ anthology of dystopian tech tales had been a cult success during its original two-season run. But it was only after a move to Netflix – instigated by Channel 4’s admission they no longer had the budget to meet the creators’ vision – that the show became something of a phenomenon.

Since jumping into bed with the streaming giant, Brooker and Jones have been able to attract A-list names in front of the camera (Miley Cyrus, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anthony Mackie) and Oscar-winning talent behind it (Jodie Foster), picked up no fewer than eight Primetime Emmy Awards and even brought the Choose Your Own Adventure concept kicking and screaming into the digital age. Turns out that not all advances in technology necessarily have nightmarish consequences after all.

Lovesick might not have made quite the same impact but it’s another show whose fortunes Netflix can be proud of reversing. The small screen rom-com, also a Channel 4 reject, flew entirely under the radar when it first aired in the U.K. under the terrible title of Scrotal Recall. Yet after being saved, and thankfully rechristened, by the streaming service, viewers across the world got to see that it wasn’t a bawdy American Pie knock-off but a touching and refreshingly honest depiction of 21st century dating life. Its third season Rotten Tomatoes rating stands at a perfect 100%.

And then there’s the intriguing tale of Money Heist. Netflix reportedly had little intention of expanding upon the Spanish-language limited series, first screened on Antena 3 as La casa de papel, after landing the global rights in 2017. But the response to its 15-22 episode recut was so overwhelming that they subsequently saved the show from certain cancelation and commissioned a total of three more seasons.

Yet Netflix haven’t always been so astute when it comes to buying already-established shows. AMC’s rain-soaked take on Scandi-noir phenomenon The Killing was hailed as a remake masterclass in its 2011 first season, albeit with one of the most frustrating finales in recent memory. But the moody murder-mystery failed to sustain its intrigue and had only just survived a third season cancelation when Netflix revived it for a fourth. Despite the best efforts of leads Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman, The Killing was by this point a shadow of its former self, and its final six episodes were essentially greeted with a collective shrug.

Netflix also appeared to misjudge the appetite for the slightly more escapist Designated Survivor. In 2018 ABC pulled the plug on the fast-paced political thriller after various behind-the-scenes problems and a second season ratings dip of nearly four million viewers. Perhaps burned out on watching Kiefer Sutherland once again save the world, its audience only appeared to decrease further when it shifted to Netflix for an unmemorable 10-episode swansong.

Buying a show with a built-in audience, therefore, doesn’t always reap its rewards. Yet Netflix still currently appears to be enjoying a higher hit rate with the shows it’s swiftly saving than those it’s creating.

Jon O’Brien (@jonobrien81) is a freelance entertainment and sports writer from the North West of England. His work has appeared in the likes of Esquire, Billboard, Paste, i-D, The Guardian, Vinyl Me Please and Allmusic.

Watch Lucifer Season 5 on Netflix