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StartUp is a new top 10 hit show on Netflix, starring Martin Freeman, Adam Brody, and Mira Sorvino. All three seasons of the show debuted on Netflix earlier this month, cluing in a huge audience to a show they probably missed the first time around. And with so many episodes to binge, audiences are into all the twists and turns that this tech start up/crime drama has to offer.
But once you finish Season 3 of StartUp, you will probably have a craving for more. So… will there be more? And how does Chicken Soup for the Soul factor into this? Here are some answers!
Is there a StartUp Season 4?
There is not—and that may be come as a shock since Season 3 ends with a shocking twist that could totally lead to a season or two’s worth of drama. But as of right now, there is no Season 4—and the odds of the story continuing feel pretty slim.
Will there be a StartUp Season 4?
Here’s the deal: even though StartUp just debuted on Netflix, it is not a Netflix original. The series originally aired three seasons on the streaming service Crackle from September 2016 to November 2018. Back then, Sony was trying to build their own Netflix competitor with Crackle by building out a library of classic TV content (select seasons of NewsRadio, All in the Family, Bewitched, etc.) and creating original shows like StartUp, SuperMansion, and The Oath (surprisingly not titled TheOath). With stars like Martin Freeman, Adam Brody, Ron Perlman, and Mira Sorvino, StartUp was probably the closest Crackle came to having a real prestige TV hit. And then Chicken Soup for the Soul entered the picture.
Wait… Chicken Soup for the Soul? How does that have anything to do with StartUp Season 4?
After giving it a go for years and coming up short, Sony sold Crackle to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment which, 1. Exists and 2. Is apparently powerful enough to buy a streaming service from Sony. That deal went down in 2019, months after StartUp Season 3 premiered. Since then, original content on Crackle has seemingly screeched to a halt. All the originals were canceled and there have been no updates on all the projects that were in development prior to 2018. Now they just have, as far as I can tell, one active original: the reality show Going from Broke… which is produced by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment.
[UPDATE 5/13/21: Well, well, well, spoke too soon—! Crackle is still in the business of creating original content, including docu-series Bucket List and Playing With Power: The Nintendo Story, the original horror feature The Clearing, boxing doc Lennox Lewis: The Untold Story, and more]
All that being said: StartUp Season 4 never happened because Crackle was sold, and that also means that Season 4 probably won’t happen on Crackle even though the show’s found an audience on Netflix.
Will Netflix renew StartUp for Season 4?
Most likely the only way StartUp Season 4 will happen is if Netflix goes a step further, figures out whatever legal entanglements there may be, and orders a Season 4. It’s a long shot, but that could happen. It already happened with one Crackle series: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee jumped to Netflix after a run on Crackle. And Netflix has previously renewed shows that were canceled by their original networks, like You (originally on Lifetime), Cobra Kai (YouTube), and Lucifer (Fox). If StartUp is a huge success, then Netflix could bring it back for more—legal rights and actor schedules allowing.
