For decades, fans have played an integral role in saving their favorite shows from cancellation. Though it doesn’t always make sense on the surface, there are plenty of reasons why a fan-favorite show gets the axe. When the ratings are too low, or the network doesn’t like the return on its investment, it often announces the end of a show.
Sometimes, as is the case with many a Netflix original, a series’ fate doesn’t always hinge on obvious logic, and often, it can remain in limbo for months on end. When a much loved show meets an untimely end, those with a passionate and loyal fan base can sometimes be saved, at least for a short time, on the strength of the support they receive from die-hard fans.
Here are 10 examples of canceled shows brought back by sheer dedication.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Fans jumped on the bandwagon to save Brooklyn Nine-Nine the second its cancellation was announced. Brooklyn Nine-Nine ran on Fox from 2013 to 2018, and when the network announced that it had been canceled, fans took to Twitter to mount a campaign to save it. Plenty of famous faces weighed in with their support for the show, and within 24 hours it was picked up by NBC. It only ran for two seasons after switching networks, but the fans got to see the proper ending that they had nearly been denied.
Warrior Nun
Netflix devastated fans when the streamer cancelled Warrior Nun after two seasons. While not a massive success, it had built a small but dedicated fanbase who were quick to complain after its cancellation. The solid premise — a 19-year-old woman who wakes up in a morgue to find she is now part of a super-powered group of demon-hunting nuns — and strong performances from actors like lead Alba Baptista made the cancellation all the more surprising. Thanks to its strong-willed fans, Warrior Nun is coming back as three feature-length films, though without Netflix’s involvement.
Chuck
Another show that was constantly on the brink of cancellation, Chuck was saved by the grace of its fans over and over again. After the second season, fans had to send in letters and write petitions to save the series, and they also found an ally in the popular fast food chain Subway. They flocked to the sub shop and credited their purchases to Chuck. Star Zachary Levi even got in on the action, gathering backers at a London Subway and encouraging them to save the show. NBC ultimately decided to renew Chuck for a third season.
Futurama
Out of all the shows on this list, Futurama might be the the most resilient. Originally airing on Fox from 1999 to 2003, new episodes became few and far between before Fox stopped airing them entirely. Much like creator Matt Groening’s other animated series The Simpsons, Futurama quickly gained fans due to its blend of comedic and heartfelt moments (raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by “Jurassic Bark”) and it didn’t stay down for long. It was renewed for another two seasons by Comedy Central before being cancelled once again. As of 2023, Futurama is still going strong with a Hulu reboot starring the original cast.
Jericho
Skeet Ulrich’s post apocalyptic drama Jericho was canceled after just a single season by CBS, but a fan campaign pre-dating the internet managed to save the show for just one more. Ulrich’s character says “nuts” at the end of the season one finale, so fans decided that the best way to save the show would be to mail more than 40,000 pounds of nuts to CBS executives. Only one extra run came out of the campaign, but supporters got to see more of Jericho than the network originally intended.
Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars‘ winding pathway has been one of the strangest in TV history. The show began airing on UPN, which eventually became The CW. It was fairly low rated, and canceled following its third run. A fan campaign launched years later allowed for the filming of a movie, funded entirely by Kickstarter, and the success of that feature ultimately convinced Hulu to fund a fourth season. Veronica is no longer a teenage detective, but the crimes that she solves have compelled fans for well over a decade now.
Star Trek: The Original Series
TV history could look very different if Star Trek had been canceled after its second season, as CBS had originally intended. A sci-fi writer named Betty JoAnne Trimble and her husband ultimately organized a fan campaign, and CBS wound up receiving more than 110,000 different letters urging executives to save the series. Star Trek was ultimately renewed, but was canceled again after its third season. Star Trek aired frequently in syndication, though, and ultimately became a cult hit.
Timeless
NBC canceled Timeless, but wound up bringing it back almost immediately. The show, a time traveling romp that was equal parts compelling and hilarious, earned plenty of fans over the course of its first season, but wasn’t killing it in the ratings. Usually, a network sticks to its guns when it comes to cancellations, but the social media uproar around Timeless was so swift and severe that NBC reversed its decision. The show only lasted for one extra season, but this one was a great example of what fans were capable of.
The Expanse
SyFy canceled The Expanse after its third season, but the show’s fans went to incredibly creative lengths to keep it alive. They even chipped in money to fly a plane over Amazon Studios with the text “#SaveThe Expanse.” In an interview with Deadline, Amazon Studios CEO Jen Salke explained how intense the pressure was.
“There were airplanes circling us, I was having cakes delivered, there was a whole thing happening,” she said. “And then really smart people, whose opinions I really value creatively, started reaching out to me, saying, ‘Have you seen this show?’… At the same time, Jeff Bezos was getting emails from everyone from George R.R. Martin to every captain of industry, like the founder of Craigslist.”
Community
A show that was almost always on the brink of cancellation, Community‘s fans were pretty used to mounting campaigns to save it. After its fifth season, though, NBC was definitively done, and they announced that they would be axing the series. Low ratings were the reason for its ultimate cancellation, but its die-hard backers didn’t care how many people watched it. They mounted a campaign to save Community, and the show ultimately got to film a sixth season on the long-since defunct streaming service Yahoo! Screens. These days, everyone’s waiting on the prophecy of the in-development movie to follow those six seasons to be fulfilled.
