History has shown that there’s no point getting too invested in any first-season exclusive to debut on a major streaming service, with the cancellation rate alarmingly high across all of the major players. And yet, somebody has seen fit to defend Netflix after Prime Video displayed its ruthless streak.
There was shock and outrage all round after episodic reboot A League of Their Own and blockbuster sci-fi The Peripheral were given their marching orders, despite the glaring fact both of them had been officially renewed for second seasons. Understandably, The Citadel Spyverse was immediately thrust into the firing line given the terrible expense-to-quality ratio of its opening salvo, but a Twitter user claiming that “Netflix respects its programs” is about as terrible a take as you’ll hear.
For one thing, the company has canceled no less than 21 original shows this year alone and we haven’t even reached the end of August yet, never mind the various campaigns and petitions that spring up whenever disgruntled subscribers discover the latest of their favorites has been cast into the abyss.
Warrior Nun may have risen from the ashes, but the elephant graveyard of Netflix-only titles continues to pile up with fresh bones on a regular basis, so claiming that the platform has a great deal more respect for its own back catalogue doesn’t really make a lick of sense when you consider the vast number of shows exiled from the airwaves since the beginning of 2023 alone.
Sure, Netflix doesn’t tend to reverse renewals, but it’s not exactly handing them out like Halloween candy, either.