It’s true—nothing is more frustrating than getting totally hooked by a brilliant show, and then it’s just gone like that. But with all quite a different narrative now around displeased fans posting on social, streaming suitors battling it out for viewer dollars, and pit bosses driving diehards into action, canceling a series does not necessarily mean the finale-ever-in-lifetime, it’s just a waypoint in a revival story. Workers from hashtags to actual trucks full of food have been accomplishing completely absurd (yet amazing) things for their shows to come back to life. So, get comfortable and enjoy 12 on their most FANATICAL TV revivals because if ever the fans shout so loud, even the networks hear them not only but respond.
12. Warrior Nun
After Netflix decided to cut Warrior Nun down to two seasons, fans did not exit the stage with grace; rather, they launched an online protest the size of a market town. Along with the showrunner Simon Barry and followers, the SaveWarriorNun movement skyrocketed worldwide. The return of the series was announced: this time, it was going to be a trilogy of films. It is not very clear how much the creators are involved with the project; however, the fandom will definitely not let this halo disappear.
11. Friday Night Lights
Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t… get canceled. After a shaky second season, Friday Night Lights was at risk of being cut, so fans took the “Lights On” campaign literally and sent not only the light bulbs but also installation instructions in the mail to the NBC executives. Their passion got them a reward: the show was given a contract for three more seasons, as well as a direct deal with DirecTV to continue with Dillon’s football dreams.
10. Timeless
The story of Timeless on NBC constitutes one of the fastest reversals of fortunes in television. Fans lost no time to loudly voice their discontent on social media after it was first cancelled, nd the network reversed its decision only three days later. Unfortunately, the series was canceled by NBC for the second time after Season 2, so the devoted ones at least had a two-part finale to properly say goodbye.
9. One Day at a Time
After the Alvarez family went on for three great seasons, Netflix decided to pull the plug on One Day at a Time, but the public was not ready to let go of it. They got what they wanted: the show was renewed by Pop TV for a fourth season, thus becoming one of the rare examples of a transition from a streaming platform to cable. It’s a sign that humor and diversity really matter.
8. Jericho
Hardly any campaigns have become as legendary as Jericho’s. In the post-apocalyptic series CBS axed, furious fans dispatched more than 40,000 pounds of nuts to the network’s headquarters as a (fun) nod to the last words of the season, “Nuts!” The trick worked. CBS ordered seven more episodes to wrap up the story, which shows that a little bit of craziness can sometimes really help you.
7. Veronica Mars
Fans of Veronica Mars not only engaged in tweeting, but they also chartered an airplane to fly over the studios of The CW to urge a reboot when the show was cancelled. A few years later, a Kickstarter campaign was launched, raising more than $2 million of funds for a feature film that premiered as the starting point for a Hulu reboot. The beloved Neptune’s detective won’t be on vacation for much longer.
6. Manifest
NBC dropped Manifest in mid-flight, but the show’s fanbase was not about to let the plane go down. The save-the-show campaign went viral on the internet, and the series was a huge success on Netflix, staying for weeks in the service’s Top 10 and totaling almost a billion streams. Netflix heard the fans out, bringing it back for a fourth and last season that finally landed the mystery.
5. The Expanse
When Syfy cancelled The Expanse, the fans went into orbit. The SaveTheExpanse campaign featured petitions, Twitter storms, and even a plane flying overhead of Amazon Studios. Their tenacity was rewardedAmazon Prime came in and paid for three additional seasons, allowing the show the cinematic scope (and budget) it had always been worthy of.
4. Lucifer
Fox committed a devil of a sin, cancelling Lucifer after three seasons. In a matter of hours, the SaveLucifer hashtag had gone global and was trending everywhere online as fans inundated all corners of the internet, asking for justice for the devilish angel. Netflix heard their cries and brought back the show for three more hellishly good seasons. It turns out, the devil is indeed in the details.
3. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
When Brooklyn Nine-Nine was canceled, the internet lost its collective cool. Within 24 hours, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Hamill, and everyone in between were part of the outcry to SaveNineNine. NBC came and scooped it up just 30 hours later, and the precinct continued to bring three more seasons of unadulterated comedic gold. Nine-Nine!
2. Arrested Development
When Fox decided to pull the plug on Arrested Development, fans were not ready to say goodbye, and they didn’t let go of their frozen bananas either. The 2013 comeback from Netflix was groundbreaking, as it proved that a streaming service could give new life to cult classics. Of course, the whole thing got a little crazy with the different time zones and the green screen magic, but in a way, even the flawed Arrested Development was still a treat for the fans.
1. Family Guy
There is no story of revival better than this. Family Guy was taken off the air in 2002, and fans were pretty sure that was the end of the line. But then a strange thing happened: the show’s DVD sales went through the roof, the reruns had fantastic ratings on Adult Swim, and Fox came to a sudden realization: they had made a big mistake. The series was restarted in 2005, and it continues to be on air till now, producing not only movies and spinoffs but also an empire of sarcastic talking dogs.
Fan madness has gone to extremes, from organizing airplane banner campaigns to delivering peanuts to stars during shows. These are just a few examples of how, in the end, television history has been changed by ardent fans. In the present day, where reboots and revivals are prevalent, a show’s fate is no longer solely in the hands of the network but also in those of the viewers. Thus, when your favorite series is the next one to be canceled, don’t despair immediately; it might just be the end of the beginning of the fandom era.