Crossovers and Cancellations

I don’t know if you all have heard but “Daredevil” on Netflix has been cancelled and I’m super sad. With genius high-stakes situations, witty dialogue, and some of the best action scenes I’ve watched since taking a class in my undergrad called Hong Kong Action Cinema, I was feeling like I was in the “Show Hole”. I had just finished watching season 3 on the 28th, only for them to announce its cancellation the next day. I read an article by Newsweek to see why they cancelled it as season 3 ended on a high note, but since Netflix doesn’t share its ratings, its hard to put that in numbers. However, the article mentioned because it ended on a high note they wanted to cancel it as they’ve done with “Luke Cage” and “Iron Fist”.

I suppose this makes sense, as some shows tend to go sour if they air for too long. However, Daredevil will live on in other crossover series like “The Defenders” (should it come back for season 2) with other superheroes like Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist and maybe The Punisher which got me thinking about viewership and literally moving the audiences attention. I’ve never seen it done with an entirely new show, but leave it to Netflix to make things new and interesting. As a viewer of all these Marvel Cinematic Universe shows (besides “Iron Fist”), I can say that Daredevil was consistently the strongest in its narrative, cinematography and acting. While we’re all still interested in Daredevil, maybe it is a smart move to go onto another show that will essentially be an ensemble of superheroes. Either way, it feels like Netflix is doing something big and it got me thinking about other shows that do crossovers.

To compete, DC shows “Supergirl”, “The Flash”, “Legends of Tomorrow” and “Arrow” do crossovers in the middle of the season, influencing viewers to watch all of the shows that week if not forever. Shonda Rhimes does it with “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Station 19”, and she used to have “Private Practice” in the mix before it was cancelled. Rhimes also does it with “How to Get Away with Murder” and “Scandal” just as it was going off air.

For market researchers and advertisers, it’s important to keep up with these crossovers and completely new shows with the same characters to know when you can expose that same viewer with the same advertisement or product. Although Netflix does not advertise anything but their own shows, its clever how they’ve decided to approach marketing for their other seemingly less popular MCU shows. I’ll admit it’s a good move as I will be watching the upcoming seasons of “Jessica Jones” and “The Punisher” looking for Daredevil.

What other crossover shows can you all think of?

References:

Kelly, A.N. (2018, Nov 29). Netflix cancels Marvel’s ‘Daredevil’, only ‘Jessica Jones’ and ‘The Puisher’ left, Newsweek, Retrieved from https://www.newsweek.com/netflix-daredevil-canceled-marvel-jessica-jones-punisher-1237949