Manifest may currently be the most-watched show on American Netflix, but that has not been enough to save the show at its home network of NBC. On June 14, the Peacock Network announced it was not moving ahead with a fourth season of the show, meaning its recent Season 3 finale will now be its last.
When that finale aired, an NBC source told Newsweek that a decision had not been made regarding the future of the mystery drama. Per Deadline, a decision was only made Monday night, hours before the show's options on its cast were set to expire.
Why has Manifest been canceled?
The show was considered by industry insiders to be one of NBC's so-called "on the bubble" series, shows NBC had not made its mind up about a renewal that had about an equal chance of being canceled or being renewed.
Of the four NBC "on the bubble" shows this year – Debris, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Manifest and Good Girls – the first three have now been canceled, with only Good Girls looking likely to be renewed. This is despite that show having the lowest viewing figures of any of the four, and the lowest ratings among what is called the "key demographic," viewers aged 18 to 49.
Ratings seem to be behind the cancelation of Manifest. Despite being the most-viewed of the four bubble shows, the show lost 20 perfect of its audience this season, and 30 percent of its demographic audience. Though perhaps it could have been saved with a finale spike in viewers, this did not happen: The finale was the lowest-watched episode in the show's history, with 2.5 million viewers – down from the 4 million who watched the first episode of Season 3.
Can Manifest be saved?
Despite its ratings being down among network TV viewers, the show has a big audience online. On the day it was canceled, the show was the most-watched show on Netflix according to its own top 10 chart, breaking the week-long run of Sweet Tooth on the top of the chart.
This has led some fans to hope that the show will be able to be brought back by Netflix, who previously brought the network show Lucifer back to life. Per Deadline, formal conversations between Netflix and Manifest producers WBTV have not begun, but the company is set to shop the series to other networks.
Showrunner Jeff Rake, who had previously said he has a six-season plan for the show, tweeted that he wanted the show to continue, writing, "My dear Manifesters, I'm devastated by NBC's decision to cancel us. That we've been shut down in the middle is a gut punch to say the least. Hoping to find a new home. You the fans deserve an ending to your story. Thanks for the love shown to me, cast, and crew."
Manifest Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming now on Netflix. Season 3 is available on Peacock.
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