Ranking the Likelihood of ‘Prodigal Son,’ ‘Manifest’ & More Canceled Shows Being Saved
If you’re not over the cancellations of some of your favorite shows and are hoping that at least a couple luck out like Lucifer, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Last Man Standing have in the past, you’re not alone.
After all, the 2020-2021 season brought the end of series like All Rise, Manifest, Prodigal Son, and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, all of which we’re not quite ready to let go of just yet. But there are also others, like MacGyver (especially with Lucas Till’s new role, showrunner Monica Macer detailing quite a bit of Season 6’s plans to TVLine, and the fact CBS, which canceled it, owns it), Mom, NCIS: New Orleans, and Call Your Mother, where we know seeing anything else — other than perhaps some sort of NCIS crossover — is very much a long shot (though nothing is necessarily impossible).
With “Save” campaigns across the internet and some studio executives on record saying they’re searching for new homes for a few series, we take a look at the ones that may have a shot to come back in some way somewhere (from least to most likely).
Rebel
Given that Rebel was canceled after five episodes and never seemed to pick up the OMG-momentum we’ve grown used to on Thursdays on ABC, we’d be shocked if it got a second chance somewhere else.
Debris
Considering the number of questions we had after the Debris finale, this is definitely one of the cancellations that hurt the most. (And it’s impossible to imagine everything being wrapped up in a movie, like Timeless was.) While showrunner J.H. Wyman told Deadline he’d “look for other avenues to continue telling this story” if it was canceled prior to the announcement, we’re sadly not feeling that hopeful about it happening on-screen.
All Rise
Warner Bros. TV Group Chairman Channing Dungey named All Rise as one of the shows they’re “having conversations on” finding a new home, according to The Hollywood Reporter. But we sadly don’t think it will happen — unless perhaps CBS un-cancels it — simply because it’s hard to imagine another home for a courtroom drama like it.
For Life
While at the time of the cancellation, Sony Pictures TV planned to shop the drama around, President Jeff Frost’s words to Deadline in May make it sound like the chances of a success are slim: “We are trying, we are doing anything we can to find a new home for it but it’s challenging.” However, Frost also named Hulu as “a possibility” to THR around the same time.
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
The #SaveZoeysPlaylist is among the most active fan campaign at the moment, though that doesn’t necessarily reflect its chances. (Lucifer did benefit from its fans’ passion.) And with Peacock passing — a move to the streaming service was possible and did happen with another canceled NBC series, A.P. Bio — we’re less optimistic about seeing what happens next.
Prodigal Son
The thriller is another show Dungey said “we’re having conversations on” to THR, so there might be hope. Sadly, according to reports, HBO Max has passed, but showrunners Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver were hopeful that they’d be able to continue their story when TV Insider spoke with them about the finale. “We’re not dead yet,” Sklaver said. “We’re going to keep fighting as hard as we can to find a place to keep telling the story because as epic is our finale was and as happy as we are with how we ended the series’ run at Fox, we know we have a lot more amazing stories to tell and we’re hoping to find a place to tell him. Don’t give up yet.”
Manifest
Another passionate ongoing fan campaign at the moment is the one to #SaveManifest. After NBC canceled it, creator Jeff Rake tweeted his hope to find a new home, and the writers’ account added that the show is “doing so well on Netflix.” It is currently in the Top 10 on Netflix and at least for us, was featured prominently on the streaming service’s home page recently. Plus, Netflix did call attention to the first two seasons’ availability on Twitter on June 16. It could mean nothing, but you never know.
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