Netflix canceled Archive Eighty-One after just one season.
The horror series, which began on the streaming service in early XNUMX, earned good reviews from critics, with a rating of XNUMX% on Rotten Tomatoes, but that wasn't enough to earn it a second season.
Loosely based on a podcast of the same name, Archive Eighty-One followed film restorer Dan Turner as he is hired by a powerful businessman to digitize a series of burned tapes and reconstruct the work of documentary filmmaker Melody Pendras and his investigation of a dangerous cult.
Naturally, while at work, Turner is drawn to Melody's story, leading him to believe that he can save her from the shocking death she met twenty-five years ago.
An 8-part drama, Netflix has promoted it as a must-visit for horror enthusiasts, but basically there isn't enough...
Is the cancellation of File Eighty-One a surprise?
Really is. Not only did critics love the show, including TechRadar, but it hit every single rating you'd usually expect in order for a show to win a second season.
As Deadline reports, upon its release, the show landed in the weekly Top XNUMX for Nielsen and Netflix Originals, and even held the number one spot among US Netflix subscribers for a while.
On top of that, the show had enormous creative weight behind it. Stranger Things director Rebecca Thomas directed half of the episodes, and horror king James Wan was among the executive producers.
Netflix is truly brutal these days.
Analysis: what does it take to win a second season on Netflix?
Start at full speed. The fallout from recent stories about the streaming giant's resolutions to void shows released two things. First, Netflix wants enough people to watch your show, which is obvious. Next, they want enough people to see it quickly so they can move on to the next one.
When Netflix shut down The Babysitters' Club, a show with a very, very different audience than Archive Eighty-One, showrunner Rebecca Shukert sat down with Vulture to explain what happened. She explained that the streaming giant doesn't just care how many people watch your show, but rather how they watch it.
She said: "Completion rates are a huge drawback. At Netflix, it's more about whether their show works on the platform than whether the platform works for their show. They want people to see it a certain way, and they want shows that people see it that way, it doesn't show that people want to see it their way."
Does this suggest that the future of Netflix is more ad hoc? Do you like April's upcoming glittering political drama Anatomy Of A Scandal or the limited series Inventing Anna? Could be. But clearly it is becoming more and more difficult to win a second season...