No creator wants to see their creation tossed in the dumpster or, in the case of Manifest, on the shelf where it’s bound to collect dust and be forgotten. That’s why Manifest creator Jeff Rake hasn’t given up on the show just yet as he’s trying to shop it around to whoever will listen to his pitch and possibly show interest in what he has to sell. It’s not as though this show is bound to be seen as a hard story to take on, even if it’s for a season or two so that it can deliver a definitive ending. At the moment the incomplete series is available to watch on Netflix, where Rake is apparently hoping it will catch on as more and more fans continue to pipe up in order to keep the show around so that it might find a home on the streaming giant. Netflix and NBC did initially agree that they would both pass on the continued development of the series, but somehow the streaming giant sees the wisdom in keeping the show around for the moment. If things go well enough it could be that Netflix might change their minds and allow Rake to continue forward with them. Hey, it could happen.
But that’s a gamble at the moment since Netflix is known for dropping one series after another if they’re not going to perform or if they’re going to become too much of a liability to continue. The hope is that Manifest won’t do either, especially given that the fans are starting to pay greater attention to the show now that it’s hanging by a thread. What’s unfortunate about this however is that one has to ask where the fans were when the show was still on track and hadn’t even been confronted with the dreaded ‘C’ word that’s been applied to so many shows over the last few years. Canceling shows has become an expectation now and then when the numbers and/or interest has waned, and to be fair, Manifest is a decent story, but it’s also one that has been told in a number of ways already.
This is one failing that a lot of stories have since to be fair, a lot of them are unique and worth taking a look at, but when a person can recognize one or more elements in a story it becomes hard to push forward until they find something that’s different and plots a different course that people haven’t seen thousands of times before. Manifest does this obviously, which is why people are still willing to watch it. But again, where were all those people when the show needed the numbers to keep moving forward? This is a commonality among many shows that end up being canceled, fans will suddenly pop their heads up and say that they don’t want the show to go away, but the realization that the fans weren’t there in the numbers that were needed in the first place is kind of forgotten in the effort to keep the show around. In a big way, it’s almost as though the fans simply want the stable of shows to be as full as possible and aren’t willing to part with anything, even if it’s something that’s not being watched that much. Yes, fans are possessive in a way, and it’s disturbing to watch at times.
But honestly, it would be interesting to see if any other network would be interested in picking up Manifest in an attempt to give it another two seasons or so to wrap up or to find a serious groove that it could follow while coming up with new ways to preserve the story. In a sense, Manifest is like a smaller version of Endgame without Thanos or the Avengers and without the dire implications for the world at large. This is one of the elements that people recognize no doubt, but it’s also one that remains interesting enough to push forward while other ideas are thought up and implemented as they’re needed. Rake is no doubt doing and saying everything he can in order to keep his creation going, and it’s admirable really, but hopefully he had something that was jarring enough to keep the series going, or other networks might echo what Netflix and NBC have said.
The hope that Netflix might actually change their minds is one that a lot of people are likely waiting to hear about since the streaming giant could possibly snap this story up for another couple of seasons to let it wrap up at least, which would be something. Don’t hold your breath though, since it’s very likely that Manifest if it does survive, might have to find another network that will see the value in letting the show stick around for a bit.
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