Since ‘Community‘ was rescued from television death by Yahoo, and ‘Arrested Development‘ was given a fourth season by Netflix, there’s been a wildly held view that streaming services will do the heavy lifting that traditional networks either can’t or won’t, and rescue TV shows from cancellation.
So when ‘Hannibal’ was cancelled by NBC after its third season, cries of ‘NETFLIX TO THE RESCUE‘ were heard far and wide (including by us, you, and anyone with a Twitter account).
Sadly, Netflix and Amazon, another contender, have both passed. Amazon was shaping up to be the likely choice – it’s the online home of ‘Hannibal’s first two seasons, and soon to have the third – but that’s now out the window.
Showrunner Bryan Fuller tweeted in all caps because this is serious news.
@MikeBarbre I’M SORRY TO REPORT @amazon AND @netflix HAVE PASSED ON #HANNIBAL S4 BUT WE’RE STILL INVESTIGATING POSSIBILITIES
— Bryan Fuller (@BryanFuller) July 6, 2015
Production company DeLaurentiis Co, who were vocal as anything when ‘Hannibal’ was first cancelled, are keeping tight lipped on the unfolding situation.
We’re not allowed to comment. We only retweeted because Bryan spoke. #Hannibal https://t.co/s7Jz46Mo43
— DeLaurentiis Co (@DeLaurentiisCo) July 6, 2015
There is hope in that @BryanFuller says we’re exploring other options. That’s a good thing. https://t.co/wPVMbScj68
— DeLaurentiis Co (@DeLaurentiisCo) July 6, 2015
Throwing another spanner into the works is the fact that as of six days ago, leads Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy’s contracts expired, leaving them free agents to explore possibilities outside of ‘Hannibal’, and making any future negotiations to continue the series a pain in the absolute arse.
Then there’s the lack of the NBC oomph, which means that other stakeholders are less keen to get a fourth season going.
“Without an NBC component, it’s a little complicated,” Fuller told Variety. “Even some of our international partners, because there’s no NBC component, will pass on a fourth season.”
Ugh. We live in a world where great television is cancelled, yet somehow ‘The Big Bang Theory‘ has eight seasons and counting. UGH.
For extra Mads Mikkleson to get you through these trying times, watch Rihanna’s finally released video clip for ‘Bitch Better Have My Money‘. WATCH IT.
