Netflix has cancelled 1899 after a single season – and fans of the mystery-horror series are demanding to know why.
In a statement posted on Instagram, co-creator Baran bo Odar revealed that Netflix has chosen not to renew 1899, which is centered around a group of immigrants traveling on a ship from England to New York, for a second season.
The confirmation comes just six weeks after 1899 debuted on the world's best streaming service, with the mind-bending supernatural TV series amassing 257.2 million hours viewed since its November 17, 2022 launch.
Set in 1899, the show follows a group of passengers on board a steamship called the Kerberos. On their voyage to New York, the Kerberos encounters the Prometheus, a ship that mysteriously disappeared months earlier, and setting in motion a chain of surreal and spooky events.
With 1899's first season ending on a cliffhanger, fans are understandably upset over Neftlix's decision to cancel the show. In the hours following bo Odar's statement, fans have taken to social media, calling on Netflix executives to reverse their decision via the hashtag #save1899. Others have resorted to setting up a Change.org petition, which implores Netflix to greenlight two more seasons to resolve its outstanding plot threads.
Unfortunately for 1899's diehard fanbase, their pleas are likely to fall on deaf ears. There have been plenty of cancelled Netflix shows over the last few years, and the streaming giant is yet to bow to public opinion and backtrack on a single cancellation.
According to multiple sources, such as What's on Netflix, Bloomberg, and The Daily Beast, Netflix uses numerous metrics to determine whether to renew a show for more than one season. It's a complicated process, but, in short, if a TV series is financially viable (its 'impact value' is greater than its production cost) and is streamed from start to finish by sufficient numbers of viewers (i.e., viewers watch every episode in season 1), Netflix is more likely to green-light more seasons. So it appears that 1899 fell short on one or both of those criteria.
As a lot of you may already know… 1899 will not be renewed for a 2nd and 3rd season… We are all truly devastated by this fact. This photo was taken the first night I met these people. You can take away the show, but you can’t take away family🖤 Thank you all for watchingx L pic.twitter.com/HMs8PVDQQ8January 2, 2023
It's unclear if another streamer, such as Prime Video, will pick up the rights to 1899; but even if that happens, we won't learn about it for a while. Discussions between bo Odar, 1899 co-creator Jantje Friese, and interested parties could take weeks, with contracts and other legal forms – such as the transfer of distribution rights from Netflix to one of its competitors – needing to be signed before an official announcement is made. If someone does step in and saves 1899 from sinking, we'll make sure that you hear about it.
In our view, 1899 is one of the best Netflix shows around, and the multilingual German Netflix project made it onto our best shows of 2022 list, which makes its cancellation all the more disappointing. Here's hoping it'll be picked up by another streamer soon – and if 1899 is kept afloat, we'll make sure to let you know.
Netflix isn't the only streaming company that's upset subscribers over the past 12 months. HBO Max has lost multiple shows from its back catalog as Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) looks to save money on the streamer ahead of its merger with Discovery Plus some time in 2023. Meanwhile, Amazon Studios and WBD also quietly cancelled numerous TV series in 2022. You can read about which ones were canned early in our cancelled by Prime and cancelled by HBO guides.
For more Netflix-based content, read our best Netflix movies and best Netflix documentaries lists.
