Why was Manifest cancelled when it’s got such an enthused (and sizable) audience?
That’s a question worth asking. Back in summer 2021, though, NBC decided not only to give the axe to the sci-fi/supernatural drama after three season, but the network did so while the show sat atop Netflix’s most popular list. Granted, the show’s not objectively good, but it’s still fairly addictive and highly bingeable. If you haven’t had the pleasure, just know that it’s a Lost knockoff, in which a flight disappears off the radar (and is presumed lost) for five years. The passengers touch down and don’t even realize that they were missing until they realize that life has moved on.
Relationships fracture everywhere, and people are hearing voices (callings) and spitting up water. In short, it’s wild, and people were absolutely furious when the show got cancelled before viewers received answers. What the hell happened to Flight 828?
Despite the show’s immense streaming popularity, NBC didn’t want the answer to that question, which is not too surprising in retrospect. The network tends to cancel sci-fi series before they have a chance to build up a slow burn (see Debris, and watch out, La Brea) even though it’s let Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler make googly eyes at each other for decades (and that’s not the complaint that it might sound like) without resolution. No one really knows why Manifest got the shaft (maybe contracts got complicated, or numbers weren’t up to snuff on the Law and Order network), other than NBC apparently not holding out for its full viewership potential.
However, the show was destined for a comeback. Creator Jeff Rake fueled a campaign and made it known that three more seasons remained in his head. Stephen King spoke up as part of the show’s legion of fans, and within a few months, some positive news arrived. Netflix decided to read the room (as with the Lucifer resurrection) and pick the show up for a fourth and final season. This will be a supersized season with twenty episodes, and TV Line recently reported that we’ll see at least a few batches of this season, which will begin to arrive “late this year.”
Rake has clarified that November 2022 is the target month for arrival, so prepare yourselves. Also, never take the flight voucher in exchange for accepting a later flight.