When working on a television series, any showrunner's biggest fear is that their story will come to an end prematurely, leaving beloved characters and their intricate plot lines in a lurch. After three exciting seasons, NBC's Manifest has met that unfortunate fate, but its cast and crew are now rallying for the show to find a new home.
Manifest, which premiered in 2018, followed the fallout from a strange international flight that led to the disappearance of the plane and its passengers, only for them to re-emerge five years later without aging even a day. The plot traced the consequences of the inexplicable phenomenon on the passengers and their families, pointing to a twisted conspiracy beyond their wildest dreams.
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The series quickly grew in popularity on NBC, but even the strong fandom wasn't enough to keep the network from pulling the plug. Today, NBC officially opted not to renew Manifest after a period of negotiations. Its cancellation comes as a surprise to creator Jeff Rake, who sold the show to NBC under a contract that laid out plans for a six-season trajectory. With three more seasons left to this story, Rake is "devastated" by the decision.
My dear Manifesters,
— Jeff Rake (@jeff_rake) June 15, 2021
I’m devastated by NBC’s decision to cancel us. That we’ve been shut down in the middle is a gut punch to say the least. Hoping to find a new home. You the fans deserve an ending to your story. Thanks for the love shown to me, cast, and crew. #savemanifest
"I’m devastated by NBC’s decision to cancel us," Rake tweeted upon learning of the cancelation. "That we’ve been shut down in the middle is a gut punch to say the least. Hoping to find a new home. You the fans deserve an ending to your story. Thanks for the love shown to me, cast, and crew. #savemanifest"
The stars of Manifest also used the hashtag #savemanifest to show support for the growing movement to keep the show from being permanently cancelled.
"Seeing the support behind #savemanifest has got me all emotional," tweeted Ellen Tamaki (Drea Mikami on the show). "Thank you for watching and loving this show. "
"I have some thoughts but in the meantime... #SaveManifest" wrote Parveen Kaur (Sanvi Bahl).
"wow #SaveManifest trending worldwide.. unreal," added Holly Taylor (new character Angelina). "ik i’m new but you’ve all made me feel so welcome this season. thank you for loving & supporting this show. hoping our talented cast & crew can finish telling this story some how"
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"Good morning Manifest family! Really hoping the journey isn’t over," reads a tweet from the show's writers room. "We are tending on Twitter! You all made that happen! #manifest #savemanifest"
Now that Manifest is leaving NBC, Netflix could be a great new landing spot for the sci-fi thriller. After just a few days of hitting the streaming platform as part of its June rollout of new content, the series has has already reached the coveted top spot on the Netflix Top 10 list. Deadline reports that no formal discussions about hosting Manifest have been initiated just yet, but should Netflix decide to take on the former NBC project, it might have a fire to put out with a number of its subscribers who are still mourning the many original series to be cancelled in recent years. After all, it's a lot easier to revive your own shows than to acquire new ones.
Seasons one through three of Manifest are now available for streaming on Netflix.