I told you on July 19th that NBC’s “Manifest” wasn’t over despite its cancellation. Other outlets picked up my scoop without attribution, like Deadline. Don’t worry, we’re used to it.
I was told even back then that despite the cancellation, stage managers were told not to strike the sets. The show’s producers knew they were going to get picked up even if it wasn’t NBC.
“Manifest,” which is like “LOST” but without a smoke monster, has been a huge hit on streaming platforms. Netflix has had great success with it as people who’d never heard of it took a chance on the drama. This is largely because of fans who got organized with a campaign to see the end of the story played out somewhere. The actors, who were largely unknown, certainly wanted to see “Manifest” continue from its cliffhanger.
The result, as I predicted, is that the producers will get to finish their story after all.
Only the show will move to Netflix after NBC’s mistake of cancelling it. All signs look good that a Netflix deal is finishing up. “Manifest” should be back on TVs and computers by next year.
That’s not good news for NBC. They have egg on their faces. They also have a lot of time to fill because they counted on Dick Wolf’s “Law & Order: For the Defense” to fill that hour. But it turned out that Wolf never actually developed the show. Suddenly NBC had an open hour on Thursday nights. They’re still scrambling to plug that hole.
Oh, TV. The machinations! What a world!
