How Manifest was saved - it wasn't the fans

Are are used to hearing about fan campaigns to save TV shows. Past campaigns have involved sending spoons to networks, skywriting, renting billboards, buying Subway footlongs, and other high concept efforts. Recently when Manifest got cancelled by NBC, fans were lazy and mostly just tweeted a lot and used hashtags.

But Manifest got saved. Netflix picked it up for a new season. The fans did it. They saved Manifest.

Except they didn't. The campaign was all for moot. It was going to be saved with or without fan campaigns. The show was performing well on Netflix after it acquired earlier seasons of the show. Picking up the show for more was a slam-dunk for them - the deals just had to be worked out. Existing international sales were the biggest hurdle:

One sticking point was that WBTV had already sold Manifest internationally in several key territories, a key stumbling block for Netflix. “What we really strive for is to have great shows available to all our members globally,” Netflix head of global TV Bela Bajaria says. “We really want all our members to have the full benefit of the service, so we wanted Warner Bros. to take the time to get all those rights globally.”

TeeVee Snacks

A remake of Flight of The Navigator is being made for Disney+. Bryce Dallas Howard is directing/producing and because it is a 2021 reboot, the lead will be gender-swapped. Read: Deadline
HBO Max has cancelled youth drama Genera+ion. Read: TV Insider
The WarnerMedia / Discovery merger is still on track and expected to be finalised mid next year. Planned CEO David Zaslav says the merged company already has its go-to-market strategy ready to go. Read: Deadline
The Quibi lawsuit filed by Eko over use of its innovative (?) Turnstyle functionality has been settled. Read: Variety
James Corden is in talks to extend his contract with CBS to continue hosting his late night talk show. A shame. Read: Deadline
With the death of Norm Macdonald announced yesterday, it was a horrendously crappy day. But, the day was made way better by Twitter being almost nothing but a steady stream of great funny clips of Macdonald. Amidst all of that laughter was the news that Macdonald had already voiced his role of gelatenous blob and break-out character Yaphit for s3 of The Orville. Read: Deadline

Aussie network Nine hold 2022 upfronts

Nine held its upfronts yesterday afternoon. I couldn't watch the online stream live on account of getting a COVID test at the same time. Great fun. (It'll be negative - I had to get it for reasons of bureaucracy).

But, had I been able to watch, I would have learned that the shows one expects to be coming back next year will be. There were a few new shows announced that sounded interesting:

After the Verdict
After The Verdict tells a story of four very different Australians who have just finished jury duty on a high-profile murder trial. As they return to normal life, they begin to question their verdict and take matters into their own hands, investigating the murder themselves as they juggle the pressures and impacts on their personal lives.

But it is written by House Husbands & Dead Lucky writers Ellie Beaumont and Drew Proffitt, so...

Buying Byron
Highly focused real estate agents working to sell the sexiest real estate on earth. Viewers will get a glimpse into Australia’s most prestigious playground, where the spectacular beaches and seaside glamour set the scene for all the action. There will be beachside deals, tussles for premier property listings, and feuds over negotiations as these agents work to secure a piece of paradise for their prestige clients.

I'm a sucker for real estate shows. The recent Amazon effort Luxe Listings Sydney made the mistake of thinking anyone wants to spend time with real estate agents and learn more about their lives. (Ugh). Hopefully this one will focus on the more watchable real estate porn aspect of things.

Underbelly: Vanishing Act
Underbelly returns to Channel 9 with Underbelly: Vanishing Act. The new season will tell the story of the bizarre disappearance of Melissa Caddick who allegedly embezzled over $40 million before vanishing into thin air.

Is it a Nine Upfronts without an Underbelly series announced in some form?

TeeVee Snacks - Bonus casting news sub-section

Former Bones star Emily Deschanel will star in a new limited series thriller for Netflix - Devil in Ohio. Read: TV Insider
Future Captain America star Anthony Mackie will star in a new Twisted Metal TV show, based on the video game. Read: Variety
Krysten Ritter has joined the cast for David E Kelley's upcoming HBO Max show Love and Death. Read: The AV Club
Allison Mack, former Smallville star and cult leader, now has a new role: inmate No. 90838-053. Read: LA Times

Good news - you can now fight the Seinfeld characters in VR

Serenity now! Because the world is a beautiful place with all sorts of creative folk in it, a modification of the game Doom was released online, but set in the Seinfeld apartment with all of your favourite Seinfeld characters. Imagen.

This was back in 2016. But, now the mod has been re-released with the ability to get fully immersed and play it in VR.