Cancelling 'Evil' May Go Down as One of the Most Bonehead Decisions In TV History

By Dustin Rowles | TV | August 16, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | August 16, 2024 |

Evil will be ending after four seasons next week, and there’s absolutely no reason for that. The showrunners, Robert and Michelle King, want to keep making the show. The cast — at least according to Katja Herbers — wants to keep at it, and the show’s a hit. It’s spent most of the summer in the top ten on the Nielsen streaming charts.

Evil has become one of those word-of-mouth hits, like Breaking Bad or even Suits, that found new life on Netflix and took off from there. But imagine if AMC had axed Breaking Bad after three seasons before it built that Netflix audience? That’s exactly what it feels like Paramount+ is doing with Evil. They’re killing it just as it’s finding its audience. And we’re not talking about a small, niche following: Again, it’s been one of the biggest streaming hits of the summer.

For a streamer like Netflix, picking up more seasons of Evil would mean putting a guaranteed hit on their service with four seasons already primed for binge-watching ahead of each new one. It’s a great show, too—the kind that could snag awards if promoted right. It can’t be that expensive either: It’s three midlevel TV actors and what’s clearly not a huge production budget.

The math seems simple. Why take an expensive risk on a series that might work when one that definitely does is right there for the taking? From a purely business standpoint, it’s a no-brainer. How many middling streaming series catch fire years after their cancellation, leaving streamers wishing they’d made more seasons? If Fox had known how valuable Arrested Development would be to their content library, they’d never have canned it after three seasons. They must’ve been kicking themselves when it blew up on streaming.

This is one of those situations where a smart streamer — be it the current Paramount+ or a new home like Netflix or Amazon — can avoid future regrets when fans keep flocking to Evil and start demanding sequels and reboots. Don’t let it come to that! Keep this show going! There are at least two or three more seasons left because the Kings have an endless supply of episodes they can produce about questions of faith and science.

This isn’t a case of fans begging someone to save their struggling show. We’re asking you to keep making this huge fucking hit! In return, we’ll keep watching, tell our friends about it, and subscribe to your streaming service to watch. It’s a win-win for everyone, and the TV executive who decides to bring it back will be heralded as a hero one day. And make a lot more money for their studio.

Be that hero.