CW's Biggest Cancelation: Best Mystery Drama Saved by Fans and Hulu
This case is proof that even if your favorite project is canceled, there may still be a chance for revival.
It's safe to say that we've seen the beginning of the golden age of TV series: their number has increased significantly in recent years, the budgets are growing, and more and more A-listers are starring on the small screen. Unfortunately, a good TV show is not always able to captivate its audience right away, which is why many promising projects were axed.
Of all the high school TV shows of the 2000s, Veronica Mars is the one that still has a great chance of captivating both teens and adults.
What Was Veronica Mars About?
After all, the main character (played by Kristen Bell) not only studies, falls in love, and deals with the usual girl problems, but also works as a private investigator — following in the footsteps of her detective father.
In the first season, she investigates the murder of her best friend, and in the second, a case of a school bus falling off a cliff. At the same time, Veronica Mars was not filmed like Scooby Doo with live actors, but as a full-fledged neo-noir detective story with dark family secrets, ambiguous characters and intricate plotlines.
Veronica Mars Was Canceled Due to Low Ratings
Despite rave reviews, Veronica Mars failed to grow its audience. The first season was watched by 2.5 million people. By comparison, the first season of House, which debuted in the same fall of 2004, was watched by more than 13 million.
In 2007, The CW announced that Veronica Mars would not be renewed. Fortunately, the writers were able to wrap up Veronica's story without leaving fans with a cliffhanger.
Fans Started a Campaign to Save Veronica Mars
The fandom was small, but very loyal. After receiving the sad news, fans organized a series of campaigns to support Veronica Mars: renting a plane with a banner that flew over The CW headquarters, sending about ten thousand Mars chocolates to the office, and coordinating mass purchases of digital editions of the episodes.
Veronica Mars Received a Movie and Another Season
All the actors who starred in the series were willing to participate in the sequel. The show’s creator, Rob Thomas, had enough ideas for the script; the only problem was financing — $2 million needed to be raised for the film. This amount was collected in less than 11 hours on Kickstarter, more than 90,000 people donated money and in the end the campaign brought the movie $5 million.
In 2014, a full-length movie was released, and five years later, the fourth season was released on Hulu, in which the viewer followed the work of the adult Veronica.