‘Before I knew it, the dream was over’: Netflix cancels ‘Cowboy Bebop’ after one season

Netflix’s live-action series “Cowboy Bebop” will not be getting a second season due to a steep decline in viewership.

Mixed reception: The streaming giant has pulled the plug on the CGI-heavy adaptation of the beloved anime of the same name less than a month since its premiere on Nov. 19, reported The Hollywood Reporter.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the show received a 46% positive rating from critics, while 55% of general audience members gave it a rating of 3.5 stars or higher.
While critics mostly praised the performances of the main cast (John Cho as Spike Spiegel, Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine and Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black), the 10-episode series was heavily faulted for being unoriginal and unappealing, as NextShark previously reported.
“It’s a show that works in small bursts but never coheres, and there’s a depressingly manufactured sense to the whole thing, especially in shots directly copied from the original,” Brian Tallerico, president of the Chicago Film Critics Association, wrote.

Viewership decline: Netflix, which has an industry-standard renewal rate of 60% for shows with two or more seasons, reportedly decides on a show’s renewal based on factors such as production costs and its retention rate, according to IGN.

“The biggest thing that we look at is, are we getting enough viewership to justify the cost of the series?” Cindy Holland, Netflix’s former vice president of original content, was quoted as saying in 2018. “We also look at other things: how beloved the fan community is, how social a title is. There are lots of other things that we look at that you all can also see out in the world. But we are deliberate and thoughtful, and there are a lot of things that go into the decision.”
For “Cowboy Bebop,” insiders attributed its cancellation to the sharp drop in viewership in the weeks following its highly anticipated debut.
In its first three days (Nov.19-21), “Cowboy Bebop” racked up more than 21.6 million viewing hours before gaining more than 36.9 million hours for the week of Nov. 22-28, according to Netflix’s Global Top 10 chart.
The show suffered a 59% drop on the week of Nov. 29-Dec. 5. with only 15.2 million viewing hours.

Images via Netflix

Share this Article