'Ash vs. Evil Dead' Axed; Fans Launch Petitions for Netflix to Save Series, But What's the Best Way to Keep the Show Going?
Starz has given up on "Ash vs. Evil Dead," but fans haven't.
Several petitions have been launched by viewers of the show, each and every one of them calling Netflix to extend the show's lifeline, which the streaming giant has done in the past.
There are currently two petitions on Change.org, which racked up over 1,500 signatures in total at the time of this writing. There is also a bigger one on Care2, where almost 7,000 have already signed.
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When a big series like "Ash vs. Evil Dead" get the dreaded axe, many viewers immediately put their faith on streamers — this time, on Netflix — to give their favorite shows a second chance at life.
It is not always the case that the streaming titan, which is home to huge originals like "Stranger Things," will be swooping in to save the day. While it has salvaged shows in the past, there are so many things to be considered.
After its three-year run, "Longmire" was canceled on its original home network A and E, where it was rated the highest-rated original drama series of all time, making its untimely end a much bigger surprise. The modern western drama was rescued by Netflix, where it was streamed for three more years.
The transfer breathed new life into the show and even provided creative freedom to the people behind the show that they did not get to enjoy when it was on A and E.
"Longmire" ended strongly on its original network with 3.68 million viewers tuned in when it wrapped up its run on the network. This gave the show better chances of getting picked up.
It is hoped that the massive fan base behind "Ash vs. Evil Dead" and its history will convince Netflix to do the same and continue to tell the story of Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell).
However, this might be the biggest hurdle for the show's resurrection. The folks over at Reddit, while also hoping for Netflix to intervene, also choose to be realistic about the show's chances.
The viewership and ratings of "Ash vs. Evil Dead" have plummeted over the course of its run. It racked up a little over 400,000 viewers when it premiered in 2015.
Three years later, that number has been cut in half. The lowest number of viewers it registered was actually the current season's seventh episode titled "Twist and Shout," which was only watched by 136,000 viewers. The installment that followed saw a slight increase to 175,000.
Many Redditors believe that Netflix would want to make sure fans will binge-watch "Ash vs. Evil Dead" before they buy the rights to the show and decide to do more.
The first two seasons of "Ash vs. Evil Dead" are available on the streaming website, and the best way for fans to convince the people at Netflix to revive it is to support the show there.
This was the case with "Riverdale," which blew up on the streaming giant enough for Netflix to commit to a spinoff of the Archie Comics-inspired The CW series based on Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
For now, however, it looks like the final battle the chainsaw-handed monster hero will ever fight is imminent. Since the writers behind "Ash vs. Evil Dead" saw the cancellation coming, they developed a story in the season finale that could serve as the series finale, too. Campbell, himself, already said his goodbyes to Ash.
The series finale of "Ash vs. Evil Dead" on Starz will air on April 29.
