Why Netflix's 'best ever horror show' was canceled as Mindhunter curse rears its head
A series widely considered as Netflix's 'best ever' horror show was canceled after just one season - and this is why.
Archive 81 racked up more than 128 million views in its first 16 or so days, even briefly gracing the platform's number one spot.
Starring Mamoudou Athie, the TV show follows Dan Turner, an archivist and video restoration expert hired by the shadowy company LMG to restore damaged videotapes from 1994.
The tapes were recorded by Melody Pendras (Dina Shihabi), a filmmaker documenting life in the eerie Visser Building, a New York apartment complex with a dark past.
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As Dan works through the footage, he becomes increasingly obsessed with Melody and uncovers unsettling ties between the building, a cult, and his own history.
Based on the hit 2016 podcast by Marc Sollinger and Daniel Powell, the mini-series was praised by fans as 'refreshing' and 'original'.
Despite its popularity and a growing fanbase, however, series was unexpectedly cancelled just two months after its debut, leaving fans without a follow-up.
Of course, Archive 81 wasn't the first - and certainly won't be the last - to fall victim to this renewal issue.
And a source told Small Screen back in 2022 what apparently really went down.
They claimed: "There were a lot of issues, mostly numbers based. It was so close to getting renewed.
"We were days away from going into pre-production. Scripts had been written and were being worked on. In the end, it all came down to numbers, both money and views on Netflix."
They continued: "S2’s budget was a sticking point, and people at Netflix felt the show didn’t bring in enough new viewers.
"The show did well and considering it was made on a tight budget, it did really well. But, Netflix has what we like to call ‘cut off points’ as far as views are concerned. We just didn’t make it into the ‘renewed’ bracket."
Mindhunter was the first major original Netflix series to be canceled after a couple of seasons - despite it receiving critical acclaim and counting author Stephen King among its fans.
Sadly, the show also suffered from 'low viewership' and was ultimately dropped by the streamer after its second season back in 2019.
Executive producer David Fincher previously addressed what had happened: "We went as far as we could until someone finally said to us, 'It makes no sense to produce this series like this, unless you can reduce the budget or make it more pop, so that more people will watch it,'" he began.
"We did not want to change our approach, so, respectfully, they told us that they were drawing a line under it.'"
Since, the platform has racked up a reputation for canceling seemingly well-performing shows after just one season - often due to them not meeting certain arbitrary metrics to justify their budgets.
This so-called 'Mindhunter curse' is a trend that has unfortunately has continued, with dozens of shows canceled after just one season; while fans of emerging series try not to get too invested out of fear their favorite new show could be next on the chopping block.
2024's Kaos, in which Jeff Goldblum starred as Greek god Zeus, is among the most recent shows to be axed after just one instalment.
The show's creator, Charlie Covell, expressed disappointment after Netflix pulled the plug just a month after its release despite its popularity and presence in the platform’s top 10.
Fans voiced their frustration online, with many urging the team to explore other networks to continue the series.
Topics: Film and TV, Netflix, Horror
Ellie Kemp