There is no greater feeling than watching an entire show from beginning to end and have a finale so definitive that you know for a fact that the show wrapped up leaving you completely fulfill. Not all shows are given such pleasure, however. Some shows just end up getting canceled, whether it’s because of bad viewership, or bad reception a network can choose not to renew a show leaving fans questioning what would’ve happened next. With the television on its dying leg, and streaming taking over the entertainment landscape a lot of these forgotten TV shows are given a new lease on life. Another chance to warp up the story, or in one case become one of the biggest shows in modern history. With that said, here are the five TV shows brought back by streaming.
5. Star Wars Clone Wars
Star Wars Clones Wars is a CGI cartoon that was meant to fill in the gap between Star Wars Episode II Clones Wars and Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith. Starting as a movie with below-average reviews the show still managed to find greater success when it aired on Cartoon Network in 2009. The show succeeded in making Anikin Skywalker well, a real person. You witness his descent into the dark side, with his brutality in the battlefield, and his strong trust of Papaltin who was given a brighter spotlight to show off the slow execution of his plan to take over the senate. The show felt natural in its execution that by the time episode III starts you understand why all these characters are the way they are. Ironically some of the best episodes were about the politic.
Sadly during the time of airing, Disney would purchase Lucasfilm canceling the show. However, Star Wars was allowed to air its final season on Netflix, and that is where the show stayed until its second revival via the Disney+ streaming service.
4. Lucifer
There was a weird period during the 2010s where TV networks tried to one-up each other when it came to crime dramas. The battle was over how gimmicky can you make a crime show. As a result, we were given shows like Sleepy Hollow, where the headless horseman helps solve crimes. IZombie, where a zombie helps solves crimes. And of course FOX’s Lucifer, based on a comic book, Lucifer came to earth from hell and ends up helping the local police force with solving crimes.
The show was successful and gather a strong following, however, Fox still canceled the show after two years. I remember the online petitions that were started to bring the show back. However, by that point streaming networks had already brought back multiple shows. So fans knew that it was only a matter of time before Lucifer would be revived, which it was, by Netflix.
3. The Mindy Project
Premiering on Fox at 2012, The Mindy Project follows an obstetrician/gynecologist Mindy Lahiri as she juggles her single and professional life. With all the quirks you would expect from an office comedy, Mindy went through on an off relationships, she got engaged, and she even got a child. All the while maintaining the usual charm that you would expect from Mindy Kalin, who perfectly played a role that just felt like you were watching her simply be herself. Nowadays we are used to having the pleasure to have different ethnicities being portrayed as the main character on most of our favorite shows. However, The Mindy Project came out just at the right time to stick out from the crowd, especially when the only other show on the Fox Network that started a female lead was New Girl.
The Mindy Project was canceled in 2015 and was soon picked up by Hulu with a new season with all the other episodes also available to view. As I said before on this list when Lucifer got renewal it was expected. However, back in 2015, it was surprising to see Hulu pick up The Mindy Project since it was something that you wouldn’t expect streaming services to do. Despite ending in 2017 after 6 seasons, The Mindy Project was allowed to finish its run with a wonderful happily ever after.
2. Fuller House
Despite being an American darling, I am not the biggest fan of Full House, it is a time capsule of the late 80s to mid-90s very cheesy television. The show had many copy-cats but none were able to capture the pure sense of family that the show had. With that said rumors of a reunion type of special, or a full-on revival would always find their way into forums, but with each actors’ career taking on very different paths. The idea of a reunion was just never on the table
All that changed on February 26, 2016, when Netflix aired the first episode of Fuller House. A full fleshed sequel of the original series. This time a recently widowed DJ, along with her three sons, moved in with her younger sister (no not that one) Stephanie who is an up an coming musician. Joining them is the third member of the family (no not that one), DJ’s best friend Kimmy Gibbler. The premise might sound eerily similar to the original show, but that is the charm of it. The chemistry is on point and watching an episode feels like you are being invited into an old friend’s house.
Number 1. Black Mirror
Black Mirror premiered on the UK in Channel 4, an hour-long anthology series each episode probs on humanities’ fear of technology. The idea that we will become consumed by the thing we created. Black Mirror ran from 2011-2014 before getting canceled. However, that wasn’t the end of the series. Netflix would pick up the rights to the show and revive the series in 2016. The biggest benefit of the revival was that the show was able to reach a higher audience, and the bigger budget allowed for each episode to feel like a short film.
The show was even able to get experimental with the 2018 episode Bandersnatch, which took the internet by storm, with its multiple branding paths. Youtube was flooded with tips, theories, and massive spoilers. Other shows on this list were revived and allowed to have wrapped up their stories. Black Mirror, however, became a cultural phenomenon and demonstrating why streaming is the future of entertainment.