Fans of “The Following” have been trying every trick in the book to keep their favorite show alive, but rumors that it’s been canceled are getting stronger and stronger, and at this point it’s probably safe to assume that the fourth season of the series isn’t coming to the screen after all. Fans even tried running a petition – even though that hasn’t traditionally been a successful way to revive TV shows in general – but to no avail, as there hasn’t been any response from the producers so far.
The petition has actually not been that successful in terms of signature numbers, according to reports – it seems like the organizers have managed to gather about 13,000 signatures according to the last reports, while they had set the target at 25,000 in the first place. And while it is possible that they will reach their final goal, this doesn’t really paint a bright picture for how many people want to see “The Following” coming back in reality.
On the other hand, ratings for the show have been somewhat poor and it hasn’t managed to get a good position in the charts for a long time, which has added to the possibility of its cancellation even more. The networks related to the show have been quiet on the issue as well, which obviously didn’t help calm down the fans’ anxiety over the situation.
It seems that no other network wants to take the production onboard either, which has further disappointed fans who were convinced that the show is a popular one, and that its current network just doesn’t see things the right way. Obviously, it does have some merits, but if its viewer numbers and ratings have remained that low for such a long time, we don’t know how likely it is that another network would want to take a look at “The Following”.
Indeed, numbers have been on a decline since the show started, and its first season was also its most successful one. Viewer numbers have been cut down by more than half since then, and people are apparently getting less and less interested in the production.
There’s something else that’s been pointed out by observes of the situation as well – it might just be that the show’s premise is a bit too niche-based in order to appeal to a large enough audience that could allow the production to remain on air. It does try to appeal to a broad audience in some cases, but on the other hand, it can also be seen that some of the ideas about its plot development and production style aren’t exactly appropriate for all viewers.
Because of this, some have been questioning the possibility that any network would show interest in “The Following” (a prediction that seems to be coming true, sadly), and the general consensus among those crowds is that the show would need a serious overhaul before another network would want to take a look at it. And then, that might defeat the whole purpose of the production in the first place.
“The Following” managed to attract an audience in the beginning precisely because of its unique premise and certain ideas about its production that were relatively unpopular in other TV shows, and many of its fans were apparently drawn in by the bold approach that the producers employed. If the show is changed to remove those aspects, that could completely kill it.