‘Timeless’ Cancelled By NBC Despite Huge Fan-Driven Social Media Campaign, Final Movie Remains Possibility
Sorry, Clockblockers, the death knell has finally rung for your favorite show as TVLine reports that NBC has finally made their decision about the future of their time-travel show Timeless and canceled it. Deadline tells fans to not give up hope because the peacock network is considering a movie to wrap up all of the loose ends that were presented by the two-hour finale, specifically the fate of team member Rufus, played by fan favorite, Malcolm Barrett. Rufus was killed during one of their last mission back in time.
“This is a sad day for the writers, actors, crew and especially the viewers of Timeless,” shared co-showrunner Shawn Ryan. He said that on Twitter Friday, the social media platform where most of the heavy lifting trying to save the show was happening and where the writers were in touch with the fans daily. “We are all extremely proud of what we made and know that it was more than just a show for so many of our fans. It became a passion and a cause for many of them.” That case was a fervent campaign, using various hashtags like #SaveRufus, #Clockblockers, and of course #RenewTimeless to show the network how important the show was to its audience and how badly they wanted a third season.
Ryan also addressed the wrap-up movie idea. “If NBC is sincere in wanting a two-hour movie to give much-needed closure to our amazing @NBCTimeless fans, we are ready to make it,” he added. “We don’t want the journeys of Lucy, Wyatt, Rufus and the others to end yet.” The fans proved they feel the same every day since the show’s May 13 finale. They have tried to keep the hashtags trending on Twitter and as a result, they were rewarded by the show’s writers room Twitter handle with deleted scenes if they went over a certain amount of retweets and likes. When those ran out, the show shared script pages. There was so much love for the show, with the campaign continuing to run ever since, it was doing better at trending than most shows that were airing new episodes. Also fueling fans’ hope was the fact they brought it back post-cancellation after its first season. Surely, the network would give this family-friendly show a third season.
Not only that, no one thought it would take the network so long to make a decision, especially since they were supposedly going to decide after the finale aired. Could someone else recognize how amazing the audience is for this show? According to TVLine, “as for the series being shopped elsewhere,” co-showrunner Eric Kripke says that there have been no nibbles, and that the movie thus represents the best chance at resolving things. ‘Behind the scenes, Sony has been trying hard to set it up elsewhere, but no luck so far,’ he tweeted. ‘I think this two-hour movie is our best shot. We’re ready to make it if @nbc really wants it.’ It’s a safe bet the fans do.
