'Manifest' Fans Create Petition to Save Series Following NBC Cancellation

Manifest fans aren't letting their show die quietly. After NBC announced Monday night that the sci-fi drama would not be picked up for a fourth season, viewers of the popular series are rallying their support around the show in a last-ditch effort to save it, with an online petition already garnering more than 3,500 signatures.

Created shortly after the network announced its decision to end the Jeff-Rake created series after just three seasons, despite an initial six-season plan, the Change.org petition calls on fans to "Help us [Save Manifest] and have the show get the six seasons it deserves." The petition specifically calls out streaming giant Netflix, where the first two seasons of the series were made available for viewing and immediately launched to the No. 1 spot on the Top 10 list, just days ahead of the show's cancellation. The petition said that following the cancellation news, they "have hope of Netflix picking it up, so we are hoping with a community full of support that we can convince them to pick it up." If the streamer doesn't choose to revive the series, "we hope that manifest lives on in its third and hopefully more seasons with a different network or streaming service."

"Taking a family Vacation will never be the same for the 191 passengers aboard flight 828, When they departed from Jamaica, trying to save money on an overbooked flight. They left on April, 7th 2013 and didn't return for five and a half years. Where did they go? What happened?" the petition reads in part. "These are some of the questions that we are still trying to answer within the show among a million others."

The petition says that "Manifest is a show for fans of Sci-Fi and all of the beyond. The show has a large following across social media," and they "strongly encourage Warner Brothers TV and NBC to renew Manifest. It would be one of the biggest mistakes they could make if they don't." The petition also calls on fans to get the "Save Manifest" hashtag trending "on all social media platforms." The hashtag has been widely used among fans on Twitter as they react to news of the cancellation, with the series creator even using the hashtag when addressing the news, which Rake said left him "devastated." Rake also expressed hope that the show will "find a new home."

At this time, it remains unclear why NBC decided not to move forward with a fourth season, though ratings were likely a factor. According to TVLine, Manifest's third season averaged just above 3 million total weekly viewers and not quite a 0.5 demo rating, numbers that were down 21% and 31% from its sophomore run. The series ranked No. 7 in the demo and 10th in the total audience among the 14 dramas that NBC aired this TV season. The first two seasons are now available for streaming on Netflix.