Santa Clarita Diet - Why Netflix killed its undead comedy too soon
Does the cancellation of Netflix’s zombie comedy Santa Clarita Diet signal a shift in the streaming service’s approach?
On 27th April 2019, Netflix announced that it wouldn’t be reviving its zombie-comedy series Santa Clarita Diet for a fourth season. This delightfully weird show, starring Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant, didn’t exactly make waves for Netflix. It wasn’t the topic of water cooler conversation and it didn’t whip up Stranger Things-style enthusiasm, but, those who did find their way to it – and stuck with it after an uneven first season – loved it.
What made Santa Clarita Diet so loveable? It leaned in to its weirdness. The show’s habit of maintaining a light tone in the face of a very gory subject matter made it feel off-kilter from the start. And rather than trying to pick a side, it oscillated between horror and comedy from scene-to-scene – a trait that could have proved jarring if it wasn’t for the undeniable chemistry between the leads.
Barrymore and Olyphant, as husband and wife Sheila and Joel, provided viewers with a life-raft to hold on to, a solid foundation that kept the show grounded, even when Sheila tucked into the leg of a recently-deceased neo-Nazi or Joel had heart-to-hearts with the decapitated head of his former colleague in the basement. The couple’s love for each other and their family tempered the horror and brought a much-needed dose of reality back to a series that often seemed anything but. Both actors have an endearing likeability, a natural laid-back charm that seduces the audience. You can try to resist but, trust me, it’s much better if you sit back and enjoy the ride!
They were joined by an equally impressive supporting cast. While Liv Hewson, as daughter Abby, and Skyler Gisondo, as her friend and next-door neighbour Eric, took a little longer than the adults to find their feet, by the last series, I was just as invested in their fledgling romance as I was in any other storyline. Nathan Fillion, followed by Alan Tudyk, as the aforementioned severed head, Gary, and Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Lisa, Eric’s mother, rounded out the talented main cast. And that’s without even mentioning the dastardly evil cameos of Joel McHale and Maggie Lawson as rival realtors Chris and Christa!
The show has gradually increased in quality since the first season and the third, which dropped on Netflix a month before its cancellation, was the best yet. Well-packed, packed with twists and turns, and laugh-out-loud funny, it had everything from Joel performing a series of (hilarious) tasks to become the next Knight of Serbia (an ancient order of zombie hunters) to Liv and Eric teaming up to convince the FBI they weren’t responsible for blowing up a fracking site (spoiler: they definitely were!) Not to forget Lisa’s girlfriend Anne believing Sheila was an avenging angel sent by God to kill evil people, Eric’s undead ex-girlfriend returning to recover the living ball on legs that she threw up, and Ron, a newly-turned zombie determined to tell the world about his new status.
So, why was it cancelled now? And on a season-ending cliff hanger? There are a few theories flying across the web; that ratings were low, that buzz was minimal, that critical acclaim couldn’t withstand mainstream apathy and, in the wake of One Day at a Time’s third season cancellation, a rumour that three has become the magic number – the point before salary negotiations push a series beyond ROI. In short, Netflix cancelled Santa Clarita Diet for exactly the same reasons any other traditional network would.
But isn’t the fact that Netflix isn’t a traditional network the thing that drew most subscribers to it in the first place? The idea that this was a network that could and would take a chance on unusual projects, the kind of projects that push boundaries and attract a cult following. A network that focused on quality rather than just chasing audience figures. A place for the misfits, the underdogs, the under-represented to find a home.
Now that Netflix is facing an ever-increasing crop of streaming service rivals creating original programming – Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, the soon-to-be-launched Disney+ - it seems less willing to take those risks and to champion quirky shows for a limited yet passionate audience and more comfortable throwing its weight behind big hitting crowd pleasers like the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and The Crown.
So, Santa Clarita Diet probably won’t be coming back from the dead this time around, but let’s hope this doesn’t signal the end of days for oddball series like it at Netflix just yet.