When news that the broadcast company NBC would not be moving forward with the series "Hannibal" after the final episode of its third season, "Hannibal" fans—Fannibals—were distraught. I know I was. But with the growing of online platforms to air shows, is this cancellation really a bad thing?
The first thing I did after I saw the news on Facebook was rush to Twitter where #SaveHannibal was trending worldwide. The media/marketing team at NBC has created a fantastic online presence for some of its shows, and "Hannibal" is no exception. With a strong Tumblr blog and Twitter account, the show has reached out to fans across social media. This proximity to the small but loyal fan base has brought it closer and made the fans stronger. In addition to the marketing teams being heavy on the social media, Bryan Fuller, the creator and show-runner for the first three seasons, has always kept fans up-to-date on Twitter, but when I checked after finding out about the cancellation, he wasn't worried.
His answers to questions were all in CAPS, but whether that was from excitement or frustration, it's hard to tell. But the same thing happened when Fox cancelled "The Mindy Project" a few weeks back. Mindy Kaling (@mindykaling) took to twitter to let everyone know that Hulu would be picking up the show for Season Four. Since then, there have been several articles about how the show would push the envelope further online than it did while on TV.
And the same goes for "Hannibal." If a company like Amazon (who would be the most likely bet because they already have the first two seasons available on Amazon Prime), Netflix, Hulu, or even Yahoo picked up "Hannibal" to continue with the six season that Fuller originally planned, it could be so much greater than what NBC has made it in the first three seasons.
Without the restriction of censors and cutting for commercials, "Hannibal" could grow from the beautifully grotesque and brilliantly shot cult masterpiece of a show that NBC did a fantastic job of creating and sharing, to something even better. And with the team of writers and producers that it has, I have no doubt that they will do everything in their power to push deeper into the minds of the characters they've artfully created; and should they choose to partner with an online platform and bring that world to the internet, I know that the "Fan-nibals" would rejoice.
