The Canceled Netflix Series Fans Desperately Tried To Save
In a world replete with quick-spreading disinformation and the subsequent, dangerous proliferation of kooky conspiracy theories, the 2021 animated series "Inside Job" — created by Shion Takeuchi (a writer on "Gravity Falls" and "Disenchantment") — was perfectly timed. "Inside Job" posited that every single conspiracy theory you've ever heard — whether it be Reptilians, JFK, the Mandela effect, the flat Earth, or the faked moon landing — were all 100 percent real. Clones were out there, severed heads were being kept alive in labs, and aliens regularly visited Earth. Just like in "The X-Files," ordinary citizens weren't allowed access to this knowledge.
Earth's conspiracies were overseen by a mysterious underground organization called Cognito, Inc., one of six major shadow governments secretly in charge of the world. The other five were the Catholic Church, the Illuminati, Atlantis, the Reptoids, and the Juggalos (tee hee). The central joke of "Inside Job" was that Cognito, Inc. was staffed by flawed, horny a-holes. The main character was the overworked and misanthropic Reagan Ridley (Lizzy Caplan) who was constantly on the brink of snapping. Other characters included the smiling, glad-handing newb Brett (Clark Duke), the horrendous gossip Gigi (Tisha Campbell), the PTSD-suffering humanoid dolphin Glenn Dolphman (John DiMaggio), and the sarcastic sentient mushroom Myc Celium (Brett Gelman). Christian Slater played Randall, Reagan's alcoholic father. Adam Scott, Ron Funches, Suzy Nakamura, Cheri Oteri, and many other notable comedians and actors had recurring roles or guest spots. The show was bitter and funny and became surprisingly humane after its first few obscenity-forward episodes.
"Inside Job" only lasted one season, with its first half released on October 22, 2021, and its second half on November 18. But like so many Netflix shows before, "Inside Job" was unceremoniously axed by the network for no stated reason.
The petition to save it
Fans of absurdist sci-fi shows like "Futurama" would have enjoyed "Inside Job," and the series received generally favorable reviews. It's impossible to say how widely watched "Inside Job" was, however, because Netflix is infamously secretive about its actual ratings. Needless to say, the cancelation came as quite a shock. When the news was covered in the pages of Variety, Takeuchi was crushed. She tweeted: "I'm heartbroken to confirm that Netflix has decided to cancel season 2 of 'Inside Job.' Over the years, these characters have become real people to me, and I am devastated not to be able to watch them grow up."
News of the show's cancelation hit in January of 2023, and only a few hours later, "Inside Job" fans mobilized, launching a petition on Change.com to save it. Their goal was to get 50,000 signatures to send a message to Netflix to keep the show going. Many fans were eager to see "Inside Job" continue. It didn't help that the show's first season ended on a cliffhanger. By the events of the episode "Appleton," Reagan had developed a relationship with a visiting conspiracy worker named Staedtler (Adam Scott), and they planned to erase their memories and retire from the Inside job. Sadly, she was made privy to the real reason Cognito, Inc. exists, and ended up sacrificing her relationship to keep it. It was also implied that Air Bud, who was a real-life basketball dog in this universe, may evolve into a higher life form and take over the Earth.
Sadly, the fan petition only secured 44,071 signatures before its deadline.
The march of graves
Takeuchi continued, "Reagan and Brett deserved to get their happy ending and finally find happiness." Sadly, their happy ending has evaded viewers. Whether or not "Inside Job" will receive a latter-day revival remains to be seen. It would take many people mainlining the extant episodes on Netflix to warrant such a revival.
"Inside Job" is, of course, one of many, many, many Netflix shows to have been canceled after only a season. As has been widely observed in 2023, Netflix's business model seems geared toward pleasing stockholders rather than pleasing customers. Debuting shows proves to shareholders that the company has value, and it doesn't much matter if anyone watches them with any kind of regularity. The idea of a show running for several years before "finding an audience" is very much dead. The makers of the many canceled Netflix shows may take some cold comfort in the fact that Netflix would have nixed their show no matter how good or bad it did.
"Inside Job," then, will have to take its place with "The Get Down," "The Good Cop," "Seven Seconds," "Girlboss," "Merry Happy Whatever," "All About the Washingtons," "Gypsy," "Away," "Teenage Bounty Hunters," "Soundtrack," "V Wars," "Spinning Out," "Messiah," "Grand Army," "The Irregulars," "Disjointed," "The Get Down," "Cowboy Bebop," "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance," "Resident Evil," "Sky High: The Series," "The Imperfects," "The Society," "Daybreak," "The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell," "October Faction," "I Am Not Okay With This," "Everything Sucks!," "No Good Nick," "Turn Up Charlie," "Chambers," "Q Force," "The Midnight Gospel," "Uncoupled," "The Chair," "The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself," "Jupiter's Legacy," "Archive 81," "First Kill," "Blockbuster," "1899," "On the Verge," and many, many others as one of the shows Netflix canceled after one season.