10 Flop TV Shows That Made ONE Huge Mistake
1. Having A Polarising First Episode - 3 Body Problem
While it might be a tad premature to deem it completely done and dusted, the future of Netflix's new sci-fi series 3 Body Problem isn't looking great.
Despite scoring positive reviews from critics, it netted a mediocre 11 million views in its first four days, placing it well below the recent Avatar: The Last Airbender (21.2 million) and just a fraction above the cancelled likes of 1899 (10.9 million) and Resident Evil (10.6 million).
Furthermore, it failed to hit the #1 spot in its first week, instead sitting behind The Gentlemen, which launched a whole two weeks prior.
Though 3 Body Problem is at least still ranking in Netflix's top 10 shows (for now), its viewership has almost certainly been impacted by an incredibly polarising first episode which, with its vague introduction to the world of Liu Cixin's acclaimed novel, surely caused many to bounce off almost immediately.
It's little surprise that most mega-budget TV series play things relatively safe right out of the gate, and only dare to challenge the audience once they've already got their hooks in them.
Admittedly, this is a tough strategy to pull off with source material as heady and dense as this, but given that the show didn't click for many until the second or third episode, it definitely would've made sense to make the onboarding opener a little less alienating.
If 3 Body Problem is sadly cancelled after a single season - which, at the time of press, is looking highly probable - it'll certainly be clear why.