Another day, another cult TV show with a small but dedicated audience cut down before it could achieve its full potential. Despite attempts to try and resurrect it with another network (or possibly a streaming service like Hulu or Netflix), it appears that NBC cancelling Constantine after its first season was the only nail needed to close the coffin. What, exactly, went wrong? Whilst Constantine never set the ratings alight which is the main factor in these decisions for the most part it did manage to do a better job adapting the source material than previous attempts, and it quickly earned itself a fandom that were as distraught by the show's end as they were delighted by its existence. Based on the long-running DC Comics series Hellblazer, the show managed to take the built-in audience from the source material and expand to to... well, not as many regular TV viewers as they needed to keep going, but still a fair few. There were some major speed bumps along the way which may have sealed its fate, however Besides the low ratings, of course, there were also some casting decisions that may have spoilt thinks slightly, choices made about the translation from page to screen, and some lingering ill will from a certain previous Hellblazer adaptation. All factored into the ten problems with Constantine that (probably) got it cancelled.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
