One show that isn't returning in its normal format is Lucifer, which was cancelled by Fox several months ago.
Thankfully, the good people over at Netflix took notice of the show's dedicated fan base and decided to pick it up, with filming set to wrap in December, as far as I'm aware, which means we're looking at something like a spring 2019 premiere for the show.
So here's the kicker that I hope isn't going unnoticed: in order for Lucifer to succeed well enough to get picked up for a season 5, people who were casual fans of the show need to know they can tune in on Netflix.
The only way to do that properly is to run commercials on the Fox network itself, as that was its former home and that's where people will be looking for it.
Sure, a good number of people are going to be looking on the internet for information and they'll find out that way, but it's important not to underestimate the people who ONLY have cable and don't bother with Twitter and Reddit. There are plenty of people out there who don't even have a computer, or if they do, they're still stubborn enough to not want to bother searching for something quickly on Google.
Those people are invaluable numbers Lucifer can't afford to lose, as there are definitely going to be folks who aren't willing to subscribe to a Netflix account just to watch one program, so the ratings (so to speak) are going to be lower by default.
On the contrary, though, there's also the opportunity to gain more subscribers and even retain them—don't forget about that.
Netflix should take the opportunity to invest a little bit of money into running some ads simply to let everyone know where they can find the show they used to watch for three seasons to help mitigate that loss, because you don't know how many people will specifically sign up for Netflix JUST to watch Lucifer. Once that happens, they might check out some other programming and then stick around a few more months, if not indefinitely.
It's also worth having an extra episode's worth of a prelude to recap people who may be new to the show. Just take existing footage and do a 1-hour summary of the first 3 seasons, breaking down who the characters are, the journey they've gone through so far, and everything else viewers may need to catch up on. That way, new viewers who stumble across it on Netflix and weren't aware of it beforehand, as they didn't have cable, don't feel like they're jumping into something 4 seasons deep and can't follow along.
But that can't happen if it's just a completely unknown thing that this show is on Netflix now, to the people who only turn on their TV and let the Fox network promote what's going on there.
Just saying...this is a strategy that Lucifer can't afford to not implement. Otherwise, the numbers will be disappointing and season 4 will be the last.
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