Netflix's reputation for canceling shows may be a long-running joke for the world's biggest streaming service, but it can still hurt when your favorite show gets axed or left in limbo. This year alone many fan favorites have been axed, including 1899, You (after its upcoming season) and Shadow and Bone, and many more (including my top pick Kingdom) hang in the balance.
Sci-fi and fantasy shows are particularly frequently hit, with this kind of show typically running up a higher budget and thus needing more views for Netflix to renew them. However, if you're really into this genre, there's another streaming service that is proving itself fantastic for releasing and renewing them.
As you can tell from the title, I'm talking about Apple TV Plus, which in the last week alone has given us two pieces of sci-fi news: it's renewed one of its hits in the form of Foundation season 3, the galaxy-spanning epic, and also announced a new show called Constellation which is a more subdued psychological thriller about an astronaut.
This follows a continuing trend for the streamer, as a big portion of its shows are science fiction or fantasy. There are at least 12 (or more, depending on how loose you're willing to go with the genre labels) and most of them have been renewed for several seasons.
These include ones like For All Mankind and Foundation which have got multiple seasons, and Severance and Silo which were renewed for second seasons which we're waiting for.
Other picks that sci-fi fans enjoyed are Silo, a post-apocalypse dystopian mystery and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, a Godzilla spin-off monster show. The former was renewed after its first season and the latter is currently still airing.
In fact, the only two main genre shows that have ended still got entire stories, with Jason Momoa-starring post-apocalypses action show See enjoying three seasons and M. Night Shyamalan's Servant getting four.
Apple TV Plus shows tend to be slow-burners, giving creators time to tell wide-ranging or detailed stories, and the fact that the streamer is quick to renew shows means that fans can enjoy a show without worrying that it'll end prematurely. A great example of that is Foundation, with both of its seasons starting a little slow but really coming together for gripping middles and ends.
Contrast that with Netflix. It's hard to properly settle down for a Netflix series without the worry that it'll end before its time and without wrapping up its story.
I'm particularly impressed by how Apple will renew shows even if they're poorly received. Invasion's first season got a "rotten" score on Rotten Tomatoes at just 48%, but Apple still gave it a second season, and that received much better reviews.
What's more, Netflix may be cheaper than Apple if you go for its ad-free tier, but there are enough Apple TV Plus free trails that you can easily check out the streamer and its shows without having to worry about the financial commitment.
Apple TV Plus isn't for everyone. It's not as great as Netflix for movies or documentaries, and it has far fewer shows than any of its rivals. However if you're into your sci-fi and fantasy, and don't want to worry that your next binge obsession will end before its time, then it's the best streaming service for you. Apple's two tidbits of news from this week just prove how reliable it can be.
