On Thursday, Lifetime canceled its drama “Drop Dead Diva” for a second time, saying the show would end after its upcoming sixth season. The series about a plus-size lawyer was axed once before, in its fourth season, but after its finale was watched by a season-high 2.8 million viewers, the network and studio inked a new deal to keep the show going.
In the absence of strong ratings, fans have resorted to other, wackier ways to lobby for the survival of their favorite shows — everything from letter-writing to mailing various foodstuffs.
Here are 10 viewer campaigns that managed to work.
“Roswell”
Fans sent 6,000 mini bottles of Tabasco sauce (a preferred condiment of the teenage alien characters in the series) to WB executives to save the show from being canceled after its first season in 2000. It ran for two more seasons.
“Jericho”
In another food-themed plea, loyal viewers of this CBS drama sent 20 tons of peanuts — inspired by the main character’s cry of “Nuts!” — to network execs after they canceled the show in May 2007. CBS ended up ordering seven more episodes to air the following year.
“Veronica Mars”
Sending 10,000 Mars bars wasn’t enough to save this CW cult hit from cancellation in May 2007. But longtime fans rallied again last year to fund a “Veronica Mars” movie on Kickstarter, raising $5.7 million (the goal was $2 million). The film, with Kristen Bell reprising the lead role, comes out March 14.
“Arrested Development”
Its cult status couldn’t save it from cancellation in 2006 after three low-rated seasons at Fox, but thanks to a legion of new fans discovering the comedy on Netflix, the streaming service commissioned a fourth season, which premiered in 2013.
“The Killing”
This is one series that just won’t die. AMC canceled the crime thriller after ratings fell in its second season, then revived it after Netflix agreed to help finance a third season. The network then canceled it a second time after Season 3, only to have Netflix, sensing there was still viewer interest, come back and order a six-episode fourth season to end the series.
“Cougar Town”
The fan tour that creators and cast went on in Season 3 — hosting wine-fueled viewing parties across the country — wasn’t enough to convince ABC to keep the show in 2012, but it did earn the Courteney Cox comedy a second life at TBS, where it’s now in its fifth season.
“Friday Night Lights”
To lobby for the NBC football drama, which was in danger of being canceled after its second season in 2008, fans sent the network light bulbs (after its title) and eye drops (after its motto, “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose”). The network ended up striking a deal with DirecTV to keep the show alive for five seasons.
“Chuck”
With the NBC spy dramedy in danger of being canceled after its second season, fans launched a “Have a Heart, Renew Chuck” campaign, which ended up raising $17,000 for the American Heart Association on behalf of NBC. They also organized to buy sandwiches at Subway — one of the show’s main sponsors — the day of the season finale, dropping comment cards in support of “Chuck” while there. The chain signed on as a bigger sponsor, the network renewed the show, and it ran for five seasons.
“Reaper”
After the writers’ strike of 2007-08 put this CW show’s fate in limbo, fans sent the studio socks, after the character named Sock (played by Tyler Labine), and the network opted to keep “Reaper” undead for one more 13-episode season.
“Star Trek”
Reportedly the first instance of fans banding together to save a show, Trekkies organized a letter-writing campaign after it was rumored NBC was going to cancel “Star Trek” after its second season in 1968. The show ultimately was canceled one year later, but lived on in syndication and spawned many spinoff TV shows and movies.