With the end of the first season of Strange Planet a few days behind us, fans of the Apple TV+ series are eagerly waiting for the renewal announcement in the wake of decent reviews and streaming numbers. Predicting a show’s continuation in this day and age can be tricky due to the numerous factors involved, but we have some hypotheses nonetheless.
Tales of Whimsical Relevance on Apple TV+
Based on the hit cartoon of the same name, which started as a webcomic in 2019 created by Nathan W. Pyle, Strange Planet follows several threads of related and unrelated stories of blue people who live in a world adjacent in form to ours, where everything is the same as Earth with just a hint more frankness in nearly every aspect. For example, in the pilot, we get to hear references to “foot tubes” (socks) and “jitter liquid” (coffee). As such, the aliens deal with everyday situations big and small while discovering the classic human difficulties we all face.
What Do the Reviews Say About Strange Planet?
Positive reviews from audiences and critics have buoyed Strange Planet‘s otherwise lack of presence from a marketing standpoint. Perhaps expecting the show to have a built-in audience, Apple TV+ didn’t give much awareness to the series other than small pushes on Instagram, Strange Planet and Pyle’s go-to social media following. The amusing situations are as universally appealing as any other PG animated show, and if anything, the peculiarities of the comics are toned down in this TV adaptation for mass comfort.
Critically, the overall consensus is that Strange Planet as a streaming service is just enough acceptable. Not going entirely into the alien qualities of Pyle’s human-analyzing version, the viewer could close their eyes and hear typical eccentric situational comedy dialogue. The voice acting by TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe, Danny Pudi, Hannah Einbinder, and a slew of recognizable guests is amiably non-robotic, despite the overly candid conversations created by a unique mix of writers (Pyle shows up credited on over half the episodes). Lighthearted, agreeable, and chuckle-worthy, the show is pleasant without knocking the viewer’s foot tubes off.
The Statistics Are Not in This Show’s Favor
With several nonrecurring storylines that divert from a couple of central characters, non-universal acclaim in its reviews, and the increasing downward projection of the career of co-creator Dan Harmon, Strange Planet has the odds stacked against it for renewal. Engagement for the show is also not good enough; Strange Planet has the lowest popularity of any debut 2023 narrative series on Apple TV+, including High Desert and Dear Edward, both of which the streamer canceled after one season. This animated comedy has better online ratings, and the downward trajectory in engagement is inconsistent, with a bump in the second half.
Strange Planet is worth the quick and easy investment, scouring for the central plotline or soaking up the disconnected characters as the original comic intended. But good-not-great reviews are not often what services look at to determine a continuation of a series, and in fact, a mediocre status can even be a death sentence itself. Universally loved or hated shows get press and viral attention, but those in the middle are doomed to get lost in the content rush. We can only hope Strange Planet does not suffer the same fate and is given time to grow and develop with another batch of episodes in 2024.
Strange Planet is streaming now on Apple TV+.