Stranger Things: Tales from '85

Netflix

Netflix has frustrated many fans over the years by canceling good shows, even ones that seemingly performed well. But what about a show that only some people like and has obviously gotten rather poor viewership? Well, it appears that there are exceptions to that rule when it comes to one of Netflix’s biggest franchises, Stranger Things.

Netflix clearly does not want to let go of that well-watched universe, with Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 airing shortly after its finale, and a live-action spinoff coming at some point. Netflix has just announced that Tales From ’85 is getting a season 2, renewed not even a week after release, implying it’s some great success. But there’s nothing to indicate that it is.

Netflix announced this by bragging about that it was in the top 15 animated debuts on the service (not top 10, you’ll note), and also that it debuted at #7 on the top 10 list, which in context, is quite poor. The first data we have about how the series did during its arrival is that its seventh-place arrival was behind the likes of Salish and Jordan Matter, which was already on the list for three weeks, a Hulk Hogan documentary, and the second week of Beef. That was just 2.8 million views. Currently, the show is about to fall off the top 10 list altogether, hanging on at #10 after six days.

Reviews have been mixed-to-bad. Its 63% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics is barely positive, lower than all past Stranger Things seasons by a lot, and audience scores are a rotten 54%. Over on IMDB, Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 has a quite bad 5.7/10. The show also doesn’t feature any of the original voice cast, either because they’re too expensive for something like this or just too busy. Animation is not exactly cheap to produce, either, so costs can’t be that low.

So, given all this, why has Tales From ’85 been renewed? My guess is that Netflix simply wants to keep producing Stranger Things content so the universe doesn’t feel like it’s dead, and this show can serve as a bridge to whenever the live-action series arrives. At the very least, this means that there will be Stranger Things content in 2027, if the new show arrives in 2028, perhaps, though details on that project remain incredibly scarce.

In any case, here’s what showrunner Eric Robles says about the renewal:

“We’re thrilled to return to the winter of ’85 for Season 2. The Hawkins Investigators Club is back, and a new paranormal threat has emerged from the town’s abandoned silver mines. I can’t wait for fans to discover where this entity and the mysterious blue flower we last saw blooming in the Upside Down at the end of Season 1 take our young heroes,” he adds.

The implication there is that a season 2 was planned from the start, given that the storyline has already been set up through cliffhangers and this announced direction. It sounded like this was going to be a one-off miniseries, but I suppose that was never actually said, and this may have always been the plan. It could actually run indefinitely, I suppose, if Netflix is willing to back it. But still, it’s all a bit strange, and not in the Hawkins sense.

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