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It’s no doubt that streaming platforms are the way of the future. Gone are the days of waiting for reruns and recording shows on your DVR, so you don’t miss out on the story. Streaming platforms have also saved some of our favorite cable TV shows from cancellation, such as Arrested Development and Lucifer both being bought out by Netflix. Though the transition to streaming can now make all of the television available at our fingertips, it also creates new barriers to viewership. Streaming platforms are expensive, so users are often forced to pick and choose which to subscribe to. When cable TV shows are moved to streaming platforms, a portion of their audience can be lost in the switch and lead to a premature cancellation. Such was the case for Infinity Train (2019), a science-fiction cartoon that was moved from Cartoon Network to HBO Max in 2020.
Infinity Train‘s Initial Success
Infinity Train, created by Owen Dennis, gained attention from its highly successful YouTube pilot release in 2016. As part of an interest test done by Cartoon Network, it was later produced into a ten-episode miniseries. The show follows the different passengers on a never-ending, fantasy-filled train. Each passenger awakes on the train with a glowing number on their hand, which represents their emotional growth as they learn from past mistakes and attempt to leave the train. Passengers are accompanied by denizens, the beings who live on the train and attempt to help them overcome emotional hurdles. While each season has a self-contained story, recurring characters and plots are explored across the episodes.
Season one focused on the characters presented in the Youtube pilot: Tulip (Ashley Johnson), a teenage girl dealing with her parent’s divorce, Atticus, who is the King of the Corgis (Ernie Hudson), and One-One, a robot with two distinct personalities (Glad-One performed by Jeremy Crutchley, and Sad-One performed by Owen Dennis). While attempting to escape the train, Tulip and her friends encounter different fantastical (and sometimes nonsensical) cars, including a chrome car and a car filled with ducks. Its later seasons built on Tulip’s journey and followed up on unanswered mysteries, including Tulip’s escaped reflection, referred to as M.T. (Ashely Johnson), and a gang of rebellious children leads by teens Grace (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Simon (Kyle McCarley).
The Switch To Streaming
The first two seasons earned critically and fan acclaim, holding a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Infinity Train continued to air on Cartoon Network for its second season but was then moved to HBO Max for its following seasons. At the time of this switch, Infinity Train had been set up for a total of eight seasons, each made up of ten episodes. Infinity Train was then rebranded as an HBO Max original series. The third season also received a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and maintained its streak as one of the best-rated animated shows available.
Though other animated shows like She-Ra and The Princesses of Power and The Midnight Gospel had great success as Netflix Originals and aired only on the platform, the same would not have worked for Infinity Train. Unlike other cartoons, Infinity Train earned its devoted following on Youtube, making it easily accessible to anyone who wanted to watch. The already dedicated fanbase expected to see the show air on television as was advertised by Cartoon Network. It was also expected that Infinity Train would mimic another popular Cartoon Network miniseries, Over The Garden Wall, by releasing two episodes a day over the course of a week.
While no official reason was given as to why Infinity Train was moved to HBO Max, it can be assumed that it was due to the show’s status as a “special event” on Cartoon Network. Infinity Train would only air on television during a new season release and then be taken off the station’s airing block. Featuring the show only on HBO Max should make it more accessible to audiences year-round, right? However, the switch had unintended consequences.
The Quest To #SaveInfinityTrain
Rumor began to spread following season three of the show’s cancellation, and many of the crew noted on social media that they had moved onto different projects. The rumors crushed fans, who attempted to save the show on social media, the same way other shows like Lucifer had been, by using the hashtag #saveInfinityTrain. On March 11th, HBO Max announced the release of Infinity Train‘s fourth season, and Owen Dennis announced on Twitter that this was also the final season.
No explanation has been given by HBO Max or Owen Dennis to the show’s premature ending, though the fans believe it might be due to the switch from cable to online streaming. Though anticipation toward the third season still remained high, Infinity Train likely lost viewership due to platform inaccessibility. Many viewers noted during season three that they could not afford to subscribe to HBO Max on top of their other streaming platforms. HBO Max also favors adult live-action shows and films and likely struggled to market Infinity Train as an animated show for teenagers and young adults.
Following the cancellation, Parrot Analytics announced that Infinity Train has since become one of the most in-demand HBO originals following its season four trailer, as new and old fans attempt to save it. Owen Dennis has not expressed any possibility of saving Infinity Train but has mentioned that most of his crew already moved on. He said in a Twitter thread to fans, “Maybe someday we’ll be able to make more, I don’t know,” but that this was the end of the line for Infinity Train.
The Future Of Streaming
While streaming provides new advantages to viewers, such as the ability to catch up on shows they missed out on and watched from almost anywhere; streaming platforms also have the ability to kill popular shows. As streaming becomes the way of the future, we need to ask what we might lose when we go online?
And is cable still the best way to view TV? Infinity Train went from one of the most highly acclaimed and anticipated animated shows on television, to being canceled only half-way through its intended run. It provides an example of what can happen when even the most acclaimed television shows go online. Infinity Train can be streamed (and saved) on HBO Max. Season four, titled “Duet”, will release on April 15th, 2021.