Netflix snaps up musical series originally intended for Fox
'Mixtape' didn't make the cut on TV, but it has a second chance online.
Netflix is no stranger to rescuing movies on the brink of oblivion, but now it's getting more comfortable with the idea of giving TV pilots a second chance. The company has ordered 10 episodes of Mixtape, a romantic musical series whose pilot didn't make the cut at Fox. Creator Joshua Safran (of Gossip Girl and Quantico fame, above) will continue to be involved along with most of the pilot's cast, with only the main actor's role changing.
The show revolves around the love stories linking a seemingly "disparate" group of Los Angeles residents, with music naturally providing the glue.
Netflix isn't quite the knight in shining armor here: the studio shopped the production to streaming companies almost as soon as it turned down a conventional TV series. And Netflix is more than a little cozy with Fox, having picked up Lucifer days earlier. Nonetheless, this speaks to the mounting influence of services like Netflix. They might not yet be to the point where they're regularly taking the biggest shows away from TV networks, but they're a viable option whenever there's a show promising enough to have a chance beyond conventional broadcasts.
