''When ScrewedByTheNetwork is expected, viewers may not bother to watch it even if it sounds appealing.''

The Firefly Effect refers to an audience not tuning in to a new series because they don't believe the series will last long enough to make up for the investment of time and emotions. You are anticipating a MythArc to be CutShort, i.e. "[[SafetyInIndifference The network is just going to cancel this, so I'm not giving it my heart]]." If enough people think this way it may become a SelfFulfillingProphecy -- people don't watch because they think the show will be canceled, and then the show is cancelled ''because'' no one is watching it.

Networks thrive off comfortable content and tend to not invest in intelligent or overly complex series because it may draw in a smaller viewing audience (and thus draw in less money from ratings) if [[ViewersAreMorons viewers are required to really pay attention]]. The trade-off may be a more [[CultClassic passionate audience]], but it is still a risk to the bottom line. The trope namer is ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', an ambitious SpaceWestern from Creator/JossWhedon at [[CreatorWorship the height of the popularity]] that Creator/{{Fox}} greenlit [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer based on his previous success]]. Fox was also infamous for attempting esoteric shows and then dropping them after one season before any audience could be built, [[AcclaimedFlop even if it had some critical praise]]. ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' is an example of how this may impact an ongoing series; although the show didn't get cancelled the initial, more ambitious premise was minimized by the third season[[note]]The ship had a Starfleet crew forced to integrate with a terrorist sect in order to survive their isolation. This was a major part of the premise for about a season and a half[[/note]]... making it more action-packed and network friendly.

Front13Back9 is a standard of testing the waters that audiences have become familiar with, if there is a DrivingQuestion that you're not sure the first batch of episodes can make compelling then you assume it won't last for the second batch where everything pays off. It can be a real problem for all the ''Series/{{Lost}}'' clones and other [[OntologicalMystery Ontological Mysteries]], which aren't worth watching if they don't get more than one season, and especially if they don't even get a full season--and they often don't. That is also the sort of TV shows most likely to be hit by this effect, but it can hit ''any'' show that makes it clear up-front that you need to be ''involved'' in the overarching plot and dynamic character to make sense of the show in the long run. That up-front demand plus the uncertainty that there will ''be'' a long run allows TheChrisCarterEffect to start before the TV show does, meaning the fans never ''start'' watching.

In contrast, people ''usually'' don't think that they'll get overly attached to [[PoliceProcedural Crime Procedurals]], {{Sitcom}}s, {{Soap Opera}}s, or even {{Reality Show}}s; thus, they'll feel free to watch episodes "casually" until the attachment to the show (or characters) sneaks up on them.

Even some shows that seemed feasible only over one (22-episode) season may not be a draw due to promising a [[ArcFatigue 22 hour movie]]. In the worst cases, outside factors may literally cause news headlines that sully [[TaintedByThePreview first, second or third impressions]] where there was HostilityOnTheSet or a character is [[TheOtherDarrin recast last minute]], which indicates a TroubledProduction that may collapse under itself. Not helping is that upper management itself tends to fluctuate, content that was approved and championed by the network president may take months before it is ready to premiere and by then [[MeetTheNewBoss a new network president]] is in charge and they are looking to [[ThePurge clean house of all the "mistakes" from the last regime]].

With the rise of Creator/{{Netflix}} and other streaming services during the TheNewTens and creating original content, it was initially believed that this would no longer be a relevant trope as the target audience has much greater opportunity to flock to an appealing work. However, during the late 2010s and especially during TheNewTwenties, streaming services would end up following the same pattern. Some of this came from an internal HypeBacklash, promising every show to be "prestige TV" and doomed to be lost among all other releases (traditional sitcoms and game shows became more prevalent, as cheaper content and casual viewing was still valid). This reached greater awareness during and after the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, viewership numbers were a closely guarded secret and no one even had a frame of reference if another season would come. This often leaves those shows on unresolved cliffhangers or with an AccidentalDownerEnding. Netflix have become the poster-boy for this trope however, as unlike other services, it frequently greenlights lots of projects throughout the year and has to cancel much of what they output.

This also applies in videogames, especially live-service and freemium ones. There are companies ranging from ''Creator/{{Nexon}}'', ''Creator/SquareEnix'', and ''Website/{{Crunchyroll}}'' that were infamous on closing numerous free-to-play games in span of less than five years (and some even only having chance to go live in a year or two) that cautious players began avoiding those by companies infamous of doing these.

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