Sense8 and The Get Down cancelled: Netflix explains why high-profile shows were axed

It came to the shock of The Get Down and Sense8 fans (particularly the latter, who started a petition) when Netflix cancelled both shows recently - two of their biggest originals.

Netflix responded to fan outcry over the weekend and today Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos went into more detail as to the thinking behind the decisions, the shows apparently being just too damn expensive.

“Relative to what you spent, are people watching it? That is pretty traditional,” Sarandos said in a conversation with Jerry Seinfeld, whose show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is heading over to Netflix. “When I say that, a big expensive show for a huge audience is great. A big, expensive show for a tiny audience is hard even in our model to make that work very long.”

Variety previously reported that Sense8 cost an enormous $9 million per episode, while The Get Down was even more exorbitant at $12 million per episode.

Netflix's CEO Reed Hastings last week suggested he is looking to cancel more shows as the streaming service's "hit ratio is way too high right now".

Sarandon responded to his eyebrow-raising comments.

“Not to put words in his mouth, but what he meant was that Silicon Valley celebrates failure.

"It’s one of those things that you know you’re pushing the envelope if every once in a while you fall. And you go back and start over again. If you have hit after hit after hit, you question yourself — are you trying hard enough? Are you too conventional?”