Not so long ago on Netflix, everything got a free pass.

Going all-out for its popular hits was one thing – Orange Is the New Black nabbed a three-year pick-up in 2016 – but even unloved series like Flaked bagged a second season.

The streaming service is, of course, notoriously reluctant to reveal its audience figures for individual shows, but closest estimates suggest that the Will Arnett dramedy was only Netflix's 19th most popular original in 2016, being streamed barely 2 million times in its first 35 days, as opposed to OITNB's 23 million, or Stranger Things' 21.7m.

But recent signs indicate that this could all be about to change. Netflix has actually been cancelling its shows for a while – Lilyhammer, Hemlock Grove, Marco Polo and Bloodline have all been given the chop – but earlier this year, Baz Luhrmann's musical extravaganza The Get Down became the first original to get the axe after just a single season.

Netflix

This was followed a few weeks later by perhaps the service's most controversial cancellation to date: that of Sense8.

The offbeat sci-fi thriller from the Wachowskis drew plaudits for its diverse cast. Ultimately, though, calling time on the series came down to numbers. "The audience was very passionate, but not large enough to support the economics of something that big, even on our platform," said Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos.

Before he swung that particular axe, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings had hinted that more cancellations could be coming. In fact, he welcomed them. "We've cancelled very few shows," Hastings said. "We have to take more risks, try more crazy things. Because we should have a higher cancel rate overall."

Netflix

So while certain heavy hitters – Stranger Things, House of Cards, the various Marvel series – are safe, Netflix could absolutely be culling more of its weakest-performing shows in the weeks and months to come.

And that's actually good news, for pretty much all involved.

First of all, and most obviously, this new ruthless streak is good news for the old-style TV networks, who up till now have seemed utterly dwarfed by Netflix's seemingly bottomless pockets.

The network bosses haven't been shy in addressing the change. "I'm glad they're cancelling shows," said Nick Grad, FX's president of original programming. "I think it brings them back in the ecosystem of where we're all trying to make the best shows and the best decisions."

So on an industry level, the shine coming off of Netflix's original programming helps level the playing field. But it's also good news for Netflix itself.

Phil Bray/Netflix

The name of the game is no longer "Everyone gets a pass": now it's "Survival of the Fittest".

If a series fails to secure a significant audience, it won't be recommissioned. More importantly though, if we take Hastings's comments at face value, shows could also be axed if they fail to meet a certain quality threshold.

Instead of sinking cash (rumour has it, a lot of cash, up to $9 million per episode) into a critically divisive series like Marco Polo, Netflix is now looking to spend its money more wisely.

It might be cutthroat, but if each show has to survive on merit, one hopes that the overall quality of Netflix originals will improve. And that's important for the Netflix brand, because the "Netflix Original" label no longer has the cachet it once did.

It's four years since House of Cards really put Netflix originals on the map, and in the four years since, there have been as many critical misses – The Ranch, Flaked – as hits.

Netflix

So these cancellations are good news for Netflix, good news for their rivals, but finally – and most importantly – it's good news for us.

In the four years since Frank Underwood strangled that dog on his front porch, 100 further original series have joined House of Cards, with 10 more set to launch between now and the end of August. (And that's not counting co-productions like Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, of which there have been 17, or continuations of established series like Black Mirror, which make up another 9, or 14 one-off specials.)

"They can't have 10,000 shows!" said FX president Grad, and he's right. Even the most fervent Netflix binger couldn't hope to watch every single Original, and cutbacks mean we might at least stand a chance of making a dent in their epic catalogue.

After throwing everything at the wall for four years and seeing what sticks, from hereon out Netflix is going to chill. And we totally approve.

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