Is Manifest Based On A True Story?

Back in March of 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared over the waters between Malaysia and China. None of the 239 people on board were ever found, deceased or otherwise. Some debris was found which authorities suspect was from the plane, but it's still unclear. Multiple different governments put a lot of time, effort, and money into trying to find out what happened to the plane and its passengers — but we still don't have any definitive answers.

According to a SyFy Wire interview with "Manifest" creator Jeff Rake, he admitted that he came up with the idea for "Manifest" about a decade before MH370 disappeared. It turns out, the story was inspired by "family, togetherness, [and] separation," and not the doomed Malaysian flight. Before Flight 370 disappeared, though, nobody wanted to produce the show. But because the real-life incident made Rake's story pitch more plausible, it gave him the foothold he needed to get his show the green light. Without the tragic disappearance of that flight, Manifesters would never have gotten to experience one of their favorite shows, bittersweet as that idea must sound.