I Have Been Spending Way Too Much
The title has nothing to do with the post.
Right now I am watching Amy Schumer and mourning. The list of shows that got cut from Fall 2015 is coming out and I lose friends every year to the culling. (Television is my only true friend.)
With the end of Parks and Recreation and the cancellation of the Mindy Project I feel like female driven comedy took a big hit on network TV this season. This is especially surprising because the season started with so many romcoms- maybe too many romcoms. It is entirely possible that romcoms are a very cheap way of appealing to female viewership (I'm looking at you, Manhattan Love Story.) However, beyond the four romcoms that premiered this season there were several comedies that starred a female lead and two of those female leads were women of color!! That brought female driven comedies starring a woman of color up to three shows. THREE SHOWS TOTAL. And now there is one.
Don't get me wrong, Jane the Virgin is fantastic and probably the best of the three comedies but now it's the only comedy starring a woman of color. It was nice seeing more characters that look like me and people I know. I didn't think I would miss it, but I guess I didn't realize how rare it was until it was taken away. I already knew no one represented my socioeconomic background but it honestly never occurred to me that tan women could star in their own sitcom so I didn't even recognize it was a problem. Now The Mindy Project and Cristela are gone.
If you haven't seen Cristela, you should. It wasn't great but it had charm. It had some authenticity and that might have been it's downfall. It was possibly too lower-middle class Hispanic for the average TV watcher.
Other notable 2015 cancellations:
Selfie- seemed like it would be horrific at first but had an amazing cast and great chemistry between the two leads. It really grew into itself. Its a shame the title was so obnoxious, I think it probably alienated viewership there.
A to Z- adorable, but not much more than that. It's a little disappointing that we only made it to letter M.
Bad Judge was another female driven comedy that relied too heavily on the really weird trope of a person who is generally a train-wreck but manages to succeed in a position of authority. It had a fun cast but did not really utilize them to their full potential. There's probably a universe where the show works because viewers are not being asked to accept that someone in their judicial system is a functioning alcoholic. God, I really hope our judicial system isn't filled with functioning alcoholics.
Constantine, based on the comics, had some big problems with dialogue. Constantine was never as good at being sarcastic as his accent would like you to believe. iZombie is a great replacement if you are looking for a snarky hero and luckily it was renewed!
Marry Me was bound to get cancelled. Unlike Selfie, A to Z, Bad Judge, and Cristela, I feel Marry Me is not worth checking out now that it's definitely not coming back. It was assumed it would outlast A to Z" and Bad Judge but it would not have deserved it.
Backstrom and The Following were two other obvious cancellations. Poor Rainn Wilson, people are tired of the gruff, possibly autistic, crime sleuths. You missed your window. Where as The Following just outstayed it's welcome. There was little logic behind the concept to begin with and it was just wearing thinner as the seasons continued.
Forever was just charming. I'm a sucker for accents.
As for shows that were renewed that you should be watching:
Jane the Virgin
iZombie
Marvel's Agent Carter
Fresh Off the Boat
How to Get Away With Murder
black-ish
Gotham
Empire
Hannibal comes back on June 4th. Not enough people watch it. It's beautiful. GET ON IT.
Last note: I got a B and a C on my Exams which translated to an A and a B for my over all grade- right now the plan is to take the optional final for Microeconomics to bring up my class grade to an A.
Right now I am watching Amy Schumer and mourning. The list of shows that got cut from Fall 2015 is coming out and I lose friends every year to the culling. (Television is my only true friend.)
With the end of Parks and Recreation and the cancellation of the Mindy Project I feel like female driven comedy took a big hit on network TV this season. This is especially surprising because the season started with so many romcoms- maybe too many romcoms. It is entirely possible that romcoms are a very cheap way of appealing to female viewership (I'm looking at you, Manhattan Love Story.) However, beyond the four romcoms that premiered this season there were several comedies that starred a female lead and two of those female leads were women of color!! That brought female driven comedies starring a woman of color up to three shows. THREE SHOWS TOTAL. And now there is one.
Don't get me wrong, Jane the Virgin is fantastic and probably the best of the three comedies but now it's the only comedy starring a woman of color. It was nice seeing more characters that look like me and people I know. I didn't think I would miss it, but I guess I didn't realize how rare it was until it was taken away. I already knew no one represented my socioeconomic background but it honestly never occurred to me that tan women could star in their own sitcom so I didn't even recognize it was a problem. Now The Mindy Project and Cristela are gone.
If you haven't seen Cristela, you should. It wasn't great but it had charm. It had some authenticity and that might have been it's downfall. It was possibly too lower-middle class Hispanic for the average TV watcher.
Other notable 2015 cancellations:
Selfie- seemed like it would be horrific at first but had an amazing cast and great chemistry between the two leads. It really grew into itself. Its a shame the title was so obnoxious, I think it probably alienated viewership there.
A to Z- adorable, but not much more than that. It's a little disappointing that we only made it to letter M.
Bad Judge was another female driven comedy that relied too heavily on the really weird trope of a person who is generally a train-wreck but manages to succeed in a position of authority. It had a fun cast but did not really utilize them to their full potential. There's probably a universe where the show works because viewers are not being asked to accept that someone in their judicial system is a functioning alcoholic. God, I really hope our judicial system isn't filled with functioning alcoholics.
Constantine, based on the comics, had some big problems with dialogue. Constantine was never as good at being sarcastic as his accent would like you to believe. iZombie is a great replacement if you are looking for a snarky hero and luckily it was renewed!
Marry Me was bound to get cancelled. Unlike Selfie, A to Z, Bad Judge, and Cristela, I feel Marry Me is not worth checking out now that it's definitely not coming back. It was assumed it would outlast A to Z" and Bad Judge but it would not have deserved it.
Backstrom and The Following were two other obvious cancellations. Poor Rainn Wilson, people are tired of the gruff, possibly autistic, crime sleuths. You missed your window. Where as The Following just outstayed it's welcome. There was little logic behind the concept to begin with and it was just wearing thinner as the seasons continued.
Forever was just charming. I'm a sucker for accents.
As for shows that were renewed that you should be watching:
Jane the Virgin
iZombie
Marvel's Agent Carter
Fresh Off the Boat
How to Get Away With Murder
black-ish
Gotham
Empire
Hannibal comes back on June 4th. Not enough people watch it. It's beautiful. GET ON IT.
Last note: I got a B and a C on my Exams which translated to an A and a B for my over all grade- right now the plan is to take the optional final for Microeconomics to bring up my class grade to an A.
Too soon on so many of these. Good write up, and at least we get to keep Jane :( Hoping Netflix puts the full season up soon so I can play catch-up
ReplyDeleteI love you for making the first ever comment. <3
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