Representation Matters

A few months ago, I reviewed HBO’s adaptation of the then recently cancelled The Time Traveler‘s Wife - a show I genuinely enjoyed and was disappointed when it was cancelled. In the following weeks, I was contacted by the Save the Time Traveler’s Wife campaigners and wrote an article based on their movement for HBO to renew the series or another streaming network to pick up where season one left off.

In recent weeks, it has come to light that HBO and the CW are cancelling a lot of their content - whether for money-saving reasons or the platform going in a new direction - and many shows are now paying the price by being cancelled prematurely.

In the last few months, several fandoms have united and began collaborating on their own or unified campaigns to get the shows picked back up. The Crossover campaign now includes several franchises across HBO, the CW and Amazon Prime. These so far include Batwoman, Gentleman Jack, Legends Of Tomorrow, Motherland Fort Salem, The Time Traveler‘s Wife and The Wilds.

I’ve previously written about campaigners, and their work that is either scene shows picked up again or given a proper conclusion. However, after the crossover campaign's first tweet party this week, I thought of the more significant issue at play here and possibly what has inspired such emotion and a sense of injustice from the viewers.

As I spoke to one of the campaigners earlier this week, they pointed out that many of these shows that were cancelled were diverse. This is true, many of the shares I’ve listed above star LGBTQ characters, many have a large cast of different ethnicities with female-led stories, and one, in particular, adds a supernatural twist to disability representation.

Throughout television history, there have been many shows where it was clear that the show should’ve been cancelled or at the very least concluded years before. Yet those shows last almost a decade and sometimes even longer. I shall not name names, but I’m sure anyone reading this can think of a show that lasted longer than it should’ve.

Again, it is sad when you look at shows like these that push boundaries not only in terms of casting but also in what stories they portray and how they tell them. The shows here mean a lot to the individual fandoms, and one of the apparent reasons is the representation given on screen.

This is why I think fans had such a strong connection to these various shows, many of which showed a diverse range of characters that many have been craving to see for years. While campaigns have differing responses - some get renewed, given a proper ending or the networks stay firm on their decisions - you can't deny that 2022 has seen both a savage list of cancellations and equal outrage from the fandoms that it affected.

As we are reaching the end of the year, I hope this reaction can give networks something to consider with their upcoming slate of shows. The shows that take risks, tell poignant stories and cast talented actors from all walks of life are the ones that people remember. Those are the ones people want to see and discuss. There are some shows that are easy to make with a built in audience, but many shows are lacking that enthusiasm from fans.

As I've previously written in an earlier article, campaigns to revive shows have a very shaky groundwork. Some have more success than others, but one thing is for certain - these shows have a sentimentality with its audiences that has touched a lot of them. Here's hoping 2023's slate of shows reignites that same passion among viewers.