Black TV Show Pilot Cancellations
I know a pilot season is when a network tries a show to see the reception of a developing audience, but what’s up?
Here I was again googling the pilot season shows with Black leads that I tuned into, ABC’s: The Wonder Years, Abbott Elementary, CW’s All American: Homecoming, Naomi, and FOX’s Our Kind of People to see when to anticipate season 2 being released.
I know to not get my hopes too high, but that does not change my disappointment when I read online the status:
cancelled — “Naomi”
cancelled — “Our Kind of People”
and not
renewed — “Abbott Elementary”
renewed — “All American: Homecoming”
renewed — “The Wonder Years”
along with these shows.
What do you mean CW and FOX cancelled?!
For 30 minutes or an hour run time an episode I disengage from the real-world and tune into the fictional lives of these characters, and then networks just like that uproot shows from having a season 2.
No closure.
This both robs the cast and audience of closure. But networks have closure by simply exiting the project.
Season 1 finales more often than not are cliffhangers.
I think this is creators’ way to show they are open and looking forward to writing a season 2. But when networks has other plans, we the audience have no closure and are left to imagine our own version of a season 2.
But I do not have the energy to do that.
With so many tv shows being available it is getting more difficult for new shows to find their core audience.
If after the pilot season networks are not getting the ratings that meet targets, just like that shows are cancelled.
This leaves the cast looking for new work and viewers advocating for the network to please bring it back or for another network to be the saving grace and pick up the shows.
Networks are competing now more than ever to have breakout hits that immediately land high viewership.
This makes it difficult for new shows to be granted fair time needed for eyes to find them and to reach their stride.
Low ratings do not mean a show does not have potential or is not promising.
But networks just like that move on to seeking new projects as replacements in hopes for better on-air performances.
It is a rapid turnover cycle. The only person winning is the one calling the shots, the networks.
It is unsettling the on to the next one mantra pacing being widely adopted in modern tv.
Getting past season 1 is a big accomplishment these days and the next step is greater pressure for shows to have a strong season 2 to prove it was the right call by the network.
TV show longevity is becoming rare, unfortunately.
And although I am a millennial I tend to hold on to things for a while (ie I still use my laptop that is >13 years old because hey it still gets the job done so why to buy a new one since that’s not “needed — yet”) I guess you can say I am somewhat a minimalist.
And this applies to how I approach tv shows.
So with ease I do not move on,
but with time my resistance subsides
and with time I meet reality, for real
that the shows are not returning.
TV shows pull me into their perspectives but I know with greater commonality of pilot show cancellations, I should be prepared for the possibility of disappointment so it does not strike me as hard. But I am still not used to this.
The audience that was there supporting the shows is scared to be drawn in too closely because of the uncertainty in having hope for a show that networks pull the plug on.
Audiences have probably become more so semi-attached to the characters and their developments. This creates a less engaged audience “maybe I’ll wait to tune in until after this show gets a renewal for a season 2”.
Audiences connection to characters is important but networks premature cancellations interferes with that.
As a viewer, I do not watch shows thinking about how many other people are watching. I watch shows because I feel a connection to them.
People's lives are impacted by networks' decisions and I feel the networks do not show the cast or audience they really care.
Thanks for reading from the perspective of a young woman :)
- L.n.a.
