It’s – almost – Christmas! That means that in Fangirlish we do something called the End of the Year List where we review everything that this year gave us, both good and bad. And it’s time to review 10 shows canceled in 2022 that we will definitely miss. Ready?
Here we go!
1. Fate: The Winx Saga (Netflix)
The cancellation of Fate: The Winx Saga hurt me especially. Even though there are many plans for Winx Club, this show leaped in quality in season 2 and deserved to flesh out all the storylines that were just starting to develop – and yeah, I’m thinking mainly of Rivusa and Skloom. But, more than that, the fans deserved a conclusion.
Also, the cancellation of Fate: The Winx Saga was surprising since Netflix didn’t promote it at all and yet it was in the top 10 worldwide for weeks. All that, with zero promotion. So…yeah, we didn’t understand the streaming service’s decision. In any case, remember that you can raise your voice for a third season here.
2. Warrior Nun (Netflix)
But if we talk about surprising cancellations by Netflix, we’re talking about Warrior Nun. The show not only remained at the top of the most watched worldwide for weeks but also many famous faces echoed the quality of the series. And again, all of that with a total of zero promotion from the streaming service.
Warrior Nun has improved since its inception and put together a practically perfect season 2. But, in addition, it is a diverse show, with empowered women and an LGBTQ+ couple AKA Avatrice. It seems that all of these are the perfect ingredients for Netflix to cancel your favorite show.
Netflix literally spends $0 promoting Warrior Nun but still expects it to do big numbers. Because the fandom is amazing, it does great numbers, however, Netflix decides it’s not enough so they cancel the show.
What if the streaming service invested a few bucks to promote their shows? Perhaps, thus, they would reach the numbers that they are supposed to reach and would not have to cancel their most diverse and representative series. Just an idea…
3. Partner Track (Netflix)
The same reflection applies to Partner Track. Again, a diverse show that represented the struggles of an Asian American woman to climb the ranks in a world full of white men who decide to perpetuate other white men in power.
Likewise, the show also dealt with systemic racism in society and even the attacks suffered daily by people we deal with every day. And, again, the show gets zero promotion and despite not standing out too much, it’s still there, cracking the top 10 but…it’s canceled.
4. Gordita Chronicles (HBO & HBO MAX)
Gordita Chronicles met a similar fate on HBO/HBO MAX. Do you know something? I’m a girl with a non-normative body – I don’t like to use the word fat, it has too many negative connotations for me – you only need to look at my profile picture to see that.
As a non-normative woman, I am aware of two things about us in the world of entertainment. The first is the lack of representation and the second is the lack of good representation – when there is representation it is usually full of stereotypes or just plain mockery. There are a few exceptions, including This Is Us and Gordita Chronicles.
Both are stories that tell the experience of women with a non-normative body from reality, not from mockery or stereotypes. But, in addition, Gordita Chronicles tells the story of a Latinx family.
And yes, how can you imagine, it was canceled.
5. First Kill (Netflix)
First Kill is another case of a diverse, fun show with zero promotion that, even so, does good numbers and has a great fandom but that is canceled without hardly a blink from Netflix. And yes, this is a f**king pattern that has to end. We shout to whoever wants to listen that DIVERSE STORIES DESERVE TO BE TOLD, and not just that, they deserve to be promoted and treated with respect.
6. The Midnight Club (Netflix)
The Midnight Club is another newcomer show that leaves us far too soon. As usual, the lack of promotion from Netflix began to dig the grave of this series that reinvents one of the shows that many of us grew up with. The premiere of several shows and films of the same genre at the same time did not help either.
But what ended up burying the project is the departure of Mike Flanagan – director of the show – to Prime Video to adapt The Dark Tower. Taking into account that Prime Video is direct competition from Netflix and that, largely due to its lack of promotion, The Midnight Club did not make the numbers expected by the streaming service, Netflix shelved the series without any kind of contemplation.
7. Westworld (HBO & HBO MAX)
Westworld‘s cancellation is, without a doubt, one of the most painful and disappointing for fans. The show is one of those rare and hard-to-find diamonds that gave HBO its own identity. However, despite the prestige of the series, the streaming service canceled it because the audience didn’t work in season 4.
In today’s television world, where live views aren’t as important as they were a few years ago, this cancellation doesn’t make sense. Especially if we take into account that Westworld only had one season left to conclude its story. The fans deserved to have that closure.
As if this were not enough, the streaming service decided to remove the show from its catalog. This is as much disrespectful to the fans – who deserve to revisit their favorite series whenever they want – as it is to the actors who literally live off what they earn from the series’ permanence in the catalog. Real cruelty.
8. Batwoman (The CW)
Since the controversial departure of Ruby Rose from Batwoman, the show has not gone through its best moment. However, considering that the Arrowverse has been The CW’s trademark for as long as we can remember and that it’s a network that renewed shows with a 0.1 rating, it’s quite debatable whether Batwoman deserved to be canceled.
Javicia Leslie is the perfect Batwoman. Again, we feel that once a WOC takes over a show, it doesn’t take too long for the networks to decide to cancel it, denying it the opportunities that other shows have had.
9. Dangerous Liaisons (STARZ)
Aren’t you tired of networks giving us hope only to end up disappointing us big time? Dangerous Liaisons is one more example of this. The show was already renewed for a second season.
However, STARZ backtracked on their decision and canceled it, so we’re left like WTF?! I mean, it’s bad enough that the show gets canceled but, STARZ, don’t give the fans false hope!
Dangerous Liaisons had everything we liked. It was a period show, it had a great love story, friendship, great betrayals, and huge amounts of drama. But we can never know how this big mess that has become our guilty pleasure continues.
10. Stargirl (The CW)
Stargirl was another show that didn’t fit into The CW’s new strategy. Despite being removed from the Arrowverse, it was one of the few remaining superhero shows on the screen.
With a more familiar tone than its predecessors and with much better specials, Stargirl managed to conquer the most die-hard comics fans and casual viewers alike. Again, we don’t understand why someone decided that on a network where less-rated series have been renewed, Stargirl doesn’t fit.
Nancy Drew (the cw)