This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes. We stand with the SAG-AFTRA. Without them, the movies and television shows we cover would not exist.
This new trend of renewing shows and then reversing those decisions has gone way too far. Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin is the newest show that was previously renewed and now it’s canceled. And we might not have been that attached to it, but that doesn’t mean we can’t recognize how much it sucks for fans to feel safe in a renewal only to have the rug pulled out from under them.
And this isn’t even the first or second time it has happened lately!
It barely happened before the pandemic. Sure, there was Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, but that was the exception, not the rule. In the last few years, it’s become the norm in a horrible, horrible way.
A League of Their Own
The Peripheral
Snowpiercer
Moonhaven
61st Street
Dangerous Liaisons
GLOW
Inside Job
The Society
Stumptown
What in the world is going on? How can we trust anything networks or streamers say these days? We cannot even trust renewals! Hell, you can’t even trust that once a show (or movie, see Batgirl) has been filmed, you will actually get to watch it. And for studios, it might be a matter of simple math, but for fans, it’s a matter of trust.
If you can’t trust a network, a streamer, or a show — why would you do anything more than casually invest, if that?
And no, this isn’t about the strikes, not really. It’s about what the studios prioritize — and it’s clearly not writers, actors, or fans.
As fans, it sucks to see a show we love canceled. But what sucks more is to believe the show is renewed only to then be left heartbroken after a reversal. We’d rather just get the cancelation right away. Don’t play with our hearts, please.
