Cancel culture is real. Not politically, of course. You only have to look at who Time awarded ‘Person of the Year’ to see that. But when it comes to TV? Shows are cancelled on the daily, it seems, especially now in the age of streaming.
But the problem doesn’t just stop there. It seems that a disproportionate number of LGBTQ+ shows specifically are cut short before their time, sometimes on a cliffhanger even. And often it’s the stories that centre sapphic relationships and LGBTQ+ people of colour that are targeted most.
This isn’t a new problem, of course, but it really felt like something was in the air this year especially. 2024 kicked off with Minx, Schmigadoon, Our Flag Means Death and The Wolf Pack all being cancelled over a matter of weeks back in January.
Ok, Wolf Pack wasn’t really a blow, per se. But still, I’d argue every day Sarah Michelle Gellar isn’t on our screens is another day we inch closer to the abyss.
Other queer and queer-adjacent shows quickly followed suit, including Ratched, Sort Of, Everything Now and Uncoupled, which was cancelled for a second time after Showtime rescued Neil Patrick Harris‘ show from Netflix before changing their minds. It was an especially brutal move for How I Met Your Mother fans who have longed to see Barney get railed more often on screen.
Things somehow got worse in the latter half of the year when the following shows were all cancelled or ended prematurely too, including – *deep breath* – Renegade Nell, My Lady Jane, The Acolyte, Dead Boy Detectives, Somebody Somewhere, We’re Here, Chucky, Kaos. Orphan Black: Echoes, The Other Black Girl and High School (which sat in purgatory for two years before Freevee officially called it).
That’s before we even get to the shows that ended (or seemed to end) on their own terms like Élite, What We Do in the Shadows, Arcane, Young Royals and The Umbrella Academy. I’m kind of fine with the last one ending though. If only it had ended one season sooner.
What’s funny (or sad) about all this is that I’ve probably left out a few casualties still. Apologies in advance to whichever fandom is mass-buying pitchforks and already gathering around my home.
In case you’re still in doubt over the scale of this mass culling, GLAAD’s annual Where We Are on TV report statistically confirmed that the percentage of recurring LGBTQ+ characters on TV fell two percentage points from the previous year. And it’s not like the stats were looking great in 2023 either.
Of the 468 LGBTQ+ characters counted across all platforms in 2024, 36 percent won’t be returning next year either. When deaths or character exits are accounted for, it turns out that 24 percent of these losses are due to a cancellation or ending.
Read more:
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If that doesn’t sound like a lot, bear in mind that LGBTQ+ experiences are represented far less on screen than their hetero counterparts, That means every time we do lose a show or even just a queer character, the loss cuts that much deeper.
The GLAAD report points out that our stories have long been undervalued by studios and networks who tell us that these queer shows are not profitable or popular enough.
But how is a show supposed to perform well if there’s no marketing to back it up and people haven’t even heard of it? How is a show supposed to hit your lofty targets if you don’t give it a chance to grow a dedicated fanbase?
Once upon a time, classic network shows like Buffy or Supernatural, the kind that streamers hope to emulate in terms of success, were given space to breathe over multiple seasons where they could evolve and grow. But if they were released now? I’d put money on Buffy lasting two seasons at most.
That’s agonising when you think about it. Imagine a world where Buffy never killed Angel or grinded on the dancefloor with Faith. What would TV look like today if the musical episode had never happened or Willow had never kissed Tara?
The impact Buffy had on wider culture beyond even just TV is immeasurable, and that’s just one show. Now imagine what we’ve lost with the cancellation of every series discussed earlier, not to mention the countless other queer stories that prematurely ended along the way.
Dead Boy Detectives is a prime example of this. With only eight episodes to its name, Netflix’s Sandman spinoff has barely scratched the surface of its lore and potential. But unless something changes soon, that’s all we will ever have now.
That’s devastating, not just for the legion of extremely devoted fans out there desperate to see more of Edwin and Charles, but also for the wider impact this show could have made when it comes to normalising queerness in supernatural teen fare.
Low streaming numbers are blamed for this particular cancellation, as they so often are, but the expectations placed on shows like this today are completely unreasonable. Not every new release can instantly become a new Stranger Things style mammoth hit. But if Dead Boy Detectives can inspire a fandom this passionate this early on, the kind who will retweet an article in the thousands just for mentioning their beloved series, imagine how huge it could have been if given the time to grow.
Even if that was never going to happen, even if the show would have just kept a small niche following, there’s something to be said still for art that inspires such love and loyalty. Straight people get to see themselves everywhere they look, but for us, it’s a very different story. That’s why quality queer storytelling means so much to us. And that’s why we’re so willing to fight when it’s taken away unfairly. We’re used to fighting, after all.
Occasionally, there are times when we don’t have to fight. The crossover appeal of Netflix’s adorable Heartstopper adaptation is a rare but prime example of that. And look at Agatha All Along. Trolls claimed it would bomb, yet here we are with Marvel’s strongest ratings in quite some time, plus a much-deserved Golden Globe nomination for Kathryn Hahn, making this just the second Marvel show to receive one after WandaVision.
It’s not like agatha is subtly queer either. Between Joe Locke’s gay gasps and that kiss Agatha shares with Rio, Marvel’s latest success story is hardly a straight one. Further proof then, that queer shows can be popular and profitable too.
Should we have to prove this though? Absolutely not. It should be enough to simply tell good stories that represent everyone, but as these endless cancellations regularly remind us, the world isn’t that straight-forward.
That’s not to say we should lose hope entirely though. HBO alone is feeding us well next year with returning LGBTQ+ shows like The White Lotus, Harley Quinn, The Last of Us — and there’s plenty more like that on the horizon.
But still, the fact remains that new queer shows are at risk of early cancellation, especially on streamers like Netflix. But you know what? Maybe these streamers are now at risk of losing us, a huge, substantial audience they would do well to not overlook.
