Three popular, critically-acclaimed LGBT representational shows have been cancelled by Netflix in 2020. Teenage Bounty Hunters, I Am Not Okay With This, and The Society have been canned by the streaming site, despite previous talk of renewal. Glow, a female-fronted series that received good ratings, was also axed.
Shows like these offer representation of groups that go unseen in a lot of entertainment media, with fans questioning the reason for the cancellations in light of their scores on sites like Rotten Tomatoes. So, why is Netflix cancelling its high-ranking original shows?
Teenage Bounty Hunters was in the Netflix Top 10 chart for a while, along with Glow. Compared to other network LGBT shows like Motherland’s Fort Salem and Amazon Prime’s The Wilds, Netflix originals are suffering.
There is also concern for future projects after top producer Cindy Holland left Netflix, where she oversaw and normalised queer relationships in shows like Orange is the New Black. Now, users may fear that heavily-funded shows will be prioritised over high-ranking audience favourites on the streaming site.
Covid-19 has played a factor as filming and production has halted on many projects in 2020. But, this doesn’t explain other, more expensive shows continuing their development.
I interviewed an openly queer director about the issue:
