Being anLGBTQ+TV series enthusiast has become a war between getting too attached to a show with positive queer representation and then getting tired of having it canceled yet again. Although every single streaming platform is guilty of this,Netflixhas particularly excelled at sabotaging queer shows, especially lesbian ones.
What’s even sadder is that most of us know what to expect every time we’re handed any decent series that sheds positive light on queerness. Queer people have always been marginalized and sexualized, with lesbians in particular getting sold as a mere product for straight men. Although it’s improved over the years, the bare minimum queer community’s handed, is still not enough.
Fans are forced to come out of their pocket to save their favorite show, which often acts as a safe haven for many queer folks out there. Here are 15 best LGBTQ+ TV shows that got canceled way too soon for no apparent reason.
15The Society
Created by Christopher Keyser,The Societyis a mystery teen drama about a group of teenagers, who are forced to learn how to run their own communities after their whole town disappears. Although the show got scheduled for a second season at first, itquickly got canceleddue to the COVID-19 outbreak. What’s more, perScreen Rant, the production became way too expensive because of health and safety reasons. It’s interesting to note that most of Netflix shows that suffered this fate were, in fact, queer.The Societygave a queer and deaf character a place to shine, but now all we’re left with is pining after our canceled show in silence.
Related:10 Netflix Originals Fans Are Praying Won’t Get Canceled
What was the next show to get canceled because of the pandemic, you ask? You guessed right. Yet another queer, female-empowering masterpiece calledGLOW, starring Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin in leading roles. The comedy-drama follows the 1980s syndicated women’s professional wrestling circuit Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. It portrayed these women as soulmates who both hate and love each other, but also showing the wrestling as an escape from the role society expected them to play as women.GLOWwas Brie’s favorite job ever, and she still hopes to film a wrap-up movie.
13One Day at a Time
Based on the 1975 series of the same title,One Day at a Timeis a re-imagined version of the original, but with a Latino family at its center. It focuses on a Cuban-American family and deals with important topics such as PTSD, immigration, sexism, homophobia, gender identity, and many more. The series was canceled after three seasons, and although Sony Pictures TV picked it up to revive it, our hopes were for nothing as they ended the series for good without any new episodes.
The fact that Netflix didn’t really bother to even advertise their show about a gay man with cerebral palsy was big enough of a hint that they probably wouldn’t renew it for further seasons. The semi-autobiographical comedy-dramaSpecialoffered an uplifting and self-accepting image of living with a disability. The lack of promotion about the second season releasing — there was virtually no advertising for it — shows you just how much Netflix cares about diversity.
11The Get Down
We feel like this needs to be said repeatedly: watching a TV show shouldn’t be a game or competition between the network and the viewers, wherein the viewers win and get a new season. It certainly feels that way with every queer TV series, andThe Get Downwas no exception. The five-episode musical drama about rise of hip-hop and disco music through the eyes of a group of teenagers was canceled after the first season. Many fans have been praying for Netflix’s downfall ever since the show’s cancelation for no apparent reason.
10Warrior Nun
One of the most recent Netflix cancelations is the fantasy dramaWarrior Nun, which was canceled after two seasons. The series is led by a character named Ava Silva, who discovers she has supernatural powers and thus joins an ancient order of warrior nuns. Basing the chances of a show’s renewal on how many people binge-watch it is not the best strategy for media literacy. It’s no wonder, then, the cancelation resulted in a surge of fan protests, with over 100,000 signing a petition to renew it. Fans took their fight to both Times Square andoutside Netflix’s headquarters, and they’re not giving up anytime soon, as more international fans have joined in.
9Uncoupled
Starring Neil Patrick Harris in the leading role,Uncoupledtells the story of a gay man who tries navigating the dating scene after he his 17-year-long relationship ends abruptly. Despite getting featured in Netflix’s Top 10, the series joined other queer TV shows in the long list of canceled shows. Thankfully, the show got picked up by Showtime for a second season (viaForbes).
An adult-animated comedy series about a group of undervalued queer super-spies? WatchingQ-Force, you get middle-aged women as cool spies, a super-competent bisexual woman, a happily married lesbian, and trans woman as a super-hacker. Starring Sean Hayes, Matt Rogers, Wanda Sykes, and others,Q-Forcewas one-of-a-kind that held more depth than its trailer initially illustrated.
7The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself
Based on Sally Green’s YA Half Bad novels,The Bastard Son & The Devil Himselfis a British fantasy series about Nathan Byrne, who discovers his true identity as the son of a powerful witch Magnus. Despite being a magically brutal and queer adventure and having a complex slow burn poly relationship that grows naturally over time and is never over-sexualized, the series was canceled after one season, only after two months of its premiere.
6Fate: The Winx Saga
Related:10 Fan-Favorite TV Shows That Were Canceled Too Soon
