2020 - THE YEAR THAT BI PROTAGONISTS GOT CANCELLED (HIGH FIDELITY AND STUMPTOWN): AN INVESTIGATION
- umaghelani
- Nov 16, 2020
- 10 min read
Updated: Apr 29, 2021
High Fidelity and Stumptown both brought something different to the table as fresh new shows in their first season, and they both had bisexual female protagonists; but they were also both cancelled this year. In a tired overflowing age of binge television, it is exciting to get new shows that really makes you pay attention. These shows were very different to each other, but the factor that they have in common makes their cancellations very suspect - as if to the networks they were just tokenistic throwaway shows.
Based on a comic book, Stumptown follows Cobie Smulders’ Dex Parios, a veteran turned private detective solving cases, but also investigating the possible murder of her former lover. In High Fidelity we have Zoë Kravitz’s Rob, an incredibly fashionable record store owner, taking us through her top five heartbreaks, while also just trying to live her very chaotic life. She is so fashionable that I believe the TikTok girlies (originally from Pintrest, but then TikTok) stole her style without giving credit; I mean we all see them jumper vests, tennis skirts and matrix jackets! As characters Dex and Rob both hold the bisexual mess energy inside of them, and instead of this just being queer coding, as it has been in past television shows, they are actually bisexual characters. We see them have actual romantic and sexual interactions with other women. The characters were allowed to be bi without it being made into a reaction to coming out; they were simply allowed to exist as bi characters and were accepted as such. Weirdly enough there was also a crossover of modern and retro in both of these shows, and a heavy musical presence.
Stumptown does get to explore Dex’s bisexuality more, but I believe its probably because there is just more of it. It has eighteen fourty-minute episodes in comparison to High Fidelity’s ten thirty-minute episodes. In fact the first instances that we see both characters with female love interests are quite similar - they are confronted with women who they were in a relationship with in the past. Dex’s ex, Fiona X (haha), is a somewhat famous singer who hires her to track down a stalker. Rob tracks down her ex Kat, who is now an influencer, in order to find out why her relationships keep failing. We briefly meet Kat, played by Ivanna Sakhno, in the very first episode, as Rob tells us Kat is number two of the all-time top five heartbreak list. There is a flashback to when they first met in a club, and then moments from the year that they were together as Rob’s voiceover describes Kat and their relationship. We then get to see how it dramatically ended, with Rob stood in heavy rain screaming at Kat’s window. She tells us that the real issue with their relationship was that Kat had a type: “tall, blonde, white”. When we meet Kat again in episode four she is not up for “rehashing the past”, talks about being pals, and invites Rob to stop by her house. The awkward influencer gathering that follows shows us that like Rob told us in the first episode, they just don’t “match”. The pretence falls at the end of the party when just the two remain, and Rob straight up asks Kat why she left her for another woman. The conversation that they have is their most meaningful interaction, as Kat truly seems to have seen Rob for the emotional mess in search of the truth that she is. Everything else that we see of Kat is surface level and a one-sided story, but this conversation gives more depth to their relationship and makes it more real. Although I wish we were able to see Rob’s bisexuality more, this was a good starting point, and it is truly disappointing that they won’t get the opportunity to give us more.
Fiona X is played by singer Ionna Gika, with Stumptown actually being her acting debut. On the show she covers the song One Thing Leads to Another by The Fixx, a cover that is very much worth listening to if you have the time - in fact just watch the whole episode, Dex, Drugs and Rock & Roll, if you can. This being a one time appearance that is episode-contained can definitely be felt throughout, as although their romance is flared up by them being around each other again, it is still very much something of the past. Once again Fiona X asks Dex to come on the road with her, and once again Dex refuses, but is much more certain this time, with her newfound career of being a private investigator giving her direction, as well as the realisation that she has become a very different person since the first time. Although it is nice to have an actual singer cameo, the lack of acting experience can really be felt, making it lose some of its weight. I still think this is a very fun episode and story, and important considering it being on a standardised American television show in terms of format and the network we find it on.
My actual favourite of Dex’s love interests from the show (yes, she has so many!) is Violet, played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who we meet in the 13th episode, The Dex Factor. Their arc has a star-crossed lovers edge to it - they meet at a veteran support group, there is an instant connection and they end up sleeping together, without knowing they are on opposite sides. To me it feels the most genuine and interesting out of the romances we see in the show. Of course with such a high, there does have to be a low, and they end up having to fight each other. With the way that Violet disappears I would’ve hoped to have seen her again in season two, but with its cancellation we never will. Of the whole show this episode is my favourite, and it is purely because of this romance.
Another interesting plot line that involves Dex’s bisexuality that is worth pointing out is when Liz (Monica Barbaro), who is Grey’s (Jake Johnson) new girlfriend, sets up Dex to think that she slept with her in order to break up Dex and Grey’s close friendship. Liz schemes to get Dex drunk at the casino, and make her think that she is the bad influence, so that when she wakes up in the bed she will think that they slept together and it was her fault. Then Grey would find out and this would cause a rift between their friendship. This is interesting in that it takes the negative stereotypes that we know are associated with bisexual characters, that they are untrustworthy and shallow, and then exposes them for the stereotypes that they are. There is no straight character who is being taken advantage of by an “untrustworthy” bisexual character. Instead we see our established bi and good protagonist being wronged with no negative moral towards being bi, but instead to the individual character of Liz.
The length of the episodes and season meant that it really got to get into this world and these characters, and therefore also into Dex’s bisexuality. It might be harder to get things perfect with a larger runtime and a more standardised television format of creation, but it doesn’t need to be perfect. A better made show all round, the bitesize episodes on High Fidelity seem to be perfect little encapsulations, and have a real easy watchability, even if they don’t get to delve into the world in more depth. In a sense High Fidelity was too good to be true - it was a real gift to have that season in the first place, but it still doesn’t make its cancellation any lighter. Why should we have to deal with mediocre conveyor-belted television with no unique stories about different people? Although the show is based on a book and movie, the creation of this 2020 world and its characters, the simple switch of the protagonist from a straight white man to a bisexual biracial woman makes it a story that we haven’t seen before. In fact, every character is given their moment to shine, and I was truly excited to see just how much deeper they could’ve gone with these characters, particularly Cherise. I’m pretty sure you don’t need anymore convincing to watch this show if you haven’t already. There’s also so many great writings about the show and its importance, some of which I will link to at the bottom of this post. Instead I will investigate just how sus (sorry, too much Among Us!) this cancellation is.
In August, Hulu cancelled the show, leaving us with just one season, a total runtime of around five hours - something you could definitely watch in one day! On Instagram, Zoë Kravitz pointed out how unjust the cancelling was in terms of the lack of leading women of colour on the streaming service (“It’s cool. At least Hulu has a ton of other shows starring women of color we can watch. Oh wait.”). Although I knew she was right based on my knowledge of Hulu shows, I was interested to see just how right she was. There are actually only two (PEN15; Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi) out of fourteen ongoing shows on Hulu (The Handmaid’s Tale; Wu-Tang: An American Saga; The Hardy Boys; Shrill; Ramy; Dollface; The Great; Love, Victor; Solar Opposites; Crossing Swords; Animaniacs; Endlings) that place a woman of colour at the true centre of the show. In terms of other cancellations, in June they cancelled Reprisal and Harlots, two female-led shows, and earlier this month they cancelled Castle Rock, a horror anthology series.
At this point I would like to compare the show to one of the others that did get renewed, that I have seen and see what the differences are. Dollface is a show that I watched and enjoyed, but unlike High Fidelity, I don’t think I would’ve cared so much if it were to have been cancelled. It premiered in November 2019 and was renewed in January 2020 - a time before Covid. In comparison High Fidelity aired in February 2020 and was cancelled in August 2020. With the restraints of Covid, television shows being cancelled is expected, but as High Fidelity was one of their higher profile shows you would really expect them to hold on to it and just delay a new season. In a way the renewal of Dollface surprised me just as much as the cancellation of High Fidelity; one is some of the best television I’ve seen and the other is just fine, and how they got the opposite treatment really doesn’t make sense to me, even when factoring in Covid.
In looking at the amount of shows in development at Hulu, and who they choose to repeatedly hire (e.g. they renewed a show with Elle Fanning and have another one with her on the way), it is clear that the cancellation of High Fidelity was not just suspect, but most definitely a choice.
Moving on to Stumptown we get a very different story, with it being one of the victims of the Covid unrenewals. It aired between September 2019 and March 2020 on ABC, it was renewed in May 2020, and then unrenewed in September 2020. ABC being a network with a wider range, there are very many shows that are ongoing, including the genres of drama, comedy, reality, game shows, talk shows, news and sports. Stumptown wasn’t the only show I watched from their network to get cancelled this year; I also watched The Baker and the Beauty which was cancelled in June, pretty much immediately after airing its first season.
With these two cancellations and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. having ended in August, the only shows I still watch from the network are black-ish, grown-ish and mixed-ish. This is significant as an episode from black-ish season 4 was shelved by the network due to its "controversial content", which basically meant that they were scared of backlash from Trump and his supporters. The episode has since been released on Hulu, but the fact that it was shelved in the first place most definitely calls into question the network's priorities and intentions.
It is difficult to gauge just how important it is for these shows to have a wide international audience, as clearly a lot of their more reality/news/talk shows/sport content is important in the US itself. With Stumptown however, I feel as though they had quite a large cult following that would’ve only grew with time, a kind of following that other US networks, such as The CW, seem to hold onto with their dear lives. I thought that ABC recognised this potential in the show when they held a panel at SDCC @ Home in July - a panel that reflected on season one and revealed what they had been working on for season two. This panel was genuinely the most exciting thing to come out of the virtual SDCC, and the show seemed like it was pretty secure because it, as it took place while we'd already been in the midst of our new Covid lives for months. Unlike the High Fidelity cancellation, they directly blamed this unrenewal on Covid, as the pandemic has affected their timing and scheduling meaning the show wouldn’t have been ready until April 2021.
Fair enough, you may be thinking at this point. They just didn’t have the budget to keep it on hold for that long. Michael Ealy, who plays Detective Hoffman on the show, was cast in October as the male lead in a medical drama pilot, Triage, by ABC. With this rehiring of Michael Ealy the show’s life seems to be 100% finished at ABC. Although Stumptown is reportedly being “shopped around” to other networks, ABC clearly doesn’t care about the show or its future, with them rehiring Michael Ealy for a pilot, and even them trying to sell the show on seems like a last ditch effort to get some money from it. The reaction of the cast members was surprisingly very silent, as with a cancellation there always seems to be some sort of fight to save the show, but not here. Perhaps it is because of how the show was cancelled; it had already been renewed and the second season was already being developed when they chose to cancel it. Cobie Smulders hasn’t commented on the show’s cancellation, but Jake Johnson replied to a comment on Instagram saying “it was a fun show. Great people.”, heavily suggesting that there isn’t really a future for the show.
This switch from giving the show a whole panel at SDCC for the promotion of the second season, to pretty much permanently killing the show two months later with no consideration for its future just shows how expendable the show must’ve been to them in the first place. It seems that it will probably be replaced with another show that could end up falling victim to the same fate as Stumptown. Although they blamed it on Covid, the cancellation of Stumptown was most definitely unjust.
My investigation only proved what I suspected with more certainty; that the cancellations of both High Fidelity and Stumptown after just one season were unfair. These shows had the potential to go on and give us seasons more of good television, and importantly, they would’ve done this with bisexual female protagonists at the centre of them. They deserved longer lives, even when considering the difficulties faced by the networks because of Covid. I am very sorry to see them go, but who knows, maybe with enough noise we’ll get them back one day?
I suppose this is a further reading section? Just a collection of articles that I think would be worth reading if you're interested and actually managed to read this whole thing
Some cool writings about High Fidelity:
Interesting article about Covid cancellations:
Comparison of Stumptown the comics and the television show:
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