United States TV station CBS has passed on the opportunity to produce a modern version of Nancy Drew because it was ‘skewed too female’, according to Deadline.
The show stars Sarah Shahi, an Iranian-Spanish actress, and portrays Nancy Drew as a 30-year-old woman working as a NYPD detective in Manhattan.
The news received a poor reaction from social media, with one Tumblr user stating, “Does cancelling a show for being ‘too female’ mean that we can also cancel 90% of TV ’cause ‘too male'”
The show would not have only been diverse due to it’s woman of colour lead, but Laverne Cox as a recurring character, the first broadcast series to have a regularly recurring transgender character.
It’s the season for renewal and cancellation of television shows in the US at the moment, so we’re taking a look at five shows with female leads that are ending:
Marvel’s Agent Carter
Following the events of Captain America: The First Avenger, the series follows Margaret ‘Peggy’ Carter (Hayley Atwell) as she leads her double life as a secret agent and a single British woman in post-war America. The series only had two seasons, airing between seasons of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Although ABC has dropped the show, fans of Peggy Carter have started a change.org petition for streaming service Netflix to pick up the show.
Nashville
Starring Australia’s own Clare Bowen, the country music drama will have its curtain call at the end of its fourth season. As well as Bowen, the show featured Heroes’ Hayden Pannetierre, Connie Britton, Lennon & Maisy and Aubrey Peeples.
Switched at Birth
The final season of this show will be premiering next year, although a release date has not been announced. The show followed two 16-year-old girls as they discover they were switched at birth. Vanessa Marano starred as Bay Kennish and Katie Leclerc as Daphne Vasquez, with the former leading a life of fortune and the latter growing up working class.
The show featured several deaf and hard of hearing actors, as Leclerc’s real life disability is a main part of the initial stages of the show, with her ‘new family’ learning ASL.
Girls
Lena Dunham’s Girls will be bidding farewell after its sixth season. No longer will we follow the stories of Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshana.
It is one of those shows where every character is your most hated, but you’re so invested you want to see which character will mess their life up next.
Although not officially cancelled, saying goodbye to this fan favourite will be a sad affair.
Castle
With Stana Katic saying goodbye to her role as Detective Kate Beckett, Castle will no longer air on our TV screens.
Creator of the show Andrew Marlow said on his perfect ending, “In my imagination, it never ends. The characters face new challenges while growing & changing & loving each other.”
Although the Nancy Drew adaptation Drew has been dropped by CBS, the network is shopping it out to other networks.
Shows with female leads such as Marvel’s Jessica Jones, How to Get Away with Murder and Teen Wolf have all been renewed, however.