thinking about frank again.

Hello, I come bearing frank in a cropped top👐

(Hoping tumblr doesnt hide this I dont think hes too exposed...)

!BONUS BELOW!

But also their body is silly.

Are shows that air on streaming platforms more likely to be cancelled early than they would have been in the past? Maybe! It's perfectly plausible (although I suspect that the increased proliferation of streaming services means that some of these cancelled shows wouldn't have been picked up by a network to begin with). But the all too common idea that before "late capitalism" began (in ... what? the 2010s?) TV network executives weren't in it for the money and didn't care if nobody watched a show as long as it got good reviews or had a few dedicated fans is just not true. It's absurdly not true.

Lawrence Stern's past success with Lost In Space didn't win 1981's Code Red more than one season, and equally Earl Hamner's creation of The Waltons didn't convince NBC to give 1983's Boone more than 13 episodes. In 1982 Leslie Nielsen starred in Police Squad!, which filmed six episodes and aired four before ABC cancelled it. 1984's It's Your Move, starring a young Jason Bateman as a teenage scam artist, didn't survive a letter-writing campaign by "concerned parents" which saw the sitcom first rewritten and then cancelled, all within one season. 1990's Sydney starred a young Matt Perry and multiple Golden Globe winner Valerie Bertinelli, but only managed thirteen episodes before CBS gave up on it.

And do you remember 1990's Gabriel's Fire? James Earl Jones won an Emmy in the lead role, but that didn't stop the show being cancelled within a year of first airing. Claire Danes winning a Golden Globe didn't stop the same thing happening to 1994's My So-Called Life. Technically 1994's Thunder Alley on ABC got two seasons, but the first season was only eight episodes long and it was cancelled after the first full season. Airing opposite that show, NBC's Gene Wilder vehicle Something Wilder also only manged one (partial) season before cancellation. In 1995 Muscle was one of the new WB network's flagship sitcoms: it was gone by May and good luck tracking down a copy today. NBC didn't even bother to air all of 1999's first and only season of Freaks and Geeks before cancelling it.

What about 2002's Firefly, which had its fourteen episodes aired in the wrong order and then was summarily dropped? 2003's Tru Calling did manage a second season, but that season was only six episodes long and discarded multiple characters and the show was soon cancelled all the same. The same year's Dead Like Me also staggered into a second season (after losing creator Bryan Fuller), but didn't make it as far as 2005 before being axed. Bryan Fuller's next project was 2004's Wonderfalls, which filmed 13 episodes (and aired four!) before Fox gave up on it due to low ratings.

And these shows themselves are arguably the rare exceptions: the ones remembered because they had famous stars or creators or would later develop large cult followings; the ones that people alive at the time will bring up when thinking about shows that were cancelled prematurely. What about the shows which aren't remembered fondly, whose actors didn't go on to become more famous? Police Squad! was a mid-season replacement: do you know what show it replaced without googling? Do you know after googling? (Because I don't!). Find a TV listings page from the 1990s, flick to a random date and the odds are pretty good you'll find a show that didn't survive the year.

Paralysis demon matt murdock haunting frank's dreams👿💀

(Inspired by the painting The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli)

⬇CLOSE UPS BELOW⬇

I understand why a lot of people get frustrated with comic reading and how various characters get treated, etc, but let's take a second to remember that it is also fun. Reading comics is fun. I only got into it relatively recently, and I am having a BLAST. Have a postive ask game. Send an ask to the person above (who you reblogged from) and below (who reblogs from you)!

What is your favorite comic? Or one of your favorites?

What's a comic you unexpectedly enjoyed?

Who is your favorite artist / artist team?

Tell me about a character moment you really enjoyed.

Show off one of your favorite pages/panels.

What is a serious line you really like?

What is a funny line you really like?

What is a ridiculous moment you get a kick out of?

Recommend a comic!