Streaming promised us all our favorite shows on demand, but in recent years they have been scaling back on that promise bit by bit, removing content and canceling series that still need to be completed. It’s created quite the conundrum now as a Paramount Plus series, which is no longer available to watch anywhere after being removed, has recently received two Emmy nominations.
The series prequel to the John Travolta classic, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, was added to Paramount Plus on April 6, and less than a month after its final episode aired, the show was canceled, and to make matters worse, removed from the streaming site altogether. Now, despite being unwatchable (literally), it has received two Emmy nominations for its choreography.
Though the show received fairly middling reviews, the cast was praised for their performances, and the songs found themselves an audience over on TikTok, where the show received a fair amount of attention. Here, fans started a campaign to ensure the show received a second season, and it was receiving enough attention that Paramount Plus offered a discount code – PINKLADIES – for a free month when subscribing to its streaming platform.
None of this was enough to stop Paramount from pulling the plug on the series, announcing on June 23 that it would not receive a second season, and then, only seven days later, removing the entire series from its platform altogether. This has now left them in a slightly awkward position, as the series has garnered two Emmy nominations, both of which are for Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming.
Pulling shows from their platforms has become the norm for streaming services, as alongside Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, three other shows were removed from Paramount Plus on the same day, Star Trek: Prodigy, The Game, and Queen of the Universe. HBO kicked off the trend last year when it removed twenty original HBO titles in August. Disney followed suit as well, with Willow being a particularly contentious example. These shows are being booted before they can even find an audience, and the reason behind removing them altogether is so they don’t have to pay residuals, making it financially better off for the streamers but leaving the fans and all those involved in the creation of said show to pay the real price.
We have to wonder if this nomination, or even the potential win, will be enough to convince Paramount Plus to put Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies back on their site, but all this news highlights is the weird world of media and content we are living in right now.