Among Disney’s May premieres was the second season of What a fabric, Sam which, after receiving criticism for not having respected its original title, returned as Single drunk female. It was a very interesting dramatic comedy for combining the kindness and good intentions of the happy place series, whose secret is based on creating a community with its characters, and a hard theme around alcoholism. And, if someone was giving it a more than reasonable opportunity, they will have come face to face with the platform’s latest decision: it has deleted it from its catalog.
The decision is linked to the decisions made in the United States by the companies of The Walt Disney Company. The Freeform cable channel, owned by Mickey Mouse, canceled the series after the second season this past Friday. “I am very sad that the path of Single drunk female has been shortened,” confessed Sofia Black-D’Elia, who played the title Sam, a young woman with a drinking problem who was forced to face her addiction after being fired from her job and having to return to her mother’s house.
Creator Simone Fich thanked Freeform for trusting and believing in the character of “Samantha Fink and the transformational power of sobriety.” She dedicated her thanks to the team and “finally to anyone who wants to get sober or stay sober: it’s possible.” Of course, the Disney streaming services that hosted the series did not share the importance of its plot and its way of addressing alcoholism: this same weekend the 20 episodes produced were removed from the catalogs.
With decisions like this, the streaming platforms demonstrate to what extent a new era of content has begun, one where those productions that have been canceled and that are considered to not contribute to the brand or the catalog are cancelled. The objective is to save the costs derived from having that series or movie on the service, such as the residual benefits that have to be paid to the artists linked to the project.
Single Drunk Female also had important talent linked to the project. For Simone Finch it could be her first series as a creator after having worked on series such as the Roseanne revival and the spin-off of The Conners, but in the executive production she had Jenni Konner, Lena Dunham’s right hand in Girls, and Leslye Headland, co-creator of Russian Doll and now behind The Acolyte, one of the upcoming Star Wars series.
