A couple weeks back, Amazon announced that it was canceling The Wheel of Time, its epic fantasy show based on the book series by Robert Jordan, after three seasons. This sucked a lot. Not only was the third season easily the best yet, it ended with miles and miles of story to go, meaning that fans were left feeling adrift.
But those fans quickly banded together and spearheaded efforts to save the series. There's a petition which has over 125k signatures as of this writing, and growing all the time. Now, organizers have launched a GoFundMe page. They met their goal of $7,000 raised within hours, and a day later had met a stretch goal of $16k. Donations will go towards a billboard campaign and other events designed to convince Sony Pictures Television, Amazon and other potential new homes that the show is worth investing in.
The other day, we heard that The Wheel of Time wasn't being shopped around to other networks and streaming services, usually a prerequisite to save a show in this kind of situation. Assuming that's true, it could be easy to despair, and indeed, the outlook for the series doesn't seem great. But the fans have been so organized and passionate that it's hard not to get inspired. Why shouldn't we all try to save this awesome series? Maybe this is the push the decision-makers need. And it's not like other shows haven't been saved from the axe before; if it can happen to Firefly, Arrested Development, Cobra Kai, Manifest, Lucifer, Community and The Expanse, why not The Wheel of Time? Granted, from a production standpoint, The Wheel of Time is bigger and more complicated than any of those shows, but that's all the more reason to spread the word as loud and early as possible!
The campaign website also has guides on how to do things like sending physical postcards to Sony, Amazon and others, as well as ways to contact streamers online and encourage them to pick up a series that already has a build-in fanbase. Everything is done respectfully, another thing the campaign is getting right. “This isn’t a campaign of hate," the organizers said. "We’re here because we love the show and the way it adapts Robert Jordan’s books. It’s a story that’s sold 100 million copies and we should respect him and the creatives behind the show in everything we try to accomplish.”
Look, I dunno if this is going to work, but it can't hurt to try, if for no other reason than out of respect for how industrious the organizers behind the campaign have been. One thing I'm curious about is hearing from some of the major creatives behind the show. Some cast members have sounded off on the cancelation news, but to my knowledge we have yet to hear from lead actors Rosamund Pike (Moiraine) and Josha Stradowski (Rand) or showrunner Rafe Judkins. I wonder if their voices would help.
Whatever happens, I'm happy to try and raise awareness of this rare, excellent show and the campaign to save it.
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