Let’s hold hands and roll our eyes as one: CBS has passed on picking up a Nancy Drew reboot because it is “too female.”
Too. Female.
Too!
Female!
[SCREAMS AT THE SUN]
The show was called Drew, which was a contemporary take on the books we all grew up with and held dear to our hearts. Deadline reported the following:
“Drew is not going forward at CBS but is being shopped to other outlets by CBS TV studios. I hear the pilot tested well but skewed too female for the CBS audience. In the end of the day, I hear the network had no 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. slot available.”
The series — that I hope will still be picked up somewhere, by somebody smart — stars Sarah Shahi as Nancy, who is now in her 30s and is a detective for the NYPD where she solves crimes through her powers of observation. So, like: any other show on television right now.
Actually, no. It isn’t. Lest us forget that Jessica Jones is on Netflix, Veronica Mars was cancelled, iZombie is on Shomi (and/or online), Supergirl got moved to The CW, and every other network cop show is anchored by a dude. So I guess it’s actually just like this: CBS’ choice to avoid picking up a smart series starring a woman (and co-starred three men) is why network television is flailing in such a spectacular way. CBS is choosing not to evolve. They’re choosing to root themselves in an outdated model that appeases people who are afraid of change. And that’s disappointing. Both for the network, its viewers, and for the creators of the show who I hope find Nancy Drew a home elsewhere.
