Lodge 49's cancelation may be a sign that TV is turning into the movies

UPROXX

"You want a quirky examination of life with real people and teeny tiny stakes and enough heart to pump blood through the ice-cold veins of the most cynical among us? Ehhhhh, good luck," says Brian Grubb. "There are a few out there. Fleabag and Russian Doll were great in their limited runs. Catastrophe, too. But the key word there is 'limited.' Those shows were built to burn fast and bright. Lodge 49 could have lasted, maybe not 'Law & Order: SVU has been on television for close to two decades' last, but at least a few more seasons. You would think, with all the options and outlets out there, that someone could find a place for a show like that. A show like Lodge 49. Not even Lodge 49 specifically, although, again, that would be fine. I’m talking about the next show. The hypothetical future Lodge 49-like show. My fear is that all of this is starting to bend in the direction movies have gone, in a way that won’t be course-corrected any time soon. Sequels, reboots, remakes, with very little oxygen for cool smaller stuff. That would bum me out. A lot. Television has been eating film’s lunch when it comes to weirdo creative projects for the last 20 years, after an eternity of the opposite."

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• Why Lodge 49 deserves to be rescued: "There was a time, not so long ago, when 2019’s mainstream entertainment was cult material," says Darren Franich. "Zombie horrorshows, magical warfare, Thanos-punching superheroes: This was not billion-dollar subject matter when I was a kid. The lesson, easy to forget, is that the future lives on the fringe, just waiting to be discovered. We live in an understandably cynical age, and for all its evocations of economic struggle, Lodge 49 still feels like a forward-looking project — not quite optimistic, but deeply hopeful that we can all find each other again in the ruins. The show had small ratings in a crowded cable landscape, and it still grew a dedicated following. Membership will keep climbing. The show will continue. The door will open, I know it will."
• In the TV landscape of 2010, Lodge 49 might have gotten more attention, because there was more attention to give before 500 scripted series