Lilly Wachowski calls out TV bosses for paying lip service to diversity – and she didn’t hold back
Lilly Wachowski speaks during the Showtime segment of the 2019 Summer TCA Press Tour on 2 August 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. (Getty/Amy Sussman)
Lilly Wachowski has called out the entertainment industry for paying lip service to promises of ‘championing diversity’ on TV.
The Matrix co-creator took to Twitter to announce that her original, queer comedy series Work in Progress had been cancelled by Showtime after two seasons.
In a lengthy series of posts, Wachowski revealed that she learned the show wasn’t going to be renewed for a third season “right before the Thanksgiving holiday” in November.
She admitted it was difficult to continue with the show amid the ongoing pandemic as the “ability to convey and receive joy and love was acutely missing”. Wachowski said she “still held fast to hope” that they would be renewed for a third season season, but she had a “sinking feeling” it might not come to pass.
She slammed TV execs for only considering the “bottom line of a profits and loss spreadsheet” for keeping a diverse show on the air – especially when networks ‘trot out’ the shows to show they’re “committed to diversity”.
to illustrate how networks and studios are soooo committed to diversity but then get cut before they can establish a viewership. It is a bit of a vicious cycle.
At what point does the “commitment and championing of diversity” end?
— Lilly Wachowski (@lilly_wachowski) January 27, 2022
“Since our disheartening news though, Work in Progress has made 7 top 10 lists and has been nominated for best comedy in the GLAAD awards,” Lilly Wachowski wrote.
She continued: “But unfortunately, that isn’t enough to overcome the bottom line. Which is frustrating.
“Because shows like ours get trotted out to illustrate how networks and studios are soooo committed to diversity but then get cut before they can establish a viewership.
“It is a bit of a vicious cycle. At what point does the ‘commitment and championing of diversity’ end?”
Lilly Wachowski added that the wider entertainment industry needed to be pushed to “create more meaningful support systems for the art that they help create”.
“Shows like Gentefied and Vida and South Side (why the hell hasn’t this show been picked up yet!? It’s fantastic!) and Shrill and Work in Progress need more meaningful commitments than just an intersection between art and commerce or a deal with the devil,” she said.
She also cheekily shouted out to any TV executives reading her Twitter thread that she’d be open to working with them as “our show is available”.
