Yahoo News Anne with an E – explaining its cancellation
Fans of Canadian series Anne with an E, which is based on childhood classic Anne of Green Gables, were crushed when the show was cancelled last year.
It was announced on November 25 that season three, which has now wrapped up, was to be its last.
"We've been thrilled to bring the quintessentially Canadian story of Anne With an E to viewers around the world," said CBC and Netflix in a joint statement.
"We're thankful to producers Moira Walley-Beckett and Miranda de Pencier and to the talented cast and crew for their incredible work in sharing Anne's story with a new generation.
"We hope fans of the show love this final season as much as we do, and that it brings a satisfying conclusion to Anne's journey."
Walley-Beckett, the show's creator, was understandably gutted and shared her disappointment on social media.
"I wish it could be different but it cannot," she wrote on Instagram. "We have reached the end of the red Green Gables road after three wonderful seasons."
A post shared by Moira Walley-Beckett (@moirawalleybeckett) on Nov 25, 2019 at 7:58am PST
Chatting to Entertainment Weekly, she did say that she'd "love to write an AWAE finale feature film", and it's not out of the question for other networks to pick up cancelled shows, as Netflix did with Designated Survivor and Lucifer, and Pop TV did with One Day at a Time.
But towards the end of 2019, it became clear that wasn't going to happen.
In another Instagram post, which featured artwork from fans calling for the show to be renewed, Walley-Beckett said that she "fought" to bring the series back, adding: "We tried to change their minds. We tried to find a new home. We tried for a finale movie...We tried our best."
A post shared by Moira Walley-Beckett (@moirawalleybeckett) on Dec 6, 2019 at 4:07pm PST
You don't have to look far to see that the Anne faithful are still deeply unhappy about the cancellation.
Whenever the Netflix UK or US social accounts post anything, you'll often find a #RenewAWAE or 'ANNOUNCE ANNE WITH AN E S4' in their mentions.
There's undoubtedly still an appetite from lots of people, which begs the questions: why won't there be a fourth chapter?
In that same Instagram post, Walley-Becket shed some light on what had unfolded behind the scenes.
"Art and Commerce is never an easy marriage," she wrote.
"I often find it inexplicable. This is one of those times. But it's impossible to argue with words like Economics, Algorithms, Demographics, etc, etc. But those words and others like them are the reason why the Networks don't want to continue."
Neither Netflix nor CBC went into detail about why Anne with an E had been banished to the TV graveyard, but the relationship between the two had become somewhat uneasy.
On a panel in January last year, Catherine Tait, the Canadian broadcaster's president and CEO, equated Netflix's presence in Canada with "imperialism".
"I was thinking about the British Empire, and how if you were there and you were the Viceroy of India, you would feel that you were doing only good for the people of India," she said.
"If you were in French Africa, you would think, 'I'm educating them, I'm bringing their resources to the world and I am helping them.'
"Fast forward to what happens after imperialism and the damage that can do to local communities. So all I would say is, let us be mindful of how it is we as Canadians respond to global companies coming into our country."
Stéphane Cardin, Netflix's director of public policy for Canada, responded by highlighting the benefits of Netflix's role in the country's TV and movie industry.
"We're not here [in Canada] to chase a low dollar. We're here because of the quality of the creators, the infrastructure and the crews," he said.
"We think we too can provide an opportunity for Canadians to make stories in English and French that can get to the world like they never could before. We're complementary. We're not here to diminish or do it any harm."
In October that same year, it was clear that Tait still had issues and concerns, hinting that the relationship between the two was still rocky.
"We're not going to do deals that hurt the long-term viability of our domestic industry," she said on the Content Canada podcast (via Financial Post).
"A number of countries have done deals, as we did, with Netflix...and over time we start to see that we're feeding the growth of Netflix, or we're feeding the growth of Amazon, rather than feeding our own domestic business and industry."
She went on to emphasise the importance of safeguarding "Canadian creators' health and well-being in this market", before doubling down on her previous comments: "The idea that we are dealing with an empire that could in some ways compromise our own true cultural sovereignty? I do not stand down on those remarks.
"I think what you're going to start to see… is that we believe that anybody profiting from the Canadian system should contribute to the system."
It should be noted that Canadian broadcasters must contribute five percent of their gross revenue to the Canada Media Fund. But that rule is not enforced for the likes of Netflix and Amazon, who may wish to, but certainly don't have to, according to the Financial Post.
Digital Spy reached out to Netflix for comment, but didn't hear anything.
Popular CBC shows Schitt's Creek, Kim's Convenience Store and Workin' Moms all live on the platform, with their most recent seasons on there.
But Schitt's Creek has wrapped up for good, and while KCS and WM have both been renewed for future episodes, it's currently unclear whether we'll see them on Netflix in future.
The streaming giant takes care to keep the curtains firmly drawn on the inner workings on its business, but Tait's choice words thrust Netflix into a uncomfortable spotlight.
If future seasons of those CBC shows aren't made available to its subscribers, that will go some way to shedding light on Anne with an E's cancellation.
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