American network The CW canceled “Tom Swift” after airing five episodes.
The “Nancy Drew” spinoff launched just a month ago, but failed to take off, ranking among the CW’s least watched series with 535,000 live viewers.
The attraction is an offshoot of an episode (integrated pilot) of the second season of “Nancy Drew”, which introduced Tian Richards (from “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”) as the title character, a brilliant inventor, son of a billionaire, black and gay.
In the plot of the series, the disappearance of his father catapults young Tom into a world of sci-fi conspiracies and inexplicable phenomena. And to find out the truth, he must abandon the comforts of his lifestyle to hit the road and hide from a mysterious group determined to stop him.
The original character appeared in 1910 in a literary collection conceived by publisher Edward Stratemeyer – the same one who, two decades later, published Nancy Drew’s first book – as a young inventor genius persecuted by mischievous individuals. But he wasn’t black, let alone gay in the children’s books he helped sell.
A curious detail is that the early cancellation keeps a “Tom Swift” curse, due to decades of difficulty in obtaining live-action adaptations of the character.
The list of failed attempts ranges from a lost 1958 pilot, with blond Gary Vinson (“McHale’s Navy”) in the lead role, to a canceled film project that would be directed by Gene Kelly (“Singing in the Rain”) in 1968, and even a production of Glen A. Larson (creator of “Magnum”, “Supermachine” and “Battlestar Galactica”) who will join him with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys in 1977. Eventually, the latter project it’s over. becoming “The Hardy Boys”. / Nancy Drew Mysteries “without Tom Swift.
Until the CW series, the character only materialized once on TV, in a 1983 TV movie, “The Tom Swift and Linda Craig Mystery Hour”, in which he was played by Willie Aames (“Charles in Charge”). He was also supposed to be a production driver, but he was a huge failure in evaluations.
The CW version featured a predominantly black cast. In addition to Tian Richards, great prominence was for Ashleigh Murray, Josie’s performer in “Riverdale” and “Katy Keene”.
According to the results of the website Deadline, the CW bosses like the creative part of the series, but have failed to keep it at the low ratings.
As the cast’s contracts expired this week, the network decided to warn that it did not intend to renew the attraction.
The series still has five episodes not shown in the season and remains unreleased in Brazil.
Watch the original attraction trailer below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjYmLw_rHzo
Source: Terra
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
