Fans turn up heat for Beauty, Baker return
LOS ANGELES — With cries for equality and justice ringing in the streets, a petition drive to rescue a cancelled television series might seem inconsequential.
But among the advocates for ABC’s The Baker and the Beauty, felled by its ratings after one season, are those who value it as an entertaining and affirmative depiction of family life in general and a Latino family in particular — long a TV rarity and, they say, especially vital now.
“We have so many shows on TV and so little shows that are actually relatable and appeal to everyone,” said viewer Dana Pulsinelli. She launched the online effort to find the “dramedy” a new home after she connected with other fans and kept hearing the same question: Why would “this amazing show, with this fantastic cast that touched on so many relatable subjects, be cancelled in a time where diversity and inclusion is so important?”
It should be celebrated instead of “tossed away like it means nothing,” the New Jersey resident said in an email, lauding The Baker and the Beauty for celebrating both Cuban American culture and depicting a young character struggling with her sexuality amid family resistance.
The change.org petition calls for a streaming or cable platform to give the series “the shot it deserves!”
In their comments, fans lauded it as lighthearted fare that’s “much-needed during these challenging times,” “witty and endearing,” and a welcome depiction of “hardworking immigrants” that also “tenderly represents” LGBTQ youth.
The support has buoyed cast members Lisa Vidal, who plays matriarch Mari, and Nathalie Kelley, who stars as the title character, Noa, an Australian supermodel and entrepreneur who finds unlikely love with Daniel, a Cuban American (Victor Rasuk) working in his family’s Miami bakery. Belissa Escobedo plays Daniel’s younger sister, who comes out as lesbian.
The series, whose nine episodes aired from April to June on ABC, was adapted from a Israeli TV hit of the same title that streamed on Netflix.
“This show is important because it represents, first and foremost, family. It represents a beautiful, healthy, functional family,” Vidal said. “
The series showed small upticks in both total viewers and the advertiser-favoured young adult audience from its first to last episodes.
While she doesn’t want to point fingers, Vidal said, it could have been better served with more vigorous promotion, a more suitable time slot for family viewing — 10 p.m. Monday wasn’t it, she contends — and the recognition that an unusual program deserves more careful handling and time to prove itself.
Fan lobbying helped the Latino-led reboot of One Day at a Time survive its cancellation, moving from Netflix to the Pop channel.