Paramount+’s “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” was nominated for two Emmys on Wednesday. There’s only one problem with these nominations: The show they’re for is impossible to watch.
That’s the odd reality the 75th Emmy Awards finds itself in during a time when streamers removing their own original content has become the norm.
Both of the nominations for “Rise of the Pink Ladies” were for Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming, a category that honored choreographer Jamal Sims for the routines used in the songs “New Cool,” “Hand Jive” and “The Boom” as well as choreographers Jeffrey Mortensen and Louise Hradsky for the routines featured in “Pulling Strings,” “Hit Me Again” and “High Rollin.’” Yet at present the average person cannot watch any of these awards-nominated performances.
That’s because Paramount+ canceled and completely removed the musical series prior to its integration with Showtime along with “Star Trek: Prodigy,” “The Game” and “Queen of the Universe.” All four were cut due to financial reasons. Paramount Television Studios is still working to shop the series elsewhere, and its removal has led to a Change.org petition. But as it stands, it’s impossible to watch a series that was nominated for one of TV’s biggest awards in 2023.
And “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies” isn’t alone. “The Nevers,” Joss Whedon’s sci-fi series that was originally created for HBO, has also been nominated for Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Single Episode.
The drama was initially supposed to release its 12-episode first season in two batches on HBO. Yet in December 2022, the series was canceled before the final six episodes aired. The full season was later made available to watch linearly on Tubi in February and March 2023, but at present the series is only available to watch through digital purchase.
TheWrap reached out to both Paramount+ and HBO for comment.
All three of these nominations continue a shift in the modern era of television. Though the rise of streaming promised audiences they could watch their favorite shows at any time, that on-demand ethos has been scaled back. Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount+, Disney+ and Hulu have all removed substantial amounts of original content in recent months.
“Rise of the Pink Ladies” accounted for two of the 56 total Emmy nominations Paramount received. As for HBO, “The Nevers” is one of its 127 nominations.
