Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

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Fandom
Name: Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies
Abbreviation(s): RotPL
Creator: Annabel Oakes
Date(s): April 6 – June 1, 2023
Medium: TV Series
Country of Origin: United States
External Links: at IMDb
at Wikipedia
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Spoiler Warning: This article or section may contain spoilers. If this bothers you, proceed with caution.

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies is a prequel to the film Grease focusing on how the Pink Ladies were formed.

Canon

A brainy misfit sees her reputation decline and her popularity rise when she runs for student council president.

IMDb

Main Characters

  • Jane Facciano
  • Olivia Valdovinos
  • Nancy Nakagawa
  • Cynthia Zdunowski
  • Hazel Robertson

Major Characters

  • Richie Valdovinos
  • Buddy Aldridge
  • Susan St. Clair
  • Gil Rizzo
  • Edward "Shy Guy"
  • Pedrito "Potato"

Supporting and Recurring Characters

  • Wally Winslow
  • Assistant Principle McGee
  • Dot
  • Rosemary
  • Leonard Daniels

Cancellation and Removal from Streaming

In a move even more surprising that the usual cancellation methods employed by streaming services of late (see: Sapphic Show Cancellations of the 2020s), less than a month after the finale episode of Rise of the Pink Ladies aired on Paramount+, the show was not only cancelled, but completely removed from the streaming library. This meant when it was also nominated for two Emmys only a few weeks later, no-one could watch the show, a situation shared by The Nevers .

Fandom

Pairings

On AO3 and Tumblr, the focus of pairings is heavily sapphic, focusing primarily on canonical pairing Cynthia/Lydia. However, there are other sapphic pairings as well as a few duaric pairings, though these are less common. In other fandom spaces, such as Twitter, this sapphic lean to the pairing discussions isn't quite so prevalent, and duaric pairings such as Jane/Richie and Olivia/Gil receive more focus.

Sapphic/Femslash Pairings

Duaric/Het Pairings

  • Jane Facciano/Richie Valdovinos
  • Jane Facciano/Buddy Aldridge
  • Hazel Robertson/Wally Winslow
  • Olivia Valdovinos/Gil Rizzo
  • Hazel Robertson/Buddy Aldridge
  • Nancy Nakagawa/Pedrito "Potato"

Fan Response to Cancellation

Fans were in disbelief when they learnt not only that the show had been cancelled, but that it would also be completely removed from streaming less than a month after the finale of season one aired[1]. There is a growing trend of completely removing shows from their streaming services and it is often tied to financial motives such as being able to make large tax write-downs by removing the shows from the platform[2]. However, the shock and disbelief with Rise of the Pink Ladies came from how quickly it happened: the show aired on April 6th 2023, the finale aired on June 1st 2023, by June 23rd the announcement was made that it would be canceled and removed from Paramount+ and before the end of June, it was removed.

In response, fans launched a campaign, optimistic due to the news that Paramount+ planned to shop the show to other networks: Save Rise of the Pink Ladies.

The cast and crew of the show have been very engaged with the fan-base, with the main cast creating videos thanking fan and encouraging their campaigns before the SGA-AFTRA strike started. Justin Tranter, who wrote the music for the show and starred in one episode, also released the sheet music[3] for all the songs in the show and three songs which didn't make the final cut as a sign of appreciation for the show's fans.

With Paramount+'s recent decision to release the first season on DVD and for digital purchase[4] instead of continuing to shop the series to other networks, what this means for RotPL's chances of moving to a new home is uncertain.

Common Tropes and Fanon

Aroace Nancy Nakagawa - Many fans interpreted scenes in which Nancy expressed her complete disinterest in boys, making out, and love as possible aroace representation. When Nancy later became involved with Pedrito aka. "Potato", there were mixed feelings on how the final scenes were played out with Nancy needing "drama" in her relationship to be interested in it. However, parts of fandom still explore headcanons and fanwork representation of Nancy as aroace, both within and outside of relationships.

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