Zoe Saldana and Eva Longoria are pushing to save The Baker and the Beauty—and you can sign the petition
ABC announced on Monday, June 15th, that it decided to cancel The Baker and the Beauty after just one season. Immediately following the news, fans and the show’s stars have called for another network to pick up and renew the rom-com series—including fans Zoe Saldana and Eva Longoria. The Guardians of the Galaxy and Grand Hotel stars spoke out about how much they appreciated the show’s depiction of a Latinx family and offered a way for fellow fans to help save The Baker and the Beauty. Ahem, are you listening, Netflix, Hulu, and all the rest?
Saldana posted a still of the show on Instagram and, in the caption, called for ABC to reconsider its cancelation, writing: “@abcnetwork set the trend, be the first to stick around.”
“Represent Por Favor!” Saldana wrote. “We were all watching the show! And when I say WE, I mean we Americans of Latinx Blood.”
She went on to raise the voices of all Latinx The Baker and the Beauty fans, writing, “We the tax payers, the loyal customers, the voters, the soldiers, the healthcare workers, the labor workers, the entrepreneurs, the students, the teachers, the drivers, the gardeners, the nannies, ALL OF US! We were all WATCHING!!!!”
Saldana finished her caption by praising the entire team behind the show as “flawless” and addressing them directly to say, “we need you” working on other shows and media.
Saldana shared a petition to save The Baker and the Beauty, which calls not on ABC, but on another network or streaming service to renew the show. You can sign the petition here. At the time of writing, it has just over 66,000 signatures out of its 75,000 goal.
Longoria also posted the petition as part of her Instagram post about the importance of representation on television.
She noted first that this means that ABC has canceled “another show with an entire Latino cast”—Longoria’s own show, Grand Hotel, was canceled by ABC in 2019.
“Why doesn’t @abcnetwork give it more of a chance for our gente to find the show?! And ‘gente’ where are you guys? Show up and get loud,” she wrote. “Representation matters on television! This was a sweet show about a good family! And one of the only Latino shows out there! We need this show to find another home!”
Nathalie Kelley, who stars on the show, tweeted that, “[ABC’s] loss will be someone else’s gain” and has also shared the petition.
Guys we appreciate the love and well wishes following ABC’s decision not to renew us for a second season. But honestly their loss will be someone else’s gain, so stay hopeful and activated about the show while we find it the right home! Love u all #thebakerandthebeauty
— Nathalie Kelley (@natkelley) June 16, 2020
More of the show stars, including Lisa Vidal and Carlos Gomez, amplified the petition across Instagram in their own posts.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBgLr4xJrWG
The Baker and the Beauty is a Notting Hill-like show, adapted from an Israeli rom-com series. It follows Daniel Garcia (played by Victor Rasuk) in the “Hugh Grant-like” role, as he works in his Cuban family’s bakery and falls for international fashion mogul Noa Hamilton (played by Kelley). In addition to Rasuk, Kelley, Gomez, and Vidal, the cast also includes Michelle Veintimilla, David Del Rio, Blissa Escobedo, and Dan Bucatinsky.
It wouldn’t be unprecedented for The Baker and the Beauty Season 2 to air somewhere else than ABC. Shows like One Day at a Time, The Mindy Project, Nashville, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and others have all been saved by other networks or streaming services. Fans, hold out hope and make your voices heard.
