This goes out to all the fandoms out there, to everyone who is either part of the lgbtq community or a supporter, and to everyone who has always wanted to see more diversity on tv …
… the EYEWITNESS fandom really needs your help! I constantly see posts on Tumblr from people who want to see more diversity in media - books, tv shows, movies - and yet here we have a show that has a ton of diversity … but it’s about to be cancelled because of low ratings!
EYEWITNESS is a really great new suspense drama about two boys, Philip and Lukas, who witness a triple murder but have to keep it a secret because one of them is scared that people will find out he is gay. One of them happens to be the foster son of the local Sheriff (who, btw, is a woman!) who is investigating the murder. From there on the show has multiple plot strands that all tangle together at some point, but the romance between Philip and Lukas is at the heart of it all.
Speaking of which … these are the boys:
Reasons why you will love EYEWITNESS:
Complex and complicated love story between two boys (one comfortable with his sexuality, the other deeply closeted) that feels honest and real
Doesn’t shy away from showing physical intimacy between the boys (seriously, they are making out shirtless 7 minutes into the first episode!)
Tough kick-ass female characters
Lots of POC & LGBT representation
Defies gender stereotypes
Positive portrayal of foster kid with foster parents
Deals with important issues like PTSD, drugs and the challenges of coming out in a realistic way
Suspense and lots of plot twists you won’t see coming
A killer who is creepy as hell
Oh, and did I mention it’s actually well-written?
Unfortunately diverse shows never have it easy, especially if they focus heavily on LGBTQ characters / couples. Add to that the fact that USA Network has basically done nothing at all to promote this show, and you can imagine that ratings are really low. So low in fact that the show will get cancelled if ratings don’t go up drastically!
EYEWITNESS deserves better! And we as a fandom are trying to make that happen. We are trying to get more people to watch to increase ratings.
So PLEASE … if you live in the US then please watch EYEWITNESS tonight (and the next few Sundays after that) at 10 PM on USA Network. If you can’t watch it live then please DVR it and watch it the next day. Or you can do both which according to the show’s producers will count for two viewings!!!
If you want to catch up on the first 5 episodes you can do so on the USA Network website or app, or you can get the episodes on VoD (iTunes, Amazon Video, etc).
For people outside the US, if you buy the show on iTunes or Amazon Video (if your country has it) then this will also contribute to ratings!!!
If you like the show, please tweet some love for it to @USA_Network and use the hashtags #Eyewitness and #Philkas!
Let’s show the world that we WANT tv shows with diversity, and that shows which feature said diversity CAN be successful! Let’s show them that people will tune in for these kind of shows so that they will continue making them!