2Marxist Analysis
Shadowhunters – a supernatural teen drama about human–angel hybrids who protect other humans from demons – debuted on Disney’s Freeform channel (formerly known as ABC Family) on January 12, 2016 to many indicators of success. In addition to deriving its source material from Cassandra Clare’s popular book series, The Mortal Instruments, the new series received a coveted broadcast slot following the network’s most popular program, Pretty Little Liars, which is also based on a successful novel series. Pretty Little Liars was in its seventh season when Shadowhunters premiered, and network executives were hopeful that the substantial following of the former program would carry over to the latter. Their plan was largely successful. The pilot episode of Shadowhunters attracted Freeform’s largest audience in more than 2 years and was the fourth highest‐rated scripted cable launch in 12 months, behind AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, Better Call Saul, and Into the Badlands. Based on its success, Shadowhunters was renewed for a second and third season, each involving 20 episodes. During this 3‐year period, the series received numerous Teen Choice Awards and developed a passionate fan following.1
Fans of the show were understandably surprised ...
Get Critical Media Studies, 3rd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
