Why the ‘Single Drunk Female’ Cancellation Stings 10 Years After ‘Girls’ — and Leaves a Devastating Void of Millennial Sitcoms

The millennial women-led series is dead. Long live the millennials.

It wasn’t exactly surprising when Freeform’s beloved critically acclaimed “Single Drunk Female” was canceled this month after just two seasons and immediately pulled from Hulu. Sure, Freeform touted the sitcom as the highest-rated original comedy during the New York City Season 2 premiere before the series returned with all new episodes on Hulu in April. But its cancellation is just one of the many reminders that networks don’t invest long-term in women-fronted shows that focus on “messy” millennial women.

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While we pour one out for “Single Drunk Female,” it’s best to trace the series back to its roots with Lena Dunham and executive producer Jenni Konner’s explosively disruptive HBO series “Girls,” which celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2022. After that massive hit, why has TV abandoned the generation of people who grew up watching “Girls”?

There are plenty of frothy candy-colored shows that target Gen Zers masquerading as millennials. Netflix’s brain-dead hit “Emily in Paris” follows a marketing exec (Lily Collins) whose biggest existential crises are deciding between polka dots or stripes, two hot men, and scheming over how to internationally ship Trader Joe’s products. Not quite the same as getting an abortion (“Girls”), overcoming addiction (“Single Drunk Female”), or questioning mortality by way of self-sabotaging tendencies.

“Single Drunk Female” centered on Sam (Sofia Black-D’Elia), a struggling journalist forced to move in with her mother (Ally Sheedy) while attending A.A. Sam is constantly in limbo between slipping — not in her alcoholism but in the impulse control of flitting between three men, all are unsatisfying in different ways, just to have some semblance of emotional support. Sam’s mom is a well-meaning narcissist, and Season 2 was rooted in Sam coming to terms with the loss of her father years prior. That’s not something Emily is off doing in France… but does that mean audiences don’t want to see those relatable struggles onscreen?

The success of fellow Freeform series “The Bold Type,” which delivered Meghann Fahy to the small screen long before her “White Lotus” Season 2 breakout success, proved there was still a market for messy women. “The Bold Type” had a core trio of rising twentysomething female journalists (same as Sam of “Single Drunk Female,” as well as most attainable 2000s rom-com premises) who balanced dating with their careers. The series, which starred Fahy, Katie Stevens, and Aisha Dee, ran from 2017 to 2021. Everything from double mastectomies to egg-freezing to combating systemic racism was showcased in the series, to varying degrees of success. Yet those conversations were still happening onscreen, opening up a wider dialogue across audiences and the culture itself over the plights of post-adolescent womanhood in the 21st century.

“The Bold Type” was eventually canceled due to declining ratings across its five seasons; however, the plug on “Single Drunk Female” was pulled while it was still consistently on top of viewership. Is addiction too messy and not sexy enough for a sitcom?

The one-season wonder “Girlboss,” about the birth of clothing brand Nasty Gal and real-life problematic founder Sophia Amoruso, was shot down almost equally as fast. The series starred Britt Robertson as a fictionalized version of the San Francisco-based sartorialist. Ellie Reed, RuPaul, Johnny Simmons, and Dean Norris rounded out the cast behind the 2017 series created by Kay Cannon of “New Girl” fame. What should have been a hit — and was still loved by its core target audience — was discarded by Netflix after just 13 episodes.

Freeform’s “Younger,” another Darren Star vehicle albeit cleverer than “Emily in Paris,” tapped into the frothiness of aspirational binge watches but didn’t go deep enough on the grittier elements of being a woman who is supposed to have it all. Sutton Foster played Liza, a recent divorcee who lies about her age to re-enter the job market; Hilary Duff and Molly Bernard are her new (and allegedly same-aged) coworkers. While “Younger” mostly hinged on the love triangle between hot young Williamsburg tattoo artist Josh (Nico Tortorella) and Liza’s boss Charles (Peter Hermann), the emphasis on female friendships was still the root of the show, with Miriam Shor and Debi Mazar rounding out the cast.

And adjacent to the Darren Star-crafted universe of elevated lifestyles comes recent Netflix series “Glamorous,” rekindling that same magic from “The Bold Type” courtesy of “Sex and the City” icon Kim Cattrall and famed “Sex and the City” costume designer Patricia Field. Created by Jordon Nardino, “Glamorous” feels like the most promising answer to the void left by “The Bold Type,” even if hardly as deep as “Single Drunk Female.” We can only hope that the series receives a second season with an all-star cast, queer storylines, and a female-identifying lead. There is fun mess, and then there is mess. “Glamorous” lives up to its name in the upbeat tone rooted more in self-worth and sly commentary on sexual and gender politics in America today than the frills of “Emily in Paris,” despite not having the same viral viewership.

As for the millennial messiness of “Girls,” Dori (Alia Shawkat) in “Search Party,” Ilana (Ilana Glazer) and Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) in “Broad City,” Issa Rae in “Insecure,” plus Fleabag (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) in the eponymous series, are more in the vein of Lena Dunham’s Hannah. But none of those series truly lean into the wide-ranging tones that “Single Drunk Female” more closely aligned with. Maybe if Freeform didn’t sober up so fast on “Single Drunk Female,” the show could have delved deeper into the pressurized chaos of being a twentysomething woman and become a landmark series.

There is a reason why the nostalgic fandom for “Girls” is still enduring more than a decade later: It’s because no series has been given the chance to replace it.

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