4 Reasons Why Fox Would Be Fucking Stupid To Not Renew 'Pitch'

On Thursday, Fox's stellar baseball drama, Pitch, closed out its first season after just 10 episodes.  I've praised the show so much throughout its frustratingly short run that I'm out of ways to originally show my love.  

Since this show ended its rookie season with nary a word from the network regarding season 2 or the dreaded C-word, I'm actually angry that Fox is betraying yet another quality show led by a black woman (See Sleepy Hollow and Minority Report). 

Frankly, I'm tired of prettying up why this show is so important for television and the fans who have come to worship it.  ​Here's the bottomline: Fox would be fucking stupid not to renew Pitch. Here are the 4 biggest reasons why this show desperately needs a second season.  

Kylie Bunbury and Mark-Paul Gosselaar
The entire cast of Pitch, down to the guest stars (including Sarah Shahi, Josh Peck, and Lyndsy Fonseca) is nothing short of awesome.  They are led by the captivating Kylie Bunbury (Twisted), who not only has the emotionally tricky task of playing the first woman drafted into Major League Baseball, but also has to turn in a remarkable physical performance as a high-caliber pitcher.  She quite deftly knocks both out of the park, perfecting Ginny Baker's swagger-and-soul persona that I forgot that Bunbury and Gosselaar are actors pretending to be a professional baseball players for the first few episodes.
 
Mark-Paul Gosselaar of '90sSaved By The Bell fame, has found the role of his career as a troubled and aging catcher, Mike Lawson.  He has immersed himself in the physicality and facial hair of many baseball players so thoroughly that he's almost unrecognizable. (Why Fox didn't promote the hell out of nabbing Zack Morris, I have no idea).  Gosselaar is instantly compelling and swoon-worthy as a rugged baseball player with a complicated past and an affinity for inspiring speeches.

Separately, these two actors steal every scene as if it were an unguarded second base.  Together, they have incendiary chemistry, which is why fans, including yours truly, have wasted no time building and setting sail on the SS Bawson, a ship to end all ships.  "Don't Say It," firmly reinstates Ginny's platonic boundaries with Mike.  Though it creates some turbulent and lonely waters for fans of Ginny and Mike as their OTP, the slow burn of their probable love affair is just another massive reason why this show must go on.

Damn Good Writing
It's one thing to have a great cast.  It's entirely another when said cast is gifted with excellent scripts.  Pitch's writing is some of the best on television, surpassing that of creator Dan Fogelman's other, not-so-underrated hit, This Is Us, which can be cloyingly heavy-handed.  Pitch's writing has been consistently complex, poignant and intelligent, which has created dynamic and distinctly human characters.  

​It would be tantalizingly easy to give these characters big moments--the record-breaking start to a career, the emotional home-run, the no-hitter--but Pitch is unwaveringly grounded in reality, and athlete fail far more than they succeed.  
 
The season finale brilliantly ramps up the stakes for every character without being needlessly manipulative.  Ginny, who was struggled to find her own voice as a public figure, a ballplayer and a woman, finally taps into her power to the tune of “Uptown Funk” with jaw-dropping consequences. 
 
Mike gets a second chance at love with his ex-wife and he realizes how badly he handled saying goodbye to his team after his near-trade.  

Evelyn (Meagan Holder) draws the line with Blip (Mo McRae) as he pressures her to have another baby. 

After a potentially relationship-ending argument with Ginny, Amelia sets her sights on new clients.  The anxiety-inducing drama is more of a harvesting of seeds planted throughout the season, and speaks to the brilliance of the writers and producers, who have masterfully plotted a fantastic first season.  It would be a damned shame to not have a second.

Awards ARE Everything
Athletes and coaches are wired to win.  Television executives aren’t much different.  They want to collect and produce the best programs to win their timeslot and grab some hardware at the end of the season.  While Pitch has admittedly flailed in the ratings, thanks to a tough Thursday timeslot with a weak lead-in, it has garnered a passionate and powerful following on social media, and is deserving for far more critical accalim.  

Fox hasn’t had that many trips to the Emmy or Golden Globes podium since Glee has mercifully ended (Shoutout to Taraji P. Henson’s Golden Globe win for her fabulous turn as Cookie Lyon on Empire).  Even though it was snubbed by the Golden Globes this year, Pitch, with its stellar writing, acting, cast and suspense, is worthy of major award nominations, if not wins, which will bring some much-needed clout and eyeballs to the Fox Network.    
 
Actual Feminism, Not White Feminism
You can't have a series about the first professional female baseball player without venturing in the wild world of feminism, and Pitch boldly navigates that treacherous terrain like Beyonce owns the spotlight.  From featuring footage of sports shows of brutal criticism and head-enlarging praise, grassroots social media campaigns to in-fighting and bullying on her team, the fictional Ginny Baker gets iit from all angles.  She's regarded as a hero, a headline and joke, and she leans into the good, the bad and the embarrassing.

By centering the story on a black woman, Ginny's story adds racial intersectionality, which is paramount and often overlooked by other so-called feminist shows, including Supergirl and Jessica Jones.
 
But Ginny isn't the only one swinging at that glass ceiling.  Her agent, Amelia (Ali Larter) and friend Evelyn (Megan Holder) are also taking their turns at bat.  After enduring a painful divorce, Amelia left her job of wrangling high-maintenance celebrities to manage Ginny Baker. In doing so, she's had to battle a plethora is close-minded, sexist men on the way to the majors.  She's defended Ginny over the release of stolen naked selfies (and used the word "mansplained" in said scene) and Ginny's G-rated meltdown, which was as chaste as a Disney movie when compared to the illegal and violent benders of her male counterparts. 
 
Evelyn's journey as a stay-at-home mom, who dropped out of college to support her husband, Blip's dream of baseball stardom, is more relatable.  Evelyn struggles to find her voice and realize her dreams throughout the season, and watching her demand something for herself by season's end is just as thrilling as watching Ginny shut down the haters one pitch at a time. 

They are women, and we need to hear them roar for a very long time.

​So, Pitches, let's tweet @FOXTV and let them know how badly they need to #RenewPitch.

Photo Credits: celebuzz.com; ew.com; mirror.co.uk