We didn’t believe it possible, but the help of our wonderful Bombshells made it possible! Not only did we raise enough money to send 1,000 Victory Bandanas to Global TV, we collected an amazing additional amount of $2,200 that we have donated to the Ajax Bomb Girls Legacy Campaign in the name of Bomb Girls fans everywhere.

The donation was made on June 26, 2013, as a community pledge via the Ajax Bomb Girls’ web portal. This cheque is a visual representation of our donation! We would like to thank all of you again from the bottom of our hearts, because this would not have been possible without your support.

So what’s next?

We’re working on ideas and will reveal our strategy over the next few weeks. We hope you will stick with us throughout the summer, and then return with a bang when it counts, so that we can get other networks to save our show. We’ve still got a war to win!

The Mind Reels uploaded their wonderful 1-hour interview with Gabe Grey in the SmitheeTV studios yesterday. The interview is from June 3, 2013, and they talk about Save Bomb Girls quite a bit. Sue also proudly wore her Victory Bandana for the interview. A must-watch for any Bomb Girls fan, so make sure to check it out. (Warning, contains season 2 spoilers.)

Click here to watch the interview.

Coming soon… our donation to the Ajax Bomb Girls Legacy Campaign. Bear with us while we get everything set up. And that’s not all we have in store. At the risk of sounding like a broken record: Stay tuned!

Let me finish off with some good news: Bomb Girls season 2 will definitely be released on DVD in Canada, and it looks like there’s going to be at least one behind-the-scenes extra. There are no plans, however, for a Blu-ray version. A release date has not yet been set.

1. We realized today that it’s Muse Entertainment and not Global TV who is largely responsible for the Bomb Girls DVD release. We’re trying to evaluate what their plans are for season 2, but if you want to write to them to say you are looking forward to the season 2 DVD box and a great set of extras, we’re certainly not going to stop you. 🙂
2. You’re also free to keep writing to Global to encourage them about the Bomb Girls movie and ask them to advertise and market it the way it deserves. We now have templates if you don’t wish to write your own text.
3. Our fundraiser surpassed the $6k mark yesterday. You guys rock! Keep the donations coming, just $120 to go until we reach our symbolic $1942 target for our Ajax Bomb Girls charity donation.
4. I’m gonna save the best for last, because Michael MacLennan, showrunner extraordinaire, tweeted this today:

Amber Dowling from TV Guide Canada published an article last week where she shed some light on Global’s position on the Bomb Girls cancellation. It was reiterated that the show remains cancelled and that Global is excited enough to call the 2-hour movie an ‘event’ that is coming this winter. Barbara Williams, Senior Vice-President of Content, said at this year’s Shaw upfront presentation that they will make sure it “finishes up with a bomb”.

Most interestingly, she was asked a few perhaps rather provocative questions about the cancellation, which the TV Guide Canada article quotes as follows:

When TV Guide Canada pressed about the network’s decision to place the second half of Bomb Girls‘ second-season run against CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries — Canada’s only other dramatic, conventional TV historical romp, Williams pivoted instead to the strong Bones lead-in Global attempted to provide the show. She also reiterated several times throughout the day that its U.S. acquisitions this year were “strategic” in as to allow two new Canadian entries — a comedy and a drama — some space on the schedule this winter.

“There is not a timeslot anywhere that’s not competitive,” she responded. “The consistency of the audience watching Bones was huge and [we thought] Bones would help it. No show lasts forever.”

Williams remained equally blunt on the decision not to shift Bomb Girls to one of Shaw’s strong conventional networks, such as History, where series like Vikings and The Bible have thrived. “Budgets are different across different platforms,” she explained. “That show was designed and fit and financed for conventional customers.”

It is easy to hazard a guess that the mid-season break in February/March 2013 and the subsequent time slot change might have been an intentional strategy to get lower ratings and give Global a reason to cancel the show. Looking at their new lineup, it appears Bomb Girls didn’t fit with Global’s new business model, which is why they remained steadfast on the decision to cancel it despite the overwhelming fan response. This, however, will largely remain speculation.

Please also continue telling friends, family, and social media contacts about the show. We want the movie to have great ratings, so the interest in the characters and storylines should be cultivated throughout the months-long wait until it airs.

We’re still short of our symbolic Ajax Bomb Girls Legacy Campaign donation goal of $1942, so please keep those donations coming. We have a few Victory Bandanas left, so you can get one of the last ones we have if you donate $25 or more.

Our plan is to donate the money to the Ajax Bomb Girls charity towards the end of June/beginning of July. We will also keep you in the loop about future activities of how we can keep the Bomb Girls legacy alive, perhaps even get other networks interested in picking the show up for the 2014/15 season. Rest assured that we’re regrouping and will keep you updated on our progress.

News from the front is in, and it’s not what we hoped. Global TV has announced their 2013/2014 schedule: A third season of Bomb Girls will not be going ahead. The 2-hour Bomb Girls TV movie they announced together with the cancellation in April was confirmed today. It is said to be “coming this winter”.

This is a disappointment, but it’s a time to focus on everything we have accomplished in the past six weeks. Fans have pulled together and made their voices heard—from mailing campaigns to a fundraiser that achieved more than five times its initial goal and resulted in close to $2,000 for donation to charity. Our many social media posts and love letters to the show demonstrated not only to Global TV but also to the creators, cast and crew just how much the show meant to us.

In short, we made it impossible to ignore us, and in that, at least, we succeeded. Though Global was stingy with acknowledgement, and it may seem they didn’t listen to us at all, we know that they had to see us—we sent 1,000 bandanas to their offices!

Global will not be producing a third season, but the TV movie will give the writers a chance to resolve storylines they left hanging and—hopefully—give us the closure we crave. That’s a privilege that a lot of other cancelled TV shows will never get. Michael Prupas, President and CEO of Muse Entertainment, has said that “what we are trying to do, going ahead with this movie, is to ensconce Bomb Girls as an iconic show, so hopefully we can come back to the characters at some later stage. Keeping the title alive is important to us. We hope it will have a future.” (The Globe and Mail; Apr. 26, 2013)

What can we do now? For the most part, keep doing what we have been doing. Keep writing to Global and Shaw.

• Let’s ask for Global/Shaw to produce DVDs of Season 2, so that the show can be immortalized as it very much deserves to be.
• Let’s reinforce Global’s decision to produce the 2-hour TV movie and prove our willingness to watch it.
• Let’s continue spreading Bomb Girls through friends, family, and social media, making sure that as many people as possible watch the movie when it airs.

And most of all, let’s keep putting our trust in the amazing creative team behind Bomb Girls, because perhaps the best is yet to come!