Why Are Fans Upset Over the Senden Daha Güzel Cancelation?

Turkish series hook you in. They`ve got everything—romance, comedy, drama, cliches for die-hard fans to turn into memes and bond over, and just the right amount of angst to keep them tuning in every week. However, if you decide to venture over into the diziverse and begin falling in love with its stories, there is one thing you need to prepare yourself for—the heartbreak of the untimely and sometimes, completely unexplained, cancelation. 

        Latest victim, Senden Daha Güzel.

Senden Daha Güzel (More Beautiful Than You) is written by one of the most celebrated dizi scenarists, Ayşe Üner Kutlu. The story follows Efsun, a spunky, intelligent, headstrong woman who tends to patients at her local clinic in Antep, Turkey, where she`s lived for most of her life. She loves her patients, adores her father, and seems overall happy to live the peaceful farm life, far away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. 

Efsun`s ordinary life turns completely upside down when Emir, one the most sought-after plastic surgeons and eligible bachelors in all of Istanbul, turns up at her doorstep. When Efsun figures that he must be a chauffeur, Emir doesn't correct her. After all, he`s not interested in building meaningful relationships with women, much rather preferring quick flings, no strings attached. He`s simply there to do his boss and friend, Efsun`s mother, a favor and that is where he plans to draw the line. Or so he thinks…Which is also why doesn't let Efsun in on the fact that her mother is the owner of one of the biggest beauty clinics in Istanbul and she wants to repair their broken mother-daughter bond by convincing Efsun to come on board.

    Emir`s mission is simple—to get Efsun to Istanbul, which he plans to do by letting her know that her estranged mother is ill and wants to see Efsun one last time. The ruse quickly comes to light and it just as quickly turns into a rivalry between Efsun and Emir, aka #EfMir. And that is, of course, the beginning of a love story peppered with impeccable comedic timing, meaningful dialogue, sexual tension, and deep wounds that the characters heal by being vulnerable and letting each other in. 

So, why would such a layered show that continues to be extremely popular on social media, and is also raking in millions of views on YouTube, be coming to an end after not even making it to its twentieth episode? That`s a loaded question and also quite a hard one to answer. Still, perceptive fans have theories. 

Ratings play a big part in major TV network decisions and unfortunately, the views contributed by the rapidly growing international audience are typically not considered. Only Turkey-based views are counted since the domestic audience is the advertisers` main target demographic. With than in mind, since Turkish audience generally tends to prefer dramas, few romantic comedies make it through the summer and into the fall season. Senden Daha Güzel`s ratings have been slowly dropping over the past month which was expected, but yet dizis with even lower ratings remain on air. 

Recently, the show was moved into a new time slot (from Tuesday to Saturday) which was thought to be an attempt at potentially improving the ratings. That can be debated since in terms of wedging out in front of the TV, the Turkish audience is generally less active on the weekends. So, if you`re looking for a ratings boost, would a move to Saturday truly be the best tactic to revive slowly declining viewership?

For that very reason, fans began to speculate that the network, FOX Türkiye (Fox Turkey), didn’t have plans to keep Senden Daha Güzel on air for much longer after all and that it was, in fact, making space for new shows that will either be returning or debuting in the fall. That would make a lot more sense, but it also begs the question—is chasing after the shiny, new dizi a good tactic in terms of maintaining a satisfied, loyal audience which the popularity and the longevity of a network depends on? 

Once the news of the cancelation broke, many fans took to Twitter to express their shock, anger, and disappointment over the fact that the actors and the writing team won`t be given enough time to complete character arcs and tell the story the way it was meant to be told all along. They also shared how much they`ll miss following the show every week, how many storylines will have to be dropped since there won`t be enough time to wrap them up in a satisfying way, and how deeply slighted by the channel they feel that they might never watch another Fox Turkey show ever again. Or at least not one that has not yet finished airing.

And yet, the decision stands. Senden Daha Güzel`s penultimate episode aired a few days ago and the fans will be tuning in to watch episode 14, the series finale, this Saturday, September 17th. These last two episodes are a consolation prize that the fans, including myself, are grateful for, since in the past, many shows have gotten abruptly canceled without as much as one additional episode to give the audience even a morsel of closure. However, such drastic changes that tug on the fans` heartstrings and lead to social media backlash might just be the beginning of a new conversation about the dizi model, audience expectations, and the well-being of the entire Turkish series industry. 

ieva | The Dizi Spell