What began as a couple of throwaway jokes about Girls’ season of Merpeople and J.J. Abrams’ Splash reboot—to say nothing of a suspiciously timed Eugene Mirman tour announcement—has suddenly, inexplicably blossomed into a full-on mermaid epidemic. First there was the news that ABC's Once Upon A Time has cast JoAnna Garcia as its Little Mermaid, with the former Animal Practice star heading under the sea to once again cohabit with creatures and do things that are beneath everyone. And now Deadline reports that NBC has just added a mermaid show to its development slate, picking up a comedy from former The Big C showrunner Jenny Bicks “about a beached mermaid in search of adventure who winds up working in a bar/attraction in Miami with an eclectic group of people as lost as she is,” and who probably tries really hard to keep her being a mermaid a secret so that every week you’re like, “Come on, just tell everyone you’re a mermaid already, this is stupid.”
Anyway, Deadline claims that “mermaids are in the pop culture zeitgeist following Animal Planet’s highly rated and controversial ‘documentary’ specials,” but we believe we know now the terrifying power we wield, and we’re sorry for all the mermaids. We will instead begin making jokes about beautiful women who live only to administer sensuous, full-body massages to pop culture bloggers.