Why did “Make It Pop end”? Where to Watch? Members, Cast, Bio

Some TV series leave an unerasable mark in our hearts, especially those forming part of their audiences’ childhoods. Nickelodeon’s “Make It Pop” was one of those series which became memorable despite its considerable short run on air, standing out for its unique K-pop-inspired concept, and the great musical moments it gave its audience.

Though it’s been a while since “Make it Pop” left TV screens in 2016, many old and new fans still wonder why the series ended, what happened to its stars, and whether a possible comeback is being planned.

Keep reading to find out more about “Make It Pop”!

Why Did “Make It Pop” End?

Teen musical comedies aren’t a new concept, but the 2015 series “Make It Pop” was different from others in the genre for taking inspiration from the Korean pop industry. At that time, this musical style wasn’t fully known by Western audiences, but that didn’t stop the show’s creators – Nick Cannon and Thomas W. Lynch – from making the best out of it.

Despite its uniqueness, “Make It Pop” only aired for two seasons before being canceled by Nickelodeon, though no official statement was ever released by the network, or any of the producers.

Though it’s common to assume that low audience ratings affected the show in cases like this, it’s also worth considering the several other issues faced by “Make It Pop”, before and after its airing, as some of the reasons which most likely led to the series’ end.

Bad Audience Reception & Backlash

Firstly, the series wasn’t well received by K-pop fans themselves, who signed a petition to cancel the show even before its premiere, as they were concerned about the ‘trivialization’ of the genre, and saw the concept as disrespectful.

Aware of these concerns, Nick Cannon reached out to people online to explain that the series was actually inspired by the style, and tried to ‘uplift the culture’ surrounding K-pop, as he explained to Billboard.

Shortly before the show’s premiere, the site AsAm News posted an article alleging that one of the producers had jokingly denied any possibility of having male Asian actors in the series, which was strongly criticized. This changed by the show’s second season, with actors Vinson Tran and Micky Nguyen joining the cast.

Despite the efforts of the show’s creators to listen to their audience, in 2021 the specialized site CBR pointed out that “Make It Pop” was potentially ‘ahead of its time’ for getting inspired by K-pop years before the genre became massively popular in the US, making it hard for the show to find its right audience back in the day.

While there’s no official statement pointing out if these issues caused the end of “Make It Pop”, it’s fair to assume that all of these contributed to the cancellation.

Where’s The Cast Now?

The stars of “Make It Pop” have moved on to other projects and walks of life. Here is an update on some of them:

Megan Lee

Following the cancellation of “Make It Pop” in 2016, Megan Lee, who played the main role of Sun Hi, has been active in the music, film and TV industries. When it comes to acting, Megan has had small roles in TV series such as “The Other Kingdom”, “Modern Family”, and “S.W.A.T.”, on top of appearing in the movies “Just Another Nice Guy” in 2017, “Murmur” in 2020, and “Teardrop” in 2022.

In 2018 she joined “The Voice” in its 14th season, taking part in Alicia Keys’ team before her eventual elimination in episode eight.

The next year, Megan released an extended play (EP) entitled “I Am”, which contained the song “Me, Myself and I”, on top of writing songs for prominent K-pop artists such as EXO and Taeyeon.

Megan Lee uploads 'Now I Am Here' MV from her Nickelodeon show 'Make It Pop' http://t.co/9TUlr4X0Vv pic.twitter.com/wL7LvpnJsU

— allkpop (@allkpop) March 23, 2015

Megan’s most recent musical project was “Sing”, a 2022 single she released alongside Kode PinK. Also, Megan has gained a huge following by covering songs by Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, and BTS.

In March 2023, Megan made her film-making debut with the short “En Pointe” and is currently working on another short entitled “Blind Confessions”.

Louriza Tronco

Another big star in “Make It Pop” was Louriza Tronco, who played the role of Jodi. Following the series cancellation, Louriza has portrayed several characters on TV, including Grace in the 2017 drama “Spiral”, N’keyy in “Supergirl”, and Lacey Daniels in “Mystery 101”. On top of that, she was cast in the main role of Gabrielle Dupres in the series “The Order”.

Louriza has also appeared in the made-for-TV movies “No One Would Tell”, “Road To Christmas”, and “Love, Classified”. Her film acting credits include “Recess: Third Street”, “Drinkwater” and “Easter Sunday”.

Erika Tham

The so-called bookworm of “Make It Pop” main group XO-IQ was Corki, a character portrayed by Erika Tham. Since the end of the series, she’s appeared in a variety of projects, including the series’ “The Other Kingdom” and “Star”, and the short films “The Stanford Letter” and “Heirs”. On top of that, Erika was Bonnie Rockwaller in the made-for-TV movie “Kim Possible”.

Erika has also found moderate success as a singer, having released the songs “Admit It” and “Shhh”, accumulating hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. She’s also quite popular on TikTok and Instagram, on which she has over 260,000 followers combined, thanks to her product reviews and modeling pics.

Dale Whibley

Last but not least, there’s Dale Whimbley, who portrayed the character Caleb, the DJ of XO-IQ and Jodi’s love interest.

Dale has had a successful career as an actor after the end of “Make It Pop”, with roles in series such as “Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments”, “Good Witch”, “American Housewife” and “Big Shot”. Dale also portrayed the character Ben Gray in the 2023 drama series “Grey”, and played two different roles in “Murdoch Mysteries” between 2017 and 2024.

On top of that, Dale has appeared in numerous films and shorts throughout the years, including “There’s Someone Inside Your House”, and “Fitting In”.

Where To Watch?

It’s been some time since “Make It Pop” was canceled, but the series can still be found by new and old fans looking forward to binge-watching. In the US, the series is available on online streaming services such as Amazon Prime, YouTube Premium, Paramount Plus, Apple TV, and Google Play Movies.

For those who are searching for “Make It Pop” music, the YouTube channel Make It Pop – WildBrain has XO-IQ’s music videos, and behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast. The group’s music repertoire is available on Spotify, iTunes, and other streaming services platforms.

Regarding the future of the series, in 2018, fans of “Make It Pop” started an online petition to renew the series for a third season, obtaining over 2,400 signs for the time it was active. However, nothing came of it and Nickelodeon moved on to create other series, making it clear to assume that a “Make It Pop” revival isn’t a possibility for now.