After crawling through 15 depressingly low-rated episodes of its first season, The Michael J. Fox Show, once viewed as NBC’s most promising new fall sitcom, has been yanked off the air.
The news doesn’t come as much of a surprise, considering that NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt told reporters the show faced an “uphill battle” at last month’s Television Critics Association press tour. He noted considerable disappointment with the show’s ratings, which at the time had dropped to an all-time low .6 in the key adults 18-49 demographic. Given how The Michael J. Fox Show was hyped as the Family Ties and Spin City actor’s triumphant return to television, Greenblatt was certainly expecting much more.
The Michael J. Fox Show‘s cancellation comes just a few weeks after NBC dropped the cancellation axe on fellow sitcom Sean Saves the World, a similarly anticipated comedy that completely tanked in the ratings. With Fox pulling in even less viewers than Sean on some nights, we all knew its days were numbered.
Production had already wrapped on the remaining seven episodes, but there’s no word yet on when or if NBC will air them. Given that the network is handling coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics, and that Hollywood Game Night has already been tapped to take the comedy’s Thursday night timeslot when it opens up on February 27, chances are that the remainder will air in April, if at all.
NBC has really struggled with its comedies this past season. The Michael J. Fox Show‘s cancellation means that all three freshman fall comedies the network aired this year can be considered flops (Welcome to the Family bit it way back in October). It’s not an unfamiliar feeling for NBC, given that none of the seven series the network ordered last year made it to a second season. In addition to this year’s comedies, NBC has also killed its new drama Ironside.
Out of NBC’s comedy lineup, only perennial underdogs Parks and Recreation and Community remain. Parks has already been renewed for a seventh season, and the chances of Community reaching its much-coveted sixth season seem high, especially now that all of NBC’s other comedy contenders have been taken out of the equation.
Tell us, will you miss The Michael J. Fox Show?
