The cast of reboot comedy Will & Grace put up a united front over the weekend as they announced the unanimous decision to say a final goodbye to the show and characters we’ve all come to love over the past two decades.
The Will & Grace reboot has been one of the more successful reboots of late with the show returning for seasons nine through eleven after an eleven year hiatus. Over the weekend, the announcement to end the show was made through official statements and social media channels.
“Seriously, we could not even attempt another mouthful” is the word coming from NBC regarding it’s decision to end the not-for-the-squeamish thriller series Hannibal. The Silence of the Lambs prequel series created by Bryan Fuller will see out it’s 13 episode third season on NBC, Thursday nights at 10pm.
“NBC has allowed us to craft a television series that no other broadcast network would have dared, and kept us on the air for three seasons despite Cancellation Bear Chow ratings and images that would have shredded the eyeballs of lesser Standards & Practices enforcers,” Fuller said in a statement. “[NBC Entertainment exec] Jen Salke and her team have been fantastic partners and creatively supportive beyond measure.Hannibal is finishing his last course at NBC’s table this summer, but a hungry cannibal can always dine again. And personally, I look forward to my next meal with NBC.”
Talk of so-so ratings and a possibility of a licencing clash over the character of Clarice Sterling (portrayed by Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs) that Fuller wanted to bring into season 4 are currently being thrown around for the cancellation.
It’s a possibility however that not everyone has had their fill. The De Laurentiis Company, which produces Hannibal, tweeted that the company is “exploring other options for future seasons,” adding “others have expressed interest in partnering with us.”
Second, we are exploring other options for future seasons. #Hannibal
The Mindy Project has been cancelled by FOX but might find a new life on Hulu
I HATE this time of year. Hate it. It’s here when the networks in America announce their cancellations and show renewals and without failure, there’s always a handful of shows that i’m loving that don’t get to see another season but among the chaos is a shining light when something you imagined would be gone for good miraculously returns.
So what’s coming back and what’s not?
Renewed:
2 Broke Girls (CBS): Season 5
The 100 (CW): Season 3
The Affair (Showtime): Season 2
Agent Carter (ABC): Season 2
American Horror Story (FX): Season 5
Archer (FX): Season 7
The Americans (FX): Season 4
Arrow (CW): Season 4
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.(ABC): Season 3
Better Call Saul (AMC): Season 2
The Big Bang Theory (CBS): Seasons 9 and 10
black-ish (ABC): Season 2
The Blacklist (NBC): Season 3
Bones (Fox): Season 11
Castle (ABC): Season 8
Chicago Fire (NBC): Season 4
Chicago PD (NBC): Season 3
Daredevil (Netflix): Season 2
Devious Maids (Lifetime): Season 3
The Flash (CW): Season 2
Fresh Off the Boat (ABC): Season 2
Game of Thrones (HBO): Season 6
Girls (HBO): Season 5
The Goldbergs (ABC): Season 3
Gotham (Fox): Season 2
Graceland (USA): Season 3
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC): Season 12
Grimm (NBC): Season 5
Homeland (Showtime): Season 5
House of Cards (Netflix): Season 4
House of Lies (Showtime): Season 5
How to Get Away with Murder (ABC): Season 2
Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central): Season 4
Jane the Virgin (CW): Season2
The Last Ship (TNT): Season 2
Law & Order SVU (NBC): Season 17
Madam Secretary (CBS): Season 2
Masters of Sex (Showtime): Season 3
Mike and Molly (CBS): Season 6
Modern Family (ABC): Season 7
Nashville (ABC): Season 4
New Girl (Fox): Season 5
Once Upon a Time (ABC): Season 5
Orphan Black (BBC America): Season 4
Playing House (USA): Season 2
Ray Donovan (Showtime): Season 3
Rizzoli & Isles (TNT): Season 6
Scandal (ABC): Season 5
Scorpion (CBS): Season 2
Secrets & Lies (ABC): Season 2
Supernatural (CW): fr Season 11
Teen Wolf (MTV): Season 5
Transparent (Amazon Prime): Season 2
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix): Season 2
The Vampire Diaries (CW): Season 7
Veep (HBO): Season 5
Vikings (History): Season 4
The Walking Dead (AMC): Season 6
Cancelled:
Witches of East End (Lifetime):
State of Affairs (NBC):
Stalker(CBS):
Selfie (ABC):
Resurrection (ABC):
Revenge (ABC):
The Mindy Project(Fox): Cancelled (though Hulu may pick it up)
The Messengers (CW):
Legit (FX):
Hart of Dixie (CW):
The McCarthy’s (CBS):
Helix (Syfy):
Gracepoint (Fox):
Forever (ABC):
The Following (FOX):
Cristela (ABC):
Constantine (NBC): may find new life elsewhere
The Bridge (FX):
Bad Judge (NBC):
What will I miss? Of all the shows to be cancelled, Stalker is the one that hit me hard. We loved that show in this household and that season 1 cliff-hanger…shame we’ll never know what happened! Same with The Following. It’s a frustrating show to watch, but enjoyable nonetheless.
What are you sad to see go, what are you glad to see stick around? Sound off in the comments below!
After getting quite deep into the problems that surrounded Looking’s first season (here and here) I wanted to give the second season a full run before sitting down and sharing my thoughts. Did it step up from season one? Did it become more enjoyable and less painful to watch?
Well, I can say that Looking, for it’s second season, took a massive-gigantic-much wanted step forward into becoming a show that focused more on multiple episode story arcs and about creating conflict and drama and less about the slow-moody snails pace it aimed for in it’s first outing.
Story lines of death, HIV, cheating, drugs, downward spirals, the demise of relationships, professional uncertainty…these elements all gave the show and each character a much needed breath of life and sense of purpose that was visibly lacking in the first season.
The central story line of Patrick (Jonathan Groff) and his on again-off again relationship with Kevin (Russell Tovey) was played out with much more intention and realness. We were torn watching Kevin cheat on his boyfriend but felt like he and Patrick were a perfect fit but also thought Patrick deserved the punishment of not receiving Kevin’s full attention for how he treated the lovable Richie (Raul Catillo). The relationship that moved from secret hook-ups to full blown romance made for an intense and well constructed finale that, i’m pretty sure, saw us all side with Patrick after discovering Kevin was still active on gay hookup app Grindr.
It was such powerful moments as that fight/discussion between the two that shows how much more the show was bringing this season and this wasn’t just restricted to the Kevin/Patrick/Richie triangle.
The budding (and somewhat unlikely) relationship between the emotionally/professionally damaged Agustin (Frankie J Alvarez) and HIV positive Eddie (Daniel Franzese) and the distancing of best friends Dom (Murray Bartlett) and Doris (Lauren Weedman) trying to identify where they are in their lives together created equal amounts of compelling stories.
Looking back at Looking, season two offered up more memorable episodes and moments than the first. Patrick and Dom joining Doris at her fathers funeral, Dom and Agustin rescuing a heavily intoxicated Patrick from making the worlds worst jealousy fueled Halloween party speech, Kevin showing up at Patrick’s door step and telling him he’s left John….it’s situations like this I’m actually saddened to hear that HBO have pulled the plug on a third season.
Looking (while low rating) has a dedicated fan-base that for season one hated or viciously defended and for season two, joined together to equally love and while there is some comfort in knowing HBO plan on giving fans a special Looking finale, the fact that I can sit here and say “you know what, Looking is pretty fucking amazing” after roasting it so badly can only show that cancelling the show is a move not widely supported.
Can Patrick trust Kevin? Will Dom’s chicken window be a success? Will Agustin and Eddie’s new relationship survive? Will Doris and Dom be able to sustain their newly defined life-long friendship? Will Richie be happy? There’s too much left hanging that I fear a final special won’t be able to cover and so in closing I feel like all I can say is – – –
Jenna Dewan Tatum in Witches of East End. Photo by James Dittiger Copyright 2014
We’ve all been there and we’ve all suffered the loss of a beloved television show, cancelled before it’s time. More times that not, campaigns to save our shows fall on deaf ears and other times, it feels as though the gods have heard us and our cries have been heard.
Right now, Lifetime’s The Witches of East End has fans crying out, wanting to be heard after the network announced they were cancelling the bewitching show.
Writer Fiona Bentfield, who recently wrote about her love of The Witches of East End is back and writing about why this show should be renewed.
When news broke at the beginning of November that Lifetime had cancelled Witches of East End, I was crushed. I love this show. I’ve written about why I love this show as much as I do.And I’ll repeat myself and say, yet again, Witches of East End is a basic-cable show where the action is entirely led by four women who don’t bicker but support each other, who all have flaws which enrich their fictional characters. This is why this show matters. This is why this show should be central to Lifetime Television’s brand identity.This is why this show deserves a further season. There are so many more positive, female-driven stories left to tell, so much more bad CGI to put into the frame. Witches of East End manages to be simultaneously positive, bleak, eloquent and camp. It has all the potential to become a cult show, the one people binge-watch while down a Netflix rabbit hole on a rainy Sunday, the one somebody gives to a friend and says, “Watch this. It always makes me feel better.”
There are equally many reasons why I want to see Mädchen Amick, Julia Ormond, Rachel Boston and Jenna Dewan Tatum back on my TV come next year. These four together, when the family unites, they are my jam. The scenes between Joanna and Wendy are perfection.
I want the #RenewWitchesofEastEnd campaign to succeed, not purely so we can all enjoy further episodes of our beloved TV series and that it at least receives the ending it deserves, but because there is something utterly remarkable about so many strangers rallying behind this little show. At present count, over 80,000 people from around the world have put their name on a petition saying that it deserves a second chance. But then, perhaps, it shouldn’t be all that surprising. Witches of East End is about four women who have each other’s backs no matter what, after all…
So, dear WitchEEs, as you continue to make me proud to say I am a fan of this trashy little show about witches… “May you be protected on your journey and find the one you seek.”
This essay was written by 'Fiona Bentfield' and originally posted at Another Electric Picture Hall. Original post can be found here. Many thanks to Fiona for allowing me to re-post.
Having not been attracted to watching Two and Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, Mom, How I Met Your Mother or any other filmed-in-front-of-a-live-audience comedy (nothing since Friends and Will & Grace has taken my fancy), I was somewhat cautious about checking out Friends With Better Lives (or FWBL).
Funnily enough, the show, starring James Van Der Beek (fresh of a stellar turn in Don’t Trust The Bitch in Apartment 23) was funny, entertaining and highly engaging. Sure the humor was somewhat crude – but not to the level of 2 Broke Girls, but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the first three episodes I watched and naturally assumed if people are watching the horribly unfunny Mom (sadly starring the talented Anna Faris) then people were watching FWBL.
Guess I was wrong, so needless to say, when CBS threw out their list of cancellations, I was shocked to see FWBL sitting on that list.
Another notable entry on their cancelled shows list was the Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Geller comedy The Crazy Ones. Now, this show was the highest rated comedy debut of the 2012/2013 season in the US (15+ million viewers) but upon airing it’s season finale, only 5 million viewers were tuning in.
Also cancelled: Toni Collette drama Hostages, Kristin Davis comedy Bad Teacher (only after 4 episodes!) and the awful Intelligence starring LOST expat Josh Holloway and CSI Maven Marg Helgenberger.
The much hyped How I Met Your Mother spin-off How I Met Your Dad was also a no show on the list of pick-ups.
So what did CBS pick-up to series order? Battle Creek by Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad) and starring Josh Duhamel, The Tea’ Leoni led drama Madam Secretary plus another new CSI spin-off, CSI: New Orleans starring Scott Bakula.
In the way of comedy, Matthew Perry will be given another shot at a new series with The Odd Couple with Lindsay Sloane while New Kids on the Block singer Joe McIntyre plus ex Roseanne star Laurie Metcalf are headlining The McCarthys.
And finally, The Mentalist fans will be happy to hear the drama was given a last minute series renewal, though i’d expect this one to be it’s last.
What are your thoughts on the axings, cancellations and pick-ups?
It’s time of the year where I moan and groan about losing some of my ‘must watch’ shows while being thankful others on the list live to see another season.
Yes, the US Upfronts are here and already, I’ve suffered one serious tragedy. ABC held their Upfronts yesterday and one notable standout on the cancelled list was freshman comedy Trophy Wife starring Malin Ackerman and Bradley Whitford.
Trophy Wife, like Cougar Town, suffered from ‘bad title’ syndrome which is great show, very funny, bad title and just like Cougar Town, ABC swept the comedy into the trash (perhaps TBS should pick this one up too?)
While ABC won’t officially unveil their new fall season until the 13th, what can we expect from the network with their pick-ups, renewals and cancellations so far?
Cancelled – Trophy Wife (noooooo!), Mixology, Super Fun Night, Suburgatory and The Neighbors.
Renewed – Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Revenge, Once Upon a Time, Castle, Marvel Agents of SHIELD, Modern Family, The Goldbergs and Resurrection.
New Pick-Ups –
How to get away with murder – New drama by Shonda Rhimes
American Crime – Starring Penelope Ann Miller and Felicity Huffman
Agent Carter – Captain America TV spin-off starring Hayley Atwell
The Whispers – Paranormal thriller starring Lily Rabe
Secrets and Lies – US remake of the Aussie drama starring Ryan Phillippe.
It was supposed to be the next big show for ABC Family. On paper, it should have been. A spin-off from the networks biggest show Pretty Little Liars with the added bonus of lead Caleb Rivers (Tyler Blackburn – a PLL favourite) moving from Rosewood to Ravenswood to investigate a mysterious curse that prey’s on the towns teenagers and created by Marlene King…it should have worked but ABC Family announced that after just one season, Ravenswood will not return.
Launched in October last year following the annual PLL Halloween episode, Ravenswood failed to capitalize on the dedicated fanbase and online social presence PLL has a stronghold on. Most fans seem unable to connect with the show and felt the spin-off had nothing to do with PLL and was in a completely different genre.
The fictional town of Ravenswood featured in the first half of season four of Pretty Little Liars and saw a regular cross-over of main and supporting characters making appearances in the town, but the addition of supernatural elements in the show [Ravenswood] made Ravenswood seem like a complete 360 on what many were expecting the spin-off to be.
No word on what this means for Tyler Blackburn and a return to the hit teen drama, though I’m assuming fans will be begging PLL creator Marlene King to bring him back to Rosewood and reunite him with his on screen girlfriend Hanna Marin (Ashley Benson)
Ravenswood’s Feb 4th episode also acted as the season closer and series finale.
ThePopHub.com 
You must be logged in to post a comment.