ABC Cancels “Selfie”
The ABC Network announced the cancellation of two sitcoms “Manhattan Love” and “Selfie”. Both shows failed to generate acceptable ratings in the crucial 18-49 demographic scoring the same 0.9 rating. However, in the case of “Manhattan Love”, the network yanked the show right off the air. Apparently, “Selfie” has a sufficient ratings draw to allow it to stay on for the time being. The network ordered an initial 13 episodes of the series starring Karen Gillan as a self-absorbed woman whose life is built in the controlled environment of Instagram selfies. She begins to discover real love as the unintended consequence of trying to learn how to forge true friendships from a marketing guru played by John Cho.
However, the initial order constitutes only a half-season and the network decided against a subsequent order. This is effectively cancels the show. The plans are to run episodes 7 through 9 this month. It isn’t clear if all of the remaining seven episodes will get aired at this time. Both shows lacked big name star power which made their success in the Tuesday night 8:00PM hour an uphill battle. That said, sitcoms have not fared well this ratings season. The only new comedy that ABC has enjoyed a moderate level of success with is “Black-ish”. It isn’t only ABC struggling to find success with sitcoms. NBC has canceled two of its new sitcom launches “A to Z” and “Bad Judge” with the latter getting terrible reviews. Interestingly, all four sitcoms that failed were also romantic comedies. The lone survivor in the romantic comedy is “Marry Me” which was partially extended this season with an order of five episodes.
ABC also announced that it will be renewing the series “Forever” starring Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd for a second season. The show is essentially a mix of “Bones” and “Castle” and has proved to be a ratings winner.
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‘Selfie’ Cancelled By ABC
