Cancellation Season is Upon Us: ABC Cancels 10 Series, Moves 1

With pilot season upon us, it’s time for networks to announce which shows have been renewed for another season, which have been canceled, and which pilots have been ordered to series. Not the biggest bloodbath among the broadcast networks, ABC has announced a handful of cancellations so far:

Queens – Starring Eve, Naturi Naughton, Nadine Velazquez and Brandy, Queens followed Brianna, Naomi, Jill, and Valeria, who formed the popular rap and hip-hop group in the 1990s called “Nasty Bitches.” After the group falls apart the women go their separate ways, only to reunite twenty years later. Now in their forties, the women rename themselves “Queens” and set out to not just recapture their former fame but to reshape the music industry. If only they can get passed the issues that led them to breaking up in the first place. The show was canceled after one season.

Promised Land – The series spans two generations as it follows the trials and tribulations of running and working on a vineyard in Sonoma County, California. The show follows two timelines, the first of which follows Joe (formerly Carlos), Matteo, and Letties, three undocumented Mexican immigrants who work on the farm in the 1980s and form an unlikely friendship with the vineyard’s owner, Margaret. The second timeline takes place in present day and follows Joe and his children from two marriages as they run the vineyard. This series lasted one season.

Card Sharks -This Joel McHale-hosted remake of a ’70s/’80s game show premiered in 2019. The show had players answer questions to control a board of playing cards and guess if the next card is higher or lower. Card Sharks aired two seasons.

The Celebrity Dating Game – Zooey Deschanel and Michael Bolton hosted this dating show that paired up single celebrities with civilians. It was canceled after one season.

For Life – Inspired by the life of Isaac Wright Jr., Aaron Wallace, has been sentenced to life in prison for a crime he did not commit. He becomes a lawyer and litigates cases for his fellow inmates while fighting to overturn his own life sentence. For Life was canceled after two seasons.

Match Game – Alec Baldwin hosted this remake of the 1970s game show featuring a rotating panel of celebrities. Contestants were asked to fill in the blank in a sentence, trying to match the answers of the celebrity panel. The series debuted in 2016 and ran for five seasons.

The Hustler – Five contestants answer trivia questions to earn cash prize. One contestant has secretly been given all the answers. This series, hosted by Craig Ferguson, ran for two seasons.

The Ultimate Surfer – A group of up-and-coming surfers vie for the opportunity to compete on the World Surf League (WSL) World Tour. The Ultimate Surfer was canceled after one season.

Pooch Perfect – Hosted by Rebel Wilson, with Lisa Vanderpump, Jorge Bendersky and Callie Harris as judges, Pooch Perfect is a competition show where ten professional dog stylists compete in themed challenges to transform beloved pets. The series was canceled after its freshman season.

black-ish – Unlike the other cancellations on this list, black-ish announced that the eighth season would be its last well in advance. Black-ish follows Andre “Dre” Johnson (Anthony Anderson) and his family who live in a big home a nice neighborhood. His wife Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross) is a doctor and his kids attend a predominantly white school. Despite his many successes, Dre begins to wonder if his family is connected enough to their history and culture and sets out to develop his family’s ethnic identity. The series spawned two spin-offs, Mixed-ish, following Rainbow’s mixed family when she was a child, and Grown-ish, following Zoe, Dre’s oldest child as she begins college.

While not a cancellation, another loss for the broadcast channel is Dancing with the Stars, which will move to Disney+ for its next season.

The Biggest Loss: Queens. Queens had a terrific cast and excellent music. The show was somewhat hampered by the disappearance of Brianna, played by Eve, while the actress was on maternity leave. Although an explanation was given for Brianna’s absence, it still felt noticeable and at times illogical that she wasn’t there. The characters had only just figured out that they wanted to do more with their music than simply be famous and it is a shame we will never get to see the changes they would have forced on the music industry by sheer force of will.

Find what other shows have been canceled:

The CW Cancellations | CBS Cancellations |Fox Cancellations| NBC Cancellations

Photo: The Cast of Black-ish. Courtesy of Fox.