ABC Cancels Spinoff After One Season And Kills Another Before It Even Starts
Now that the historical SAG-AFTRA strike has come to an end after almost four months, actors are dropping their picket signs and trading them in for scripts. Unfortunately, now is also the time that networks and studios will need to make major decisions about the fate of productions affected by the strike. According to Deadline, two ABC shows have officially been cut from the network’s docket as The Rookie: Feds and The Good Lawyer will no longer be moving forward.
The Rookie: Feds Won’t Return For A Second Season
The Rookie: Feds would have been heading into its second season at ABC before the plug was pulled on the Niecy Nash-Betts-led comedy drama. Despite closing out its first season with largely positive reviews, the series didn’t have the staying power to make it through the strike unscathed.
Niecy Nash-Betts Led The Rookie Spinoff
In ABC’s spin-off of The Rookie, Niecy Nash-Betts starred as Simone Clark, an up-and-coming FBI officer who was first introduced to audiences during the fourth season of the flagship series. During the episode, Simone is called into action to prove her salt to the FBI in helping to stop a terrorist attack in Los Angeles. Working alongside The Rookie’s leading character, John Nolan (Nathan Fillion), Simone puts an end to the attack and begins her work with the bureau as the oldest rookie on staff.
Along with Niecy Nash-Betts (Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story), the ABC procedural also starred Britt Robertson (The First Time), Kevin Zegers (Gossip Girl), Eric Winter (The Ugly Truth), Felix Solis (Ozark), Frankie Faison (The Wire), Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight), and James Lesure (Las Vegas).
The Good Doctor Spinoff Canceled Before It Airs
Another series over at ABC that received the short end of the stick was the network’s upcoming The Good Doctor spin-off, The Good Lawyer. Set to star Kennedy McMann (Nancy Drew) and Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives), the show was to center on a young lawyer with obsessive-compulsive disorder (Mcmann). First introduced to audiences in an episode of The Good Doctor that aired back in March, the spin-off was a hopeful one for the network as the flagship project will be heading into its seventh season.
High Potential Is ABC’s Only Pilot Series To Make It
As of the time of this article, the only pilot series to make it out of ABC’s cancellation reveals unscathed is the Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) led, High Potential. The comedy will center on a single mom (Olson) who has a gift for solving crimes. While the project was set for a premiere in the fall, it’s been pushed back to next year but is still counting its lucky stars to have not met the same fate as The Good Lawyer and The Rookie: Feds.
Studios Shuffle Priority Now The Hollywood Strikes Have Ended
With Hollywood now beginning to bounce back from the writers’ and actors’ strikes, ABC isn’t the only studio juggling cancellations and hiatuses. Much of the film industry is in the exact same spot as productions like Marvel’s Deadpool 3, Captain America 4, and Thunderbolts have also received new release dates far beyond their original windows. And, although actors, directors, and crew members are moving at lightning speed to pick up filming, we imagine that there will be plenty more delays where that came from.
