Fox Cancels Original Comedy That Deserves Another Season
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox has canceled Welcome to Flatch after two seasons. Based on the BBC series This Country, Welcome to Flatch is a mockumentary comedy developed for the United States by Jenny Bicks. Paul Feig, who created Freaks and Geeks and also directed several episodes of The Office and Arrested Development, was an executive producer on the series. In a statement about the cancellation, Fox noted that it was low ratings that caused the cancellation, saying they were “thrilled” with the creative work of both Bicks and Feig, also drawing attention to the dedication of the cast and crew of the series.
Welcome to Flatch was one of the most unique sitcoms airing today, but it never brought in a large enough audience for Fox.
While Welcome to Flatch did not meet expectations for audience engagement, Fox still made clear in the statement that they are looking forward to collaborating with Bicks and Feig in the future. The statement also expresses the network’s gratitude toward Charlie Cooper and Daisy May Cooper (who created and wrote the British version), Lionsgate, Angie Stephenson of the BBC, and Bicks and Feig’s production companies, Perkins Street Productions and Feigco Entertainment, respectively. In both seasons, the series came in at the bottom of Fox’s ratings, averaging 1.24 million viewers and, excluding streaming, holding a 0.28 rating among adults 18-49 after seven days of delayed viewing.
Welcome to Flatch focuses primarily on two cousins living in the titular Ohio town, played by Sam Straley and Holmes, as it explores the lives of the small town’s quirky residents. Other cast members include Taylor Ortega, Justin Linville, Krystal Smith, Seann William Scott, and Jaime Pressly.
The BBC’s Angie Stephenson served as an executive producer on Welcome to Flatch, along with Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper. The series was produced by Fox Entertainment, Lionsgate Television, and BBC Studios Los Angeles. Similar mockumentary series like The Office and Parks and Recreation have been perennially popular even after their cancellations, leaving some hope that fans of this format will still be able to discover and enjoy this series.
Welcome to Flatch focuses primarily on two cousins living in the titular Ohio town, played by Sam Straley and Holmes, as it explores the lives of the small town’s quirky residents.
Welcome to Flatch ended its second season in February of this year, its cancellation being the second time unfortunate circumstances befell the production. Filming for the pilot episode began in March 2020 and lasted only a week before COVID shut down the production. Still, the shots that were completed in that time were able to be cobbled together into a sampling that impressed Fox enough for the network to greenlight the series.
Though production of Welcome to Flatch will not be returning to Burgaw, North Carolina, the town that stood in for Flatch, one never knows if the series might find another home sometime in the future.
That December, Welcome to Flatch began production on its first season. The season premiered on Fox two years after production began on the pilot, in March 2022, with the second season following in September 2022. Altogether, the two seasons are composed of 27 episodes, which might have been the episode order for a single season in previous times.
Though production of Welcome to Flatch will not be returning to Burgaw, North Carolina, the town that stood in for Flatch, one never knows if the series might find another home sometime in the future. No DVD or Blu-ray has yet to be released of the series, but both seasons can be streamed on Amazon Prime, and the series can also be found on iTunes and Vudu.
