ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee had plenty of forward-looking news to discuss with reporters as he announced the network’s 2013-2014 schedule, but he still had to answer for a couple of the network’s high profile cancellations.
For vocal online audiences, the spring cancellation that hurt the most may have been ABC’s “Happy Endings,” which didn’t had the numbers to justify renewal, but certainly had the fan dedication.
Lee, a self-professed fan of “Happy Endings,” was asked if the comedy just wasn’t on-brand for ABC, while at the same time the network is adding the Ryan Seacrest-produced “Mixology” and the Rebel Wilson-centric “Super Fun Night,” which feel like they might have been logical
“I do think ‘Happy Endings’ is absolutely on-brand. What we found is that it was just too narrow. It was a very hard decision because, as you know, I know that show and I found it hard to make the decision. By the same token, I think ‘Mixology’ and ‘Super Fun Night’ are much broader shows and will be able to bring in wider audiences. Hard decision, not happy at all to see it go, but we absolutely feel that it was on brand and so are Rebel and so, definitely, is ‘Mixology.'”
Internet comment sections may not have been as outraged by the cancellation of “Body of Proof,” but when it comes to numbers, the Dana Delany procedural had a far better case for renewal than “Happy Endings.” Lee explained the simple rationale for that cancellation and also expressed enthusiasm that the in-house production might still find a cable home.
“We had just a very, very strong [sping] in terms of development. That being said, I also run ABC Studios. I would love to see ‘Body of Proof’ find a good home for itself. I think it’s a great show and I’m a huge fan of Dana Delany.”