It’s May, which means that along with Justin Timberlake memes we’re getting plenty of network cancellations. This year, even shows with big ticket names are saying sayonara, as Pauley Perrette’s Broke and Matt LeBlanc’s Man with a Plan were both canceled. Perrette has spoken out about CBS’ decision to make Broke a “limited series” as well as is doing a good job of supporting the series as it wraps its run.
In fact, Pauley Perrette called the most recent episode of Broke “Losing My Religion” “the most important half hour of of television I’ve ever done,” before launching into a post about how the new comedy really revitalized her love for the acting business after her tough exit from NCIS. According to the actress:
About the “limited series” Broke. Many new episodes are airing. This show restored my faith in people, in this industry. SO GRATEFUL I worked with this cast & crew. Best people I’ve EVER worked with. Healed me. Changed me. Made me whole. So Blessed.
Meanwhile, Pauley Perrette is still being supportive of Broke. Along with the full video message on her Twitter, the actress shared a recent social distancing post of herself and her co-star as the show continues to surge forward.
In fact, there are several episodes of Broke left to air on CBS. When shows get cancelled, there’s a tendency for viewers to fall off or at least clear their DVRs, and obviously Pauley Perrette is hoping that doesn’t happen. She really seems to believe in the show and some of the episodes coming up.
Sometimes with comedies it takes a while before a show really finds its footing or the comedic characters really evolve into the people they are meant to be. Unfortunately for Broke, CBS opted to axe the series when it was just a few episodes into its run.
The show’s ratings weren’t horrible or anything, but its 18-49 demographic numbers were pretty low, indicating not a ton of young people were watching Pauley Perrette’s big comeback on the big screen. It’s also worth pointing out the show dropped over 25% in total viewers week to week between Episode 1 and Episode 2, which is probably not a great look in a time when most shows are seeing an uptick in viewers due to global events. (Although a drop in viewers after a premiere is a fairly normal occurrence.)
At the end of the day, Pauley Perrette stands by her series. It, in fact, took a little time for the actress to choose her NCIS follow-up and when she did, she chose to jump into comedy rather than a drama, which might have been expected from her fanbase. She previously explained, however, that comedy was generally a good fit for her and NCIS was actually the outlier on her resume.
There was a lot of opportunity with Broke to sort of tie in with NCIS through bringing on guest stars and more, but now the series won’t get the chance. Luckily, Pauley Perrette is still a popular actress and will hopefully land somewhere new soon.
Of course, we’ll continue to keep you updated as shows get renewed and cancelled in the coming weeks.
