It’s that time of the year again for TV fans, during which they await news regarding the futures of their favorite shows. The current television season is coming to a close, which means networks are finalizing plans for the upcoming season. The 2021-2022 TV season is already taking shape and, as a result, there have already been more than a few notable casualties. ABC, in particular, has had to make some tough decisions, and it’s now been confirmed that the alphabet network has given the axe to five shows, including Katey Sagal's.
ABC’s cancellations featured an interesting assortment of shows, including a veteran series and even a few freshman programs. The two shows that fall under the latter category are Katey Sagal’s new drama Rebel (which only premiered last month) and the Kyra Sedgewick-headlined sitcom Call Your Mother, per TVLine.
The network also said goodbye to sophomore shows, mixed·ish -- a spinoff of Keyna Barris’ black-ish -- as well as legal drama For Life. But what may be most surprising is that veteran family comedy American Housewife was also cancelled after five seasons on the air. It goes without saying that viewers are sure to take a number of these cancellations hard.
Conversely, there are a number of fan-favorite shows that will continue on ABC for the upcoming TV season. This includes The Rookie, The Conners, Home Economics, A Million Little Things and The Goldbergs. Veteran series black•ish will also return for an eighth and final season, and creator Kenya Barris is already teasing a worthy send-off season for the show.
The 2020-2021 television season, which still felt the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, marked the end for a number of fan-favorite shows. One of the biggest shockers was arguably CBS’ Mom, which was headlined by both Allison Janney and Anna Faris before the latter’s departure ahead of the eighth and final season. The news likely came as a shock to fans, and even Janney has shared a few thoughts on the possible reasons for the cancellation.
CBS also said goodbye to veteran drama MacGyver after six seasons. That development seemed to have come as a surprise to the creatives, as the showrunner recently revealed that they had plans for the future.
And like network television, the streaming world has experienced a number of recent cancellations. Netflix recently dropped the axe hard by cancelling three shows in a single week. The unfortunate series on the other end of this decision were The Irregulars, The Last Kingdom and The Duchess.
This time is rarely easy for fans, and this year has definitely been filled with some surprising and heartbreaking TV losses. Still, fans can find optimism in any other continuing shows that they love or in the fact that they can look forward to new series on ABC, CBS and other networks this coming fall.
