While there have been some pretty decent series in the network’s past, TBS is not a place that is widely known for putting together the most critically lauded programming. And lo, another one of its original series has been put to pasture, as TBS has canceled the freshman comedy Clipped, ensuring that no one will get to see a Season 2. Let us all pour a little bit of water out of the spray bottle in mourning.
Throughout the ten-episode Season 1, Clipped was a modest success, debuting in June to around 1.4 million viewers. By the time the hair and dust settled on its August finale, 1.25 million people had tuned in, with ratings not dipping too far below that in the episodes between the two. Few shows can boast audience numbers as dependable as that, but it looks like it just wasn’t enough to convince the powers-that-be that Clipped was worth hanging on to.
It sounds like those same powers were the real reason behind the show reaching its end already. It was developed and picked up to series back in May of 2014, which was before the network was taken over by Kevin Reilly. According to THR, Reilly isn’t as interested in putting out the kind of universally watchable shows that TBS is known for and wants to take things in an edgier direction similar to where other cable channels like FX and AMC have gone. Can you imagine seeing Sons of Anarchy or Breaking Bad on the Turner-owned station? Me either, but I’m willing to suspend disbelief to see what they’ll bring out in the next few years.
Clipped’s sorta-ridiculous premise was centered in the Massachusetts barbershop Buzzy’s, where the unpopular former high school student Ben (Ryan Pinkston) is the new owner and is now the boss of a group of kids that were a lot more prominent them him in years previous, including characters played by Ashley Tisdale and Mike Castle. The show also starred Cheers vet George Wendt, comedian Lauren Lapkus, Matt Cook, Diona Reasonover and Family Matters’ Reginald VelJohnson.
This definitely isn’t the first cancelation that TBS has announced this year. King of the Nerds came to an end after three seasons, Your Family or Mine was ended after one, and Ground Floor got axed after two seasons. Cougar Town also ended, but Season 6 was already planned to be its final one when it was ordered.
TBS remains faithful to former Fox animated comedy American Dad and the talk show Conan, with upcoming projects like the Rashida Jones-starring cop comedy Angie Tribeca, the deserted island comedy Wrecked and the Jason Jones/Samantha Bee comedy The Detour.
