A move to Fridays is rarely a good sign for a TV show, which was the case for Raising Hope last fall. So while it's certainly disappointing news that the series has been cancelled by Fox, it's not entirely surprising, all things considered. Still, we're going to miss the Chance family!
Deadline reported the news, stating that the current fourth season of Raising Hope will be its last, and the series will wrap-up with an hour-long farewell on Friday, April 4.
The premise of Greg Garcia's series centers on a twenty-something guy whose one-night-stand with a serial killer results in the birth of a daughter named Hope, whom Jimmy ends up raising. But the bigger picture is the series' emphasis on the Chances, a blue-collar family living a simple life and doing what they can to raise Hope right. In addition to Lucas Neff, who plays Jimmy, the cast includes Martha Plimpton, Garret Dillahunt, Shannon Woodward and Cloris Leachman. Of all the characters, i was always a fan of Plimpton and Dillahunt's Virginia and Burt, as their history and the evident love they have for one another often yielded some of the funniest bits on the series.
I always considered Raising Hope to be one of the more under-appreciated family comedies on TV, with a truly great ensemble cast and episode arcs that often found the charm and humor in working-class life. The series did well enough in its first season but then dipped substantially during Season 2 and continued to slide. Being shifted away from Tuesday nights as Fox turned from family comedy to more friends-focused fare didn't help. The show was moved to Thursdays in Season 3 and then to Friday for the current season, by which point -- as Deadline notes -- creator Greg Garcia left the show. With about a month left for the series' run, it'll be interesting to see how the comedy wraps up. On one hand, I wouldn't mind it if the Chance Family won the lotto or something, but on the other hand, I think they'll be just find as they are now, if that's how the series leaves off. Perhaps with a new little Chance joining the family...
Meanwhile, we're left to wonder the fate of some of FOX's other comedies. Fox just gave early renewals to New Girl, The Following, The Mindy Project and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but there's no word yet on the fate of Dads and Enlisted. If I had to choose between the two, I hope Enlisted makes the cut, and is preferably moved to a better timeslot, especially now that Raising Hope is going off the air, but we'll have to wait and see.
