Oh no! Say it ain’t so…
FOX just announced that it is dumping my favorite show, “Back to You.”
For those of you who never found the time to enjoy the short-lived comedy starring my favorite sitcom star Kelsey Grammer (who was teamed up Patricia Heaton) you will now never get the chance to do so.
The shocking news (Grammer told reporters the decision to cancel the show was a “surprise and a shame”) came just days after network execs told the cast and crew that the show was indeed coming back for another season in the fall.
In fact, just last Friday, Grammer taped an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show promoting the series. Yesterday the former “Cheers” star says he when arrived home later that evening he received a call telling him that the show had been canceled.
“Back to You,” followed the lives of Grammer and Heaton as news anchors at a Pittsburgh TV station. According to FOX, the show had a strong debut last fall with nearly 9.5 million viewers. But following the 100-day writers strike viewership had slipped, with last week’s episode drawing just under 7 million viewers.
Grammer, who calls the show “excellent,” is not taking the bad news lying down. Rather he and his wife, Camille started an online petition campaign to save the show. The former “Frasier” star says he also sent e-mails to friends inviting them to jump aboard. Grammer said he’s “nursing a tiny hope” that CBS might pick up the show after talking with CBS CEO Leslie Moonves.
“I spoke with Les the other day and he was not completely discouraging,” Grammer revealed to reporters.
There were rumors that the cost of having two high-profile TV stars in Grammer and Heaton (who previously starred on “Everybody Loves Raymond”) was too costly for the network. However, Grammer maintains money was never an issue. Plus he adds, “There are ways around that. They just really didn’t want it.”
Too bad… because I did.