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‘The Mayor’ canceled at ABC as a bad timeslot claims another victim

Sat Jan 06, 2018 12:50 pm

“The Mayor’s” term on ABC is turning out to be a short one

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The network has canceled the first-year comedy, pulling it from the schedule a few days ahead of its scheduled return on Jan. 9.

The future for the show wasn’t overly bright even before ABC pulled it late Thursday. It wasn’t extended beyond its initial 13-episode order, although the network did ask for a few backup scripts. Ratings for the show were modest, even with delayed viewing.

“The Mayor” also resided in what has become ABC’s weakest comedy timeslot in the past couple seasons — 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Since the network launched a four-comedy block on Tuesday in fall 2016, it has cycled through three shows (“The Real O’Neals” and “Imaginary Mary” last season, “The Mayor” this season) in the half-hour, none of which have survived.

Repeats of “Modern Family” will air in “The Mayor’s” place for the time being. ABC has two new comedies, “Alex, Inc.” and “Splitting Up Together,” on tap for later in the season; one of them is likely to get the 9:30 Tuesday berth come spring. (The “Roseanne” revival is set for the Tuesday leadoff spot starting in late March.)

ABC Studios produces “The Mayor,” which stars Brandon Micheal Hall as a rapper who runs for mayor of his hometown and unexpectedly wins. The cast also includes Lea Michele, Yvette Nicole Brown, Bernard David Jones and Marcel Spears. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the studio will try to find a new home for the show, which earned mostly positive reviews but never quite caught on with audiences.

The show averaged a 0.8 rating among adults 18-49 and a 2.94 million viewers in initial airings. With a week of delayed viewing, it rose to 1.2 and 3.88 million viewers.
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