Though it seemed like there was little chance that freshman sitcom Brothers would be renewed, but FOX has now made it official. The show has been cancelled.
Brothers centers around a former NFL superstar (Michael Strahan) who loses his financial security and heads back to his old hometown. He must make peace with his situation and work with his newly-paraplegic brother (Daryl Mitchell) who runs a struggling sports restaurant. The series also stars Carl Weathers, CCH Pounder, and Colton Dunn.
The sitcom debuted on Friday, September 25th, to a disappointing 2.82 million viewers and a tiny 1.0/4 rating/share in the 18-49 demographic. Viewership dropped even lower for later episodes so FOX started running repeats on Sunday night to try to build awareness.
It didn’t help. Eventually, FOX bumped original episodes of Brothers to Sunday nights as well. The final two episodes of the 13 episode season ran on December 27th.
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Since the network had opted not to order a full season, we suspected that the show had been essentially cancelled. FOX maintained that a decision hadn’t been reached.
Over the weekend, a reader tipped us off that the show was over (thanks, Bill) and now, the network has confirmed to us that Brothers will not be back for a second season.
For the few fans of the series, there is some good news. Beginning April 17th, repeats of the sitcom will air on Saturday nights, following The Wanda Sykes Show. That spot was previously held by another cancelled FOX sitcom, the animated Sit Down, Shut Up.
What do you think? Did you watch Brothers? Are you sorry to hear that there won’t be a second season?
Image courtesy FOX.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
PLEASE BRINGS “BROTHERS” BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GREAT SHOW, WRITERS, ACTING, ETC. Too many shows are on now that are simply crap, I watched all season 1 Brothers episodes and it is hands down one of THE best sitcoms I have seen in a while. Come on folks, lets support our people and GOOD comedy!!! Question: Why is Survivor still on TV?????
It’s really ashame that this show didn’t last. My husband has known Chill for many years and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him several times myself. When he told us that he first got the show I was really excited but when I found out that the time slot was Friday nights, I knew that it wouldn’t last. That is the worst night for new shows, they don’t stand a chance. We always made it a point to try to watch it but it was often interrupted by sports. I’m watching one of the repeats on Fox right now.
This show would’ve worked on any other network than Fox. Fox hasn’t had a sitcom that went the distance since ‘Married with Children’. Fox should never put on another sitcom for as long as it broadcasts. And no one should ever pitch another sitcom to Fox again.
I am sorry that this show was cancelled. I tivoed it so I could watch it because it seemed to change time slots a lot. I loved the chemistry between the characters and the writing was tight. I thought the show had a lot of potential.
Sometimes good shows just need time, but in today’s world that time just isn’t given. There seems to have to be a scandal associated with a show for it to succeed. How sad.
I remember MASH stunk for it’s first 2 seasons on CBS but they stuck with it and it became a TV icon. Wish this one was given a little more time and a better time slot. Fridays are the kiss of death for TV shows and that’s been known for 50 years.
What I’ve never understood is why a network wil put money into letting these shows get casted, filmed / taped and aired and then…show little enthusiasm for them?
WKRP In Cincinatti went through the same thing in 1978. CBS had no faith in it but it somehow managed to last 4 seasons.
I think today,the networks don’t do enough to try and make a show successful. “Two & 1/2 Men” has been on CBS since 2003 and why? Because the writing is good. Not exactly the deepest material out there but the show is funny and Sheen & Cryer have good comedy chemistry.
I felt that “Brothers” had this going for it also. I also thought it was the funniest neww show I’d seen in a very long time. If networks want to make sit-coms work,they need to make sure of these things :
1. A good and fresh as possible concept/storyline & A+ writing.
2.Good casting.
3.Good time slots for the show(s) that go with their target audience.
4. Plenty of time after production to make viewers aware of shows premeore and what day it can be seen. In other words,use the airtime you have as much as possible! People have 10 x more distractions than they used to,so FOX,CBS,ABC,NBC etc.
Try harder!
We already knew the little confidence that FOX had in this show by placing it on Friday night between two shows that were already waiting to die (Dollhouse and Til Death). Dollhouse definetely should have had a longer life (but thats another topic). What can you expect, no promotion, no marketing and horrible timeslot. Nobody knew this show was on and I tried to watch it when I could. It had potential but needed the correct timeslot and a better network.