Launching a new series these days can be really tough. It either hits really big, or you’re out. FOX’s ‘Til Death got more chances than most but the axe has finally swung. The network confirmed today that it was indeed cancelling the show.
‘Til Death debuted on FOX back in 2006 with veteran sitcom stars Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond) and Joely Fisher (Ellen). They play Eddie and Joy, an “old married couple,” who have annoyingly optimistic newlywed neighbors, the Woodcocks (Eddie Kaye Thomas and Kat Foster).
Each subsequent season then seemed to change its focus. The second season brought in a new character, Kenny (J.B. Smoove), Eddie’s friend from the Big Brother program. The next season had Kenny moving in with Eddie and Joy. Season four brought their daughter (Lindsey Broad, then Kate Micucci) and her boyfriend/husband (Timm Sharp) as they moved into a trailer in Eddie and Joy’s backyard.
Truthfully, the series has never been a ratings hit, but FOX kept it because of the economy of putting it on the air. Sony Pictures TV gave the network a big break on the license fee so that the studio could keep producing episodes to build the syndication package.
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The show’s ratings have fallen so low recently that many have wondered how FOX could afford to keep it on the air, even with the deal from Sony. Garrett, with his typical deadpan delivery, told Zap2It, “The other night, we got a 0.9 … Once your mom stops watching, you’re a 0.4″ He told the network if they gave him another month, he could take it down to a zero. Not surprisingly, there was dead silence on the other end.
Garrett says the others that were involved in the show have already moved on to other projects, “After year two, when you’re getting beat by Telemundo, it’s time to go home. I mean, even the show my housekeeper watches was beating the show that was paying her salary. I’d come in the room, and she’d quickly turn off Telemundo.”
FOX has since officially confirmed that, after 80 installments, the sitcom has been cancelled. Episodes will continue to air as scheduled with the last installment running on May 9th. Because FOX has frequently used ‘Til Death as filler, 37 episodes will have aired this season by the time it’s over. Most of the installments are from this season while others are holdovers.
For Garrett, he’s not sure what’s next for him. He wouldn’t mind another series, but admits it could take him awhile to commit to one again. He says ‘Til Death was a learning experience, as the show ended up being very different than how it was originally been presented to him. He said, “What this last experience did was to make me more picky than ever.”
What do you think? Are you sorry to see that the show’s finally been cancelled? Do you think changing the focus and cast helped or hurt ‘Til Death? Which version is your favorite?
Image courtesy FOX.
More about:
'Til Death,
Ellen,
Everybody Loves Raymond
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Not enough people watched it, I thought it was really funny, but I know some people who never even heard of it. It needed more hype. I will miss it
I really liked the show too. Just not enough people watched it.
I thought it was one of the funniest shows going.
I wish I could join you all in the lovefest, but this show sucked ass. The main problem is that Brad Garrett is NOT a main actor. He’s a secondary actor. He is not funny as the main guy. He can’t hold it down, and that’s where the show was doomed to fail from the beginning.
This show just wasn’t every funny, and the public didn’t think so either. The ratings were never there. I’m surprised it lasted for 80+ episodes. That’s impressive for show so lame. Honestly though, I think like “How I Met Your Mother” are even worse, yet they somehow they’ve become so popular. Sometimes it’s just right place right time, because if that show had aired back in TV’s hayday, it would’ve never made it past pilot. The acting is poor and the jokes are lame. It seems like all sitcoms are mostly like this, except for the Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men which are both really good shows, but would still be second bananas to sitcoms of the glory days.
It’s a shame how far TV has fallen. I barely watch TV anymore. The internet is so much more entertaining.
jim if u don’t care about til death, why are u spending your time commenting negatively on it?
i am such a fan of brad garrett and think he is a true star and maybe the only reason this show didn’t take off is because people first got used to him as “robert” on everybody loves raymond, and then “eddie” is very different (negative about things, etc.) and maybe it alienated people (and also, this show, though i still love it, had raunchier humor than “raymond” viewers might care for, and also at times a kind of a sad point of view on marriage… it was just different and not everyone’s cup of tea.)
…i hope that brad (and joely fisher as well) go on to star as leads again in great, funny new projects, i can’t wait to get to watch them on tv again and am so sad it won’t be together as eddie and joy, they were so fun together!
Another example of a network accidentally/on purpose killing a perfectly good series by moving the schedule around so much, that nobody can find it.
Personally, I enjoyed the Saturday 7PM time slot for this show, with Archer at 8.
That worked for me.
But the show needed a home day, and a home time.
Brad Garret has that comedic face and comedy timing that reminds me of Jacky Gleason. And I love that.
I think he has the horsepower to carry any show to legendary status if they set him up right and put it in a steady time slot…..any time time slot…..
AND KEEP IT THERE SO PEOPLE CAN FIND THE DAMN THING.
The quickest way to kill a show, any show, is to start jacking the time & day around until people give up and lose interest……and then announce “oh, it was down in the ratings”.
That’s bullshit, the show did not die because the show was bad, the show was not bad, the show was funny.
It died because it was poorly scheduled and poorly managed by the network. Plain and simple.
They handicapped that show by changing the day in the very first season, and then they just kept thrashing the schedule until it died of one thousand cuts.
It is very frustrating to try to tune in to a show that is supposed to be on Thursday night, only find out that the schedule changed and it’s now on Wednesday night, then it’s Tuesday night, then it’s Friday night, then it’s Saturday.
I missed a bunch of episodes because the network is too busy fagging up on the show sched. and then complaining that people are not watching.
This show premiered on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2006.
On March 14, 2007, they moved it to Wednesday.
That alone, is enough to cripple most new shows.
Then there was a 1 year gap from Wednesday, October 8, 2008,
to October 2, 2009 which is a Friday, so the day changed AGAIN.
Then they took a nine week break on Oct 23 and dumped 4 episodes on Christmas day.
Then they moved it to Sunday.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/‘Til_Death#Ratings
The ******** killed that show and they did it on purpose.
‘Til Death was refreshing and I enjoyed it on Sunday at 7:00pm. Television really sucks in general. So, when you add a new format of comedy, It’s hard to get in tune to the regular programing. Something has to improve with a variety of shows, the regular listing of shows are boring and predictable. Bring ‘Til Death back.
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