The Crazy Ones: David E. Kelley Left Broadcast TV Because of the CBS Comedy

David E. Kelley is the man behind a new drama on Amazon released on Friday, and he spoke about one of his last series, The Crazy Ones, and the impact its cancellation had on him.

David E. Kelley was the man behind The Crazy Ones. The comedy starred Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar. The series was cancelled by CBS after one season. According to Indiewire, Kelley revealed the following about the series and the impact it is having on his choices for the foreseeable future:

“If broadcast TV evolves and really cares about product than exalting ratings over product, I might. If they got rid of commercials, I might. It’s just hard to succeed with good, solid storytelling with six- and seven-minute acts. In current form, I don’t have much interest to return.”

Kelley also spoke about the series and the reasons behind its cancellation. He said the following:

“The show wasn’t very good,” Kelley admitted. “It started off with great ratings, but after watching three or four episodes, I thought the storytelling was pretty bad. I wasn’t a half-hour person, so I turned that over to half-hour people and was willing to step back.” I went to CBS and said to them, ‘This isn’t very good.’ The ratings were… their response was, basically, ‘We don’t care if it’s any good. The way people watch TV now, is they’ve got their computers open, they’re updating their Facebook status. They have their iPads. They’re doing an email. They’re looking up at the television. Robin Williams is funny. It’s very compatible, this show with the way people watch TV now.’”

It was that meeting that turned him off from bringing a new series to broadcast television. In addition to Goliath on Amazon, fans of Kelley’s will be able to see another series with his stamp on HBO next year.

Were you a fan of The Crazy Ones? Are you surprised that David E. Kelley has abandoned broadcast television? Tell us what you think.