Last week’s was the last scheduled episode of ABC’s sitcom Mr. Sunshine. Though 13 episodes were produced, ABC only aired nine. Starring Matthew Perry, the series took over the Wednesday night timeslot from Cougar Town, which stars another Friends alum, Courteney Cox. How did Perry’s new series perform? Does it have a sunny future or will it be cancelled before it gets a second season?
Mr. Sunshine revolves around Ben Donovan (Perry), the Manager of Operations at San Diego’s Sunshine Center sports arena. His stressful job isn’t made any easier by his crazy boss (Allison Janney), his sleeping with his marketing director (Andrea Anders), his a crazy new assistant (Portia Doubleday), his best friend (James Lesure) or his boss’ less-than-skilled son (Nate Torrence).
After weeks of promotion, the sitcom started off quite strong with a 3.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 10.52 million viewers. Unfortunately, the TV series lost 30% of its audience demo in week two, a pretty good indication that many didn’t like what they saw in the pilot. Week three lost another 15%. Future episodes went up and down a bit but week five dropped a whopping 25% and and the demo number dropped another 33% in week eight. That was a series low of a 1.4 rating.
The nine episodes that have aired averaged a 2.2 rating in the demo and 6.02 million viewers. It’s ABC’s lowest-rated sitcom and, had it stayed on the air any longer, the ratings surely would have kept dropping. It sometimes airs opposite American Idol but so do the other ABC sitcoms and they perform much better.
Based on the ratings, it looks fairly certain that ABC will cancel Mr. Sunshine after one season. ABC sometimes gives a second chance to TV series that have struggled but still show promise. Though Mr. Sunshine has an impressive cast, the show’s been on an overall downward trend from the beginning.
At the January TCA press tour, ABC’s president Paul Lee indicated he was interested in scheduling another night of comedy next season. If that happens, they may decide to renew Mr. Sunshine for a small second season and combine the remaining four unaired episodes with the new ones. ABC has done something similar in the past.
What do you think? Will Mr. Sunshine be cancelled or renewed? Would you like to see it return?
Image courtesy ABC.
Do not take my sunshine away, Love the show, it is hilarious.
Finally a good comedy on tv instead of all this reality crap. Its time
to get back to comedy shows and variety shows. Times are tough we
need more laughter and more Mr. Sunshine in our lives
i like this show bc its different and i really hope they dont cancel it. i didnt realize last week was the season finale. im bummed now.
Disappointing show. Needs new writers and show runners if it was going to return. I wouldn’t bother, though.
Mr. Sunshine is awesome. Whoever thinks it isn’t, isn’t intelligent enough to appreciate smart humor.
Love Mr. Sunshine if abc wants to cancel a show, ax Greys. I was a huge fan fot he first 5 seasons but it has been ruined with musical numbers and bad acting.
My dilemma stemmed more from an inability to watch Idol in my living room and be able to DVR Criminal Minds and Mr. Sunshine at the same time (and neither are available on On Demand).
I was hoping Mr. Sunshine would re-run and I could catch it then, because I generally like anything Matthew Perry does. I hope it gets renewed.
Awww, I was just getting to like it – 10 minutes into Happy Endings and … sorry, it’s BAD!!
I love Mr. Sunshine! Please don’t get cancelled! I hardly ever watch TV, but I’ve been dedicating my Wednesday evenings for this show! So funny! 🙂
Keep it!! It was fun!
Let Mr. Sunshine keep shinning!
It wouldn’t be the first sit-com to struggle at first, but this one is certainly worth hanging on to a little while longer. It is a good show and should be given more time to reach its audience. Don’t rain on Mr. Sunshine’s parade!
Tried the pilot; it was OK. The show doesn’t need Happy Endings to fail or Cougar Town to go away, repeats of Idol, etc. Mr Sunshine needs viewers to watch Mr Sunshine. I don’t care either way but if you’re a fan of Mr. Sunshine, don’t whine or complain about other shows. Get people to watch Mr. Sunshine.
There’s no such thing as repeats of Idol on prime time.
Keep it… Really funny show and WAY BETTER than Cougar Town…. Worth to keep around for the Fall…
I hope Happy Endings bombs tonight!!!
I like the show. I hope they renew it for a new season or at least show the unaired episodes and then decide.
Bring Back Cougar Town. Mr. Sunshine is not good TV.