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.
Hope they keep this one on the air. Subtle wacky comedy with great characters.
Maybe it’s because most people watch online than T.V. now a days, i can’t ever catch the shows at the time they come out, since I’m always working so I get online to watch them.
Please bring back mr. Sunshine I love this show I really hope they bring it back!!!
Please bring it back… I don’t like Cougar Town… I want Matthew Perry back..
i love mr.sunshine and matthew perry , please contiue show it, its brilliant
GIVE IT A CHANCE
Please bring it baaaa-aack! Right when I finally find a show worth watching… It just isn’t fair.
i love this new show…I was looking for it tonight and horrified at the thought it might have been cancelled….NO please keep it. Give it a chance. Its really fun.
Susan
Love this show Matthew Perry is sooo funny with the guy James pleasure I think his name is he was on the show las Vegas…..he is funny too I hope they bring it back….
I love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love love the show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did I tell you that I LOVE< LOVE< LOVE< the show!!!!!!! The cast is great together. You would be nuts to cancel it.
Please bring back Mr.Sunshine. It was a great cast and very funny show. I am tired of all the good shows being canceled. Life On Mars is another example of a show that should have been giving more time to catch on.
Mr. Sunshine was the only show besides the Thursday night lineup that I went out of my way to watch. I liked seeing Matthew Perry’s character learn a bit more about himself with each show. Alison Janney’s character took a while to begin to understand but then she was great. All of the supporting characters were interesting too. Some of the show’s concept were a bit too whacky but those are the kinds of things the producers learn and shift. I keep looking for the show and finally did this search to see what was going on with it. I… Read more »
don’t watch alot of tv, usually buy seasons of shows i like. saw this one on netflix and watched all 9 episodes in a couple days. its one of the few sitcoms out there now that caught my interest, then again i’ve allways loved perry’s sarcastic humor. really hope they keep it going.
it ‘s a great show with very nice comedy
Please bring back Mr.Sunshine. It is a refreshingly different comedy with talented actors. Matthew Perry and Alison Janney are great together.
Please don’t cancel this show! It has been a while since you have brought some witty humor to the TV. I know no ABC execs will be reading this but on the off chance they do, PLEASE don’t cancel such a great show!