Scoundrels: Off the Schedule; Has the ABC TV Show Been Cancelled?

Fans of ABC’s summer drama, Scoundrels, may have noticed that the series isn’t on the schedule any longer. Has the show been cancelled?

Scoundrels revolves around the West family, a clan that’s had many run-ins with the law. Dad (David James Elliott) has been sent to prison and his wife (Virginia Madsen) is determined that she and their kids not follow him. The TV show’s cast also includes Leven Rambin, Vanessa Marano, Carlos Bernard, and Patrick Flueger (in a dual role).

The series debuted on June 20th to a disappointing 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 5.23 million viewers. In week two, viewership dropped to a 1.0 in the demo and 3.66 million viewers. The numbers got even worse in subsequent weeks. It hit a demo low 0.6 and, the finale attracted the fewest number of total viewers, just 2.73 million. Those are some terrible numbers for a major network, even for the summer months.

Only eight episodes of Scoundrels were produced and, to ABC’s credit, they aired them all — despite the low ratings. Unfortunately, the network has little reason to want any more. So, no, ABC has not officially cancelled Scoundrels but, it is highly unlikely that they’ll order a second season.

What do you think? Why do you think Scoundrels didn’t fare better? Is it a better show than the ratings reflect?