(ABC/Angus Young)

Why did Speechless and Whiskey Cavalier have to end? Recently, ABC boss Karey Burke spoke with Deadline about the network’s decision to cancel the two TV shows.

A comedy, Speechless centers on the DiMeo family, headed by no-nonsense mom Maya (Minnie Driver) who will do anything for her family: husband Jimmy (John Ross Bowie), brainy Ray (Mason Cook), athletic Dylan (Kyla Kennedy), and teenager JJ (Micah Fowler), who has cerebral palsy. The series just wrapped its third and final season last month.

Meanwhile, Whiskey Cavalier follows an FBI agent and a CIA operative who must team up to root out corruption and crime and save the world. The cast includes Scott Foley, Lauren Cohan, Ana Ortiz, Tyler James Williams, Vir Das, and Josh Hopkins. The show debuted its first and only season in February.

During this week’s upfronts, ABC chief Karey Burke revealed the reason for Speechless‘ cancellation ultimately came down to ratings:

There was a lot of anguish for me and all of us at ABC. We love Speechless, it was a very tough decision. Scott Silveri is a former producing partner of mine and it was not without great gut wrenching consideration that we ultimately made that call. We looked at a lot of factors and ultimately it came down to numbers and feeling like we could shore up the night more strongly with Fresh Off The Boat.” 

It seems Whiskey Cavalier suffered the same fate. Burke told reporters the series never really gained a strong audience:

It was a tough decision, it was the last decision we made. We thought we gave it very strong launch in spring. But we lost audience. We felt the biggest opportunity was to try something new. We looked for other time slots but did not see a real opportunity to grow.”

What do you think? Have you seen Speechless and/or Whiskey Cavalier? Would you have watched another season?