The tale of Bryan, David and their new family has come to a close. NBC has cancelled The New Normal after one season of 22 episodes.
The New Normal follows a successful gay couple (Andrew Rannells and Justin Bartha) who decide that they want to start a family. They enlist a struggling single mom (Georgia King) to become their surrogate. While she helps them fufill their dream, the guys help her find her own. Others in the cast include Bebe Wood, NeNe Leakes, Jayson Blair, Ellen Barkin, John Stamos, and Michael Hitchcock.
Despite some early fuss from socially conservative groups, the sitcom debuted to a healthy 2.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 6.88 million total viewers. The second episode matched the demo and actually improved on its total viewership.
The numbers dwindled downward a bit after that but were still healthy enough to land The New Normal a full season pickup.
Unfortunately, the show’s ratings really started to go down once The Voice (which opened Tuesday nights) finished it’s fall cycle. The numbers ended up falling as low as a 0.7 rating in the demo with just 2.11 million viewers.
When The Voice returned, the numbers improved a bit but it was clear that not enough people were watching any longer. The smell of cancellation was in the air.
Fortunately for viewers, the cast and crew provided closure for the ongoing storylines in the season finale. Bryan and David were married, Goldie had their baby and started a successful new business, Rocky had a promotion and an adopted child, and Jane found a new outlook and successful job.
It’s too bad that other showrunners aren’t as considerate of their viewers in providing “just in case” closure for struggling series.
What do you think? Are you sorry that The New Normal has been cancelled? What would you have liked to have seen happen in season two?
I wish they could bring back the show for a revival on NBC!! It could on Sat nites or Sun..
We just finished watching the entire season at one episode per day….Sorry to hear it cancelled….I was getting attached to several of the characters…..The humor was very smart and melodramatic stereotypes brought a whole new level to SITCOM….. 🙁
Too many stereotypes. Everyone was a walking stereotype with little room for deviation. It was just overdone. The gay men were too gay, the grandmother too racist, Goldie too naive and idealistic. We needed real characters.
I wished they would have given the New Normal a chance to prove the show had staying power. Sure the ratings might have been low but this was the 1st season. Give people a chance to watch the program…..change the time slot?! Oooops! to late for that:(
“The New Normal” was one of the best shows on TV…very sad to see that NBC cancelled the series. You better watch out NBC…the only other show I watch on your network is “Revolution”…none of your other shows appeal to me, or most of my friends.
I am so very disappointed that this show was canceled. I absolutely loved it and so did everyone i know. No more NBC for me….
LOOK!! We cant watch reality and contest TV all the damn time!!! The New Normal was something new, different and original. BRING IT BACK!!!
Love the show NBC should give season two a chance . Why do all the great shows go and reality tv lives on ?
Good that showed sucked!
Great show. Think I’m giving up NBC, horrible HORRIBLE decision!!!
I really love the New Normal. The cast was a great mix of characters, and had wonderful stories that happened to challenge the typical everyday “norm”. I think it’s tragic that this show was cancelled with so much potential. The best shows don’t always take off out of the gate at first. Sometimes they have to be discovered. This show is a real treasure and such a disappointment that NBC has “yet again” cancelled a show before even knowing how many people really like it. They’ve roped me into so many shows, only to have me wondering “what happened” to… Read more »
I LOVED everything about this show. I found out it was going to be cancelled while watching the Tony Awards. I was shocked! It is such a sweet and funny show with good family values and loyalties. I really wish they would reconsider and put it in a time slot that doesn’t give it so much competition. The Voice is a well established show with millions of followers. It’s not right to do that to a new show. Don’t we have enough reality shows already. Myself, I’m sick of them. Obviously I’m in the minority.
The new normal’s great bring back meanies
Please make season two
iNBC has proven why it is at the ratings bottom. I stopped watching after they cancelled SMASH and THE NEW NORMAL. I like THE VOICE but, since it’s on NBC, I won’t watch it any more. My former favorite station has lost another viewer. Not that it matters to the Big Shots who run the station.