FOX has cancelled a number of series this week and some have been a bit of a surprise. Lie to Me, Human Target, and The Chicago Code were all canned and most had been expecting at least one to survive. One cancellation that doesn’t come as a shock however is Traffic Light. No one was expecting the low-rated sitcom to be back for a second season.
Traffic Light follows the lives of three men who’ve been friends since college — Mike (David Denman), Adam (Nelson Franklin), and Ethan (Kris Marshall). Now in their thirties, they find themselves in different places in their lives and various stages of relationships. Mike’s married to Lisa (Liza Lapira), Adam lives with girlfriend Callie (Aya Cash), and Adam’s still the perpetual bachelor.
The premiere of Traffic Light attracted just a 1.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 4.59 million viewers. In week two, the numbers fell more than 25%, to a 1.4 rating and 3.49 million. With figures like these, it was pretty clear that Traffic Light was doomed.
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The ratings for subsequent episodes kept falling and even went as low as a 0.9 in the demo and 2.24 million viewers. The newbie sitcom averages a pitiful 1.5 in the demo and just 3.66 million viewers. It’s currently the lowest-rated series on the network, even ranking below Fringe which airs on Friday nights.
FOX has now officially cancelled Traffic Light after one season and 13 episodes. The final unaired episode of the series is scheduled to air next Tuesday, May 17th. The last episode produced, titled “Tommy Guns,” ran last night.
For now, FOX plans to air repeats of Traffic Light at least through the end of June. In light of this cancellation news, that schedule may change.
What do you think? Are you sorry that Traffic Light didn’t get a second season? Is the series better than the ratings indicate?
Image courtesy FOX.
That show was so hilarious. I cannot believe they canceled it.
I loved Traffic Light. I’m so sad that it is cancelled. One of the few decent shows on the air that have some morals and I loved the humor. It’s a shame that the only thing people want to watch now a days is murder or slease.
It so reminded me of “us” – it really hit the nail on the head as far as relationships. It took me a few episodes to like all the characters – they were all great!
I was so pissed when it was scratched –
This show was smart and funny. The actors were hilarious and likeable. I’m sorry it has been cancelled.
so, how does “popular demand” go about bringing a show back? It’s happened, but I don’t know how. I’ve been waiting for this show all summer, and only now checked to see if it’d been renewed, since i was so sure it had been. that is, until i couldn’t find it to PVR.
Traffic Light was our favorite new show, my wife and I had it DVR’d every week and looked forward to watching it. It was one of those shows that made me laugh as hard as a really good comedy movie, all the way through the episode, every episode. The whole cast was very talented with perfect timing, especially Adam, and the writing was so good. We were wondering what happened to it, we couldn’t believe it would be canceled.
Agree with the comments listed above..found this on Hulu as a fluke had never heard of it before but almost immediately it became the show I waited for ever week. This is an example of why the networks need to include Hulu/iTunes etc in ratings. Everyone I know either downloads or Tivo’s television – none of them watch a show on the day it actually airs. Wondering when the networks will actually “get” that.
I notice that TV shows with some semblance of intelligence usually don’t last very long. Maybe there’s just no demand for it. People prefer to watch brainless reality shows or very base comedy.
I totally agree. I had given up on sitcoms until Traffic Light came out. So bummed. I guess the demo was really only 30-40 year olds who could relate to and appreciate the Gen X and Y humor.
Bring it back!
I totally fell in love with this show after 2-3 episodes. Which is also when I realized it would not survive the first season. FOX did the most terrible job at promoting the show. I came across it completely randomly on hulu and nobody else I have recommended this show to had ever heard of it. However, everybody who started watching it loved it just as much as I do. Traffic Light is easily one of the most intelligent shows I have ever seen. It’s not a scientific documentary, but the psychological insight to the individual characters, the way they… Read more »
BS! It was a great show! I’m so sad it was canceled! Bring it back!
Bummer! An intelligent, well written, well cast, and well acted show. Very disappointing news.
I wish they would make a second season it was so funny! I am sad that fox had to cancel it 🙁
I am completely bummed that this show isn’t going to air again! I loved this show and watched it every single week. It made me laugh constantly and was definitly one of my favorite weekly shows. Really wish it would have been given a season 2 chance.
The show is funny, fox is terrible at promoting because I never saw a preview while it was on. Just discovered it yesterday, September…