On Monday night, ABC aired what was promoted as the season finale of the dramatic series What About Brian. But as fans of the show know, the March 26th episode only marked the 19th episode of the season. If the series was given an order for 22 episodes and there are lots of storylines unresolved, where are the rest?
What About Brian debuted on ABC on April 16, 2006 with the first of five initial episodes. The series follows the story of Brian Davis (7th Heaven alumni Barry Watson) as a “third wheel” in a group of close-knit friends and couples. The series also stars Sarah Lancaster, Rosanna Arquette, Matthew Davis, Rick Gomez, Amanda Detmer, Jason George, Amanda Foreman, Tiffani Thiessen, and Jessica Szohr.
Following the initial season’s ratings, it seemed fairly certain that the series would not return for another. ABC surprised many by renewing the series with an initial order of 13 episodes for a second season for Fall 2007. When the show returned on October 9th, ABC seemed encouraged by its early second season performance. On November 10th, ABC increased the 13 episode order to a full 22.
So, with the March 26th episode only marking the 19th episode, some are wondering if this means that there are three episodes that haven’t been aired? In short, no. Shortly after ABC gave the additional episode order in November, the ratings dropped by about 20%. A network rep has confirmed to us that the episode order was trimmed back, though this was not officially announced. Losing three episodes likely made it difficult for the producers to end the season as they would have liked.
ABC has already announced that 11 of its series have been renewed for next year. What About Brian wasn’t one of them. With the drop in viewership and its shortened season, it’s unlikely that ABC has enough faith in the show to give it another chance.
We’ll probably know Brian’s fate by mid-May when the network announces its full Fall schedule. Until then, Brian viewers can take sollace in knowing that they’ve seen all of the episodes that were produced. Fans of other ABC shows like Big Day haven’t been as lucky. Stay tuned! 
It’s 2017 everyone. This show isn’t coming back.
lol, inorite? But we can always hope for a reunion show. I just binged the complete series the past couple days. Love the show and reminds me of the good times I had during those years the show was on. I hate how this ended without really even being a “finale”…i mean the damn DVD had a Season 3 featurette on it!
i wish they will bring it back…..its really a nice show……
ummm, I thought Brian’s last name was Davis not Ohara?
@Rachel: You are correct. No one’s caught that in the four years since this was written. Thanks!
I just got done watching Season 1 and Season 2 on HULU.com and was expecting to have another season soon. I totally loved the cast and I didnt know this was aired in 2006 and I am just now know ing about. Sooo sad about it being cancelled…too many things left unfinished! Not fair at all..I hate with they cancel shows that people love!
This was a fun and great show. WHAT HAPPEN? Bring it back!
This was a good show and Barry Watson’s a doll. Now they have cancelled “Samantha Who?’ too. And all the while, “THE BACHELOR” which is HORRIBLE ..remains……
I watched the first season and loved the show. I have been very busy these last couple of years and forgot about it. Someone mentioned it the other day so I thought I would look it up on the net and catch up because I was thinking that the show was so good that there would be NO way it would end like it did. This is horrible. I just got done watching the last episode a few min ago and wondered why none of the other seasons were avaliable. I did a search and here I am, finding out… Read more »
For sometime, i thought that i just missed the show due to my busy sched….. but couldn’t believe that they will cancelled the show till i search the net to know what has happened!!!
Too bad because i love the cast and it has a great story!!!
I loved this show very sad to see it cancelled
me very sad 🙁
So you didn’t feel the show was good enough to continue, fine…….. Did anyone care that some of us loved the show? I feel we should have been given a series finale. It torks me off that I watched “What about Brian” for two seasons just to have it go bye bye. I would never have started watching it! We should have been given a decent ending!
I AM VERY UPSET, I JUST FINISHED WATCHING THE SECOND SEASON ON DVD AND CANNOT BELEIVE THAT THE SERIES JUST ENDED …..WITHOUT AN ENDING. LAST EPISODE WAS OK FOR A SEASON FINALE BUT NOT FOR A SERIES FINALE. THANKS ABC FOR YOUR “UNPROFESSIONALISM.”