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! 
I am hooked on ‘What About Brian’.I do not see many
descent shows on tv these
days,but this show can gather
the young crowd as well as
the older(and I’m among the
older).I wish we could keep
this show on the air.
I too love this show. There are very few shows that I look forward to, and What About Brian is one of them. I really hope this show comes back next season. I will be so bummed if it doesn’t!!!!
Ditto to all the above, and I would like to add, that another network should pick up this show. I attribute the initial drop in viewers to the removal of Marjorie, (Sarah Lancaster) which was a bad mistake.
However the show has redeemed itself now and is well positioned for a 3rd season let’s campaign to make it happen!!!
I love What About Brian. I hope that it comes back for a 3rd season. This was the only good show on TV on Monday nights.
Please bring back What About Brian…..This is a very good show.
I agree with everyone!! I love What About Brian. What if anything can we do to keep in on the air.
I adore this show and Barry Watson needs to be on t.v. regularly…this is the perfect show for him. I didn’t know about his illnes, so I appreciate the comment that explained the hair…I had wondered about the possibility of that sort of thing…Sure hope he’s okay. I didn’t care much for the later eps. of “7th Heaven” until Barry showed up…I’m convinced his return and that of Jessica Biel in the final episode was what had viewers tuning in. They saved it due to that and now another wonderful show “Everwood” was cancelled due to that. Why do they… Read more »
I completely agree with Miranda. Waiting for the 3rd season…
I’m watching the series too and would love to see more of What About Brian. I’m a guy and loving this serie. keep my fingers crossed but probably the total amount of viewers makes another great show cancelled. I agree with Christy why all those shows with celebrity dancing,singing,skating or shows like Idols,BigBrother. I’ve seen it all. I want good sitcoms and series such as this.
I love “What About Brian”, the show is great with an excellent cast and storyline. Why must all the good shows be removed from tv and the reality shows stay? Please give “What About Brian” more time on tv.
I didn’t miss an espd. I love this show. Friendship rocks! Come back to us for the 3rd season!!!!
I LOVE this show. ABC and every other network needs to get over the Reality TV obsession and go back to showing great shows that people enjoy watching. Who cares about “Out of Date” stars and whether or not they can dance. People like shows that they can get attached to and can relate to. It helps them to forget about their own problems for awhile. Yeah the plots may not be completely realistic but it’s fun to dream. Enough with the stupid game shows!!!
I love “What About Brian” and hate to see it end. These days, you might as well not even watch television because every time that you find a show that you like, it gets cancelled…At the beginning of this season, I latched on to an awesome show called Runaway. It was cancelled after about 4 shows. The problem isn’t that people aren’t interested, the problem is that you can never find a show or know when it will be on. There will be four or five new episodes and then three weeks off and then they move the show to… Read more »
I think (if you are talking about Barry Watson’s hair in your comment) that his hair is just a lot thinner than it used to be. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in May 2002, which is now in remission but if you watched 7th Heaven, you would have noticed that when he returned to the show, his hair was very thin and short. That was 4 years ago, but I know from experience of one of my family members, that it can be a permanent change sometimes.
Love “What About Brian”, but who the heck cut his hair?? It looks butchered and plastered onto his head. UGH!!