Fox Cancels ‘Lethal Weapon’, ABC Cancels ‘Speechless’ After 3 Seasons Each
A few more cancellations land as the Friday night massacre continues. Fox has cancelled ‘Lethal Weapon‘ after 3 seasons, along with sitcom ‘The Cool Kids’, and previously announced ‘The Passage’. Whilst over on ABC, they have cancelled comedy ‘Speechless‘ alongside fellow comedies ‘Splitting Up Together’, ‘The Kids Are Alright’ and legal drama ‘The Fix’.
‘Lethal Weapon’ had been going through (much publicised) issues of late, since firing the initial co-lead, Clayne Crawford, last May. It was thought that might be the end, but FOX decided to renew for a shortened 3rd Season, bringing in Seann William Scott as new co-lead alongside Damon Wayans. Then, in October last year, Wayans unexpectedly announced he wanted to quit the series, throwing another spanner in the works. He did reportedly change his mind after the production made some concessions, but it clearly wasn’t the easiest show to work on for all involved.
The ratings for the series had been pretty middling this season, so it was very much 50/50 as to whether it would be picked up again. Then FOX announced four new dramas yesterday, signalling ‘Lethal Weapon’s likely cancellation, along with fellow 50/50 show, ‘The Passage’.
Over on ABC, the cancellation of ‘Speechless’, sadly, doesn’t come as a huge shock, given it was the network’s lowest rated show. The series, which is still running on E4 in the UK, starred Minnie Driver as Maya DiMeo, a mom who will do anything for her husband, Jimmy (John Ross Bowie), and kids Ray (Mason Cook), Dylan (Kyla Kenedy), and JJ (Micah Fowler), her eldest son who has cerebral palsy. As Maya fought injustices both real and imagined, the family worked to make a new home for themselves, and searched for just the right person to give JJ his “voice.”
“Well now listen. Speechless has been cancelled and it feels rather sad,” commented Driver on her Twitter account. “However, I truly believe we have left this conversation about family, disability and love in a better place than we found it. I love all the people I worked with on it, and all of you who loved our show too. x”
We totally agree with Minnie. If you haven’t seen the comedy yet, it is hilarious, and you can find all 3 Seasons on All4, and it is well worth watching.
‘Lethal Weapon’ aired on ITV in the UK, and they had been saying the 3rd Season would air in “Spring 2019”, but we’ll have to see if that happens now. Regarding the other shows mentioned in the intro, none of them ever found UK homes, although could still be picked up by someone as padding for a Summer schedule or a streaming service. We’ll have to wait and see.
