ABC Reverses ‘Stumptown’ Renewal, Now Cancelled After One Season
Some bad news for fans of ‘Stumptown‘… ABC has reversed its previous renewal decision, cancelling the show after one season.
As you have probably guessed, the decision comes, in part, due to production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The season two renewal was announced back in May, and ‘Stumptown’ was also on the planned “Fall” schedule ABC released in June. However, the series, which shoots in LA, had not yet managed to return to filming, meaning there is no way it would have made that launch window. Additionally, there had been some changes behind the scenes, with co-showrunner Matt Olmstead leaving ‘Stumptown’, being replaced by Monica Owusu-Breen (‘Agents of SHIELD’, ‘Fringe’) joining creator Jason Richman. This prompted a shift in creative direction and the reworking of some scripts, adding further delays. Rather than bump it to 2021, ABC opted to cancel the series instead. ABC Signature, who make the crime dramedy, are looking to shop it to another network or streaming service.
‘Stumptown’ followed the life of Dex Parios (Cobie Smulders – ‘Avengers’, ‘How I Met Your Mother’), a former army veteran turned private investigator, solving problems the police can’t get involved in. Dex’s intelligence and natural instinct to do what’s right made her perfect for the job, but her brash style and disregard for the rules often got her in trouble. Struggling with PTSD after an explosion killed her childhood sweetheart in Afghanistan, burdened by heavy gambling debts and dealing with the responsibility of taking care of her younger brother, there is more to Dex than meets the eye.
The series also starred Jake Johnson (‘New Girl’) as ex-felon Grey McConnel, Dex’s closest friend; Tantoo Cardinal (‘See’, ‘Frontier’) as Sue Lynn Blackbird, owner of a tribal casino and mother of Dex’s deceased boyfriend; Cole Sibus as Ansel Parios, Dex’s brother who has Down syndrome and works as a bar-back at the Bad Alibi; Adrian Martinez (‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’) as Tookie, a food truck owner who serves as an informant for Dex; Camryn Manheim (‘The Practice’, ‘Ghost Whisperer’) as Lieutenant Cosgrove and Michael Ealy (‘Almost Human’) as Detective Miles Hoffman.
We’ll have to see if ABC Signature has any luck selling ‘Stumptown‘ somewhere else, but as of right now, the series is cancelled after one season.
