‘Ghosted’ is busted at FOX. The half-hour sitcom started off its freshman season as the #2 new comedy on TV, trailing just behind CBS’ ‘Young Sheldon’, but it looks as though its supernatural might couldn’t hold up. Initially, FOX only ordered ten episodes, but after a strong start, ordered six more. Now it appears as though not all of those will see the light of day. (Or… uh… dark of night?)
Created by Tom Gormicon, the series was billed as a comedic twist on ‘The X-Files’ and starred ‘Parks & Recreation”s Adam Scott and ‘The Office”s Craig Robinson as well as Adeel Akhtar, Ally Walker, and Amber Stevens West as paranormal investigators. Things hit a snag half-way through the first season, with showrunner Kevin Etten leaving the series and being replaced by Paul Lieberstein (also from ‘The Office’) reportedly because FOX wanted to shift the program to more of a “workplace comedy” format. It doesn’t appear that the change worked out.
FOX has been burning off the Lieberstein-overseen episodes this summer– basically the TV equivalent of a “going out of business sale.” Only five of the episodes were aired, but ‘Ghosted’ has been yanked and it’s unclear if the final three episodes will ever air on the network. The option on the cast expires this weekend, so the network had to make a decision. This now means that FOX has no established live-action comedies returning for the new fall season.
It’s really unclear what went wrong for ‘Ghosted’. It started off strongly, but when FOX removed it from its schedule to retool it, it seems that enthusiasm waned. Bringing it back in the dead of summer certainly didn’t help.
This fall, FOX is shifting its focus away from original programming and toward sports and sports entertainment, having just signed a five-year deal with the NFL for Thursday Night Football, its deal to split UFC with ESPN and taking over WWE’s ‘SmackDown Live’ in October.
Were you a fan of ‘Ghosted’? Are you sad to see it go?
Source: TV Line
