Council of Dads is the last cancellation in this season’s freshman lineup at NBC, per The Hollywood Reporter. The show is a family drama from Universal Television and is executively produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (producer, Pirates of the Caribbean; producer, Armageddon).
The showrunners of Council of Dads, Tony Phelan (producer, Grey’s Anatomy) and Joan Rater (producer, Grey’s Anatomy), attempted to create a show somewhat like the acclaimed This Is Us (created by Dan Fogelman). In addition to Council of Dads, NBC tried to recreate the popularity that This is Us garnered by launching a similar drama, The Village (created by Mike Daniels), in 2019. The Village, which is about closely-bonded neighbors in an apartment building in Brooklyn, met the same fate that Council of Dads did when it was cancelled after only one season.
Unfortunately, however, Council of Dads was included in six of the seven new series by NBC that suffered cancellations this season. The only show that is returning for a second season from this season’s fresh man lineup is Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (created by Austin Winsberg), a show about a woman who can hear people’s personal thoughts through songs.
Council of Dads follows the Perry children, whose father suffers form a terminal illness and decides to form a “council of dads” to replace him once he passes. The Perry family and the three men that form the council grow closer and closer with each other as time goes on. Council of Dads explores relationships between people who were brought together by pain, and grow together by forming new bonds. The show stars Michael O’Neill (Dallas Buyers Club, Transformers), J. August Richards (Angel, Agents of Sheild), and Clive Standen (Vikings, Everest) as the “council of dads” and Sarah Wayne Callies (Prison Break, The Walking Dead) and Robin Perry, the Perry children’s mother. You can watch the trailer for Council of Dads below:
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “The decision to cancel Council of Dads comes as little surprise.” Nevertheless, the network will feature three new comedies and one new drama in its upcoming 2020-21 season.