Under David Nevins, president of Showtime, it is unprecedented that a network original has not returned for a second season (via Deadline). But, the network has recently canceled its original dark satirical comedy, HAPPYish, because of combination of low ratings and low reviews according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The comedy followed a depressed middle aged advertising executive, Thom Payne, and his wife Lee. The show’s premiere did not come easy. The late Philip Seymour Hoffman was Thom Payne in HAPPYish‘s original pilot, but after his passing the show regrouped so the story could still be told. Steve Coogan (Philomena) took over the main role and reshot the pilot, while Kathryn Hahn (Parks and Recreation) played Lee. Shalom Auslander (This American Life) was the creator and executive producer for the show alongside Ken Kwapis (He’s Just Not That Into You).
David Nevins talked about why they went about continuing HAPPYish after Hoffman’s passing, “We waited six months and I talked to Shalom about moving forward. I told him I really want to make these scripts. Great comedies don’t grow on trees and this was a cutting edge comedy, I believed in this project and I wanted to keep it alive and support it. There’s no other show like it” (via Variety).
Although the show seemed to be close to David Nevin’s heart and the network has a great record with originals, HAPPYish will not be returning for a second season. The finale episode only attracted a 261,000 audience according to Variety. Low ratings paired with bad critical reception seemed to be the cause of HAPPYish‘s cancellation.