Family sitcom United We Fall, whose 8-episode first season aired this summer, was cancelled Tuesday at ABC. According to Variety, this news comes about three weeks after the show’s August finale.
The multi-cam network comedy centered on the parenting misadventures of Bill and Jo, played by Will Sasso (MADtv, Mom) and Christina Vidal (Tiana, See No Evil). The couple united against outside judgement from family members including Will’s mother played by Jane Curtin (Saturday Night Live, 3rd Rock from the Sun) and Jo’s brother played by Guillermo Diaz (Scandal, Weeds).
Behind-the-scenes talent included Mark Cendrowski (The Big Bang Theory, According to Jim) as director and co-creator Julius Sharpe (Making History, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson) serving as executive producer. One Day at a Time showrunner, Gloria Calderon Kellet (One Day at A Time, Jane the Virgin) also lent her talents to the series both on-screen, as school teacher Ms. Molina, and off-screen, directing of the episode “My Favorite Marta”.
The comedy was first picked up at ABC in May of 2019, but did not make it to air until nearly a year later when it premiered this July. Summer can prove risky for network programming but, with 4.2 million viewer tuning into the premiere, United We Fall became “broadcast TV’s most-watched summer launch in more than a year” (TVLine). Rating dipped as the season went on, clocking in at steady 3.4 million for subsequent episodes, according to Variety. Deadline commented on the series’ ratings, stating that, despite the dip, “United We Fall performed respectably for summer comedy over its eight-episode run.” Critically, however, the show saw little success for the network “earning just an 11% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes” (Variety).
Deadline reports that United We Fall’s cancellation may be exemplary of broad network trend to lean away from the traditional broadcast comedy model. Sony TV, which produced United We Fall, “has informally notified networks that it will not be selling broadcast comedies in the current financial model,” reported Deadline in August. The outdated network model “is based on the studios taking the risk and reaping the rewards in success” and, when competing with streaming, “it has evolved into studios taking the risk with very little or no reward to be had” (Deadline).
Writer and executive producer, Sharpe, responded to the cancellation news with levity on social media, joking that cancel culture has “gone too far” (Twitter). In follow-up tweet, Sharpe delivered a heartfelt thank you to the cast and crew of United We Fall, who made the set a great place to work.
As far as fall comedies are concerned, ABC will be bringing back hits The Goldbergs and Black-ish on October 21, a little later than usual due to COVID-19. “ABC’s fall season is still somewhat in flux, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hinder production,” Variety shares “keeping most scripted shows off the air until at least October.”