scheduling shifts

NBC Is Yanking Its Michael J. Fox and Sean Hayes Comedies From Thursdays

NBC appears to giving up on The Michael J. Fox Show and Sean Saves the World. Vulture hears the network has decided to pull both shows from its Thursday night lineup once the Olympics are over, replacing them with episodes of Hollywood Game Night. The Jane Lynch-hosted game show has done decent ratings during its recent run on Mondays, but it was going to have to give up its Monday berth later this month when The Voice returns. Now, it’ll get a shot to prove itself on NBC’s Thursday lineup, and it shouldn’t have much trouble improving on NBC’s average on the night. Both Sean and Fox were notching around 3 million viewers and under a 1 rating among viewers under 50 in recent weeks. NBC last month shut down production on Sean, further signaling it had moved on. The Peacock had a firm 22-episode order for Fox, so it seems likely that the show will stay in production in New York until it wraps later this winter and the show wrapped production on that order recently. While both shows are off Thursdays for now, it’s possible they’ll resurface there (or on another night) later this season, or this summer.


UPDATE: An NBC rep notes that Fox “is not cancelled. We are looking for a place on the schedule after April 3.”

NBC Yanking Michael J. Fox Comedy From Thursdays