‘Raising Hope’ canceled by Fox; season 4 finale to be series finale
Last week, Fox announced a good many renewals that just about everyone saw coming; today, they went down the unfortunate route of announcing a cancellation that we imagine just about everyone saw coming. After four seasons on the air and plenty of crazy adventures, “Raising Hope” is no more.
In some ways, it felt like the show’s future was locked into place long before the new season even premiered. It was renewed largely for syndication purposes, and in putting the comedy on Fridays at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time (where virtually no comedy has worked in over a decade), the show basically received a death sentence unless it pulled off a miracle. Given that this is a largely true-to-life story, this is not the sort of place where miracles often happen.
Speaking in a statement today, executive producer Mike Mariano said the following about the show going off the air, and included at least one thing that should give fans hope at a reasonably-proper ending:
“On behalf of myself, Greg Garcia and Raising Hope‘s amazing cast and crew, I would like to thank our audience for tuning in and supporting us over the last four seasons. We planned our Season 4 finale with this possibility in mind, and hope our loyal fans enjoy the way we’ve chosen to say goodbye to the Chances and to Natesville. Thanks again, and we’ll see you in syndication.”
We almost wish at some times that networks were a little more decisive in their planning, since this sounds quite a bit like the situation that is befalling “Psych” pretty soon. It also didn’t reveal that it was in its final season until around halfway into its run, and now you have to enjoy the final episodes for what they are.
“Raising Hope” had itself a pleasant little run, so with that in mind, fans should not fret too much. At least it had a chance to have this much of a future, since many comedies do not.
Still, what sort of reaction are you having right now to the cancellation of “Raising Hope”? Be sure to share your thoughts below, and also visit the link here if you want to get some more TV news and updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: Fox