‘About a Boy,’ ‘Marry Me’ canceled as NBC’s comedy lineup dries up

We anticipated there being a mass exodus of comedies from NBC’s schedule going into upfronts, but that does not make it any less sad. Sometimes we get so caught up in the reporting of cancellations that we forget that this news typically means massive job turnover for many crews out there.

Today, the network confirmed that both “Marry Me” and “About a Boy” are officially canceled; many may have already thought that they were, given that neither was a part of the spring schedule. We had some optimism here after “Marry Me” got strong buzz last summer and “About a Boy” was a season 1 success story. They just couldn’t find a rhythm, and with them airing after “The Voice,” there is a certain reputation that needs to be met.

Now, the strange thing here is NBC potentially going into next season with potentially zero comedies on their roster. We feel reasonably confident about “Undateable,” but we’re not optimistic for “One Big Happy” and “Parks and Recreation” is done after seven seasons. Hopefully, they will pick up a few quality shows to spark what was once a great network for single-camera and multi-camera shows. The Danny Pudi comedy “Strange Calls” is a personal favorite at the moment based on premise alone.

As for the future of the “Marry Me” and “About a Boy” casts, do you really think that these people are going to be out of work tomorrow? We’d hire Ken Marino and Casey Wilson in a second if we had actual money lying around.

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