The Carmichael Show canceled (effectively); Jerrod Carmichael leaving
In a statement today, the show’s star and one of its primary creative voices confirmed that he will be departing the NBC show in a statement to Deadline. Take a look at that in full below:
“For three seasons (okay 2.5), I got to make a show that I love with my friends. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was 13. Now, I’m excited to go make other things that I love. Thank you to every person who worked on or watched The Carmichael Show.”
The Carmichael Show was already in renewal limbo in the first place over at NBC, given that today was the final day that the cast’s contracts could be extended for a while longer while an official decision was made. With this statement, there is no longer a reason to do that. How do you do the show without Jerrod? We’re pretty sure that nobody else would even want to.
Our take on the news
For now, it feels like this is one of those decisions that’s going to bum us out a few years from now even more than it does today, especially when Carmichael gets to go on and do some other excellent things. This is a show that was very funny, socially relevant, and willing to do things no other show does.
Unfortunately, it’s also a show that didn’t have a whole lot of support, being relegated often to bad timeslots or the summer, where there wasn’t much airing around it. This is why it’s ratings weren’t any better. NBC, to their credit, did let Carmichael make an episode of his show featuring the n-word as a main plot point. However, he was also very upset with them for rescheduling an episode about a shooting following what happened at a Congressional baseball game practice. His point on that (read more here) was that The Carmichael Show meant to show a more human side to such incidents in terms of how people cope; it certainly wasn’t intending to exploit what happened here or in any other situation.
The legacy of The Carmichael Show right now is a show that would’ve likely been an enormous hit had it aired on another venue. However, it never quite aligned with what NBC wanted to do, and with that it was buried in bad spots. The end of it today leaves us wondering what could have been.
Have a reaction to the apparent end of The Carmichael Show? Do you think it should exist in some other form? Be sure to share your thoughts now in the attached comments! (Photo: NBC.)