Another Friday night, another dead network TV show, as ABC announced this evening that it’s canceling Topher Grace sitcom Home Economics after three seasons on the air. Per Variety, the series—about three siblings (Grace, Caitlin McGee, and Jimmy Tatro) living at very different points on the socio-economic ladder—had been sitting on the cancellation bubble for a while at this point. Now, that bubble has officially popped.
Interestingly, ABC was apparently intrigued enough by the possibilities of the show (which has sat at “fine, not great” ratings for pretty much its entire run, despite strong praise for its performances) that it held on to it through the entirety of the WGA strike, even opting multiple times to extend the cast’s contracts while it mulled the numbers. But the mulling has ceased, the Friday Night TV Show Reaper has arrived, and the series has officially gotten the boot.
In addition to Grace, McGee, and Tatro, Home Economics also starred Karla Souza, Sasheer Zamata, Shiloh Bearman, Jordyn Curet, JeCobi Swain, Chloe Jo Rountree, and Lidia Porto. The series was created by Modern Humorist creators John Aboud and Michael Coulton; it last aired new episodes of January of 2023, when roughly 3 million people tuned in to what is now, retroactively, its series finale. For what it’s worth, ABC has been paring down drastically on its comedy output of late, with only three series left standing at the network at this point: Critical darling Abbott Elementary, long-standing Roseanne revival The Conners, and Gina Rodriguez’s Not Dead Yet, which picked up a second-season renewal after debuting earlier this year. And while its lineup is increasingly dominated by unscripted and reality programming, its drama department is at least a bit more robust—although Rookie spin-off Feds is apparently still hanging in the balance, too.
Update: In a tweet this evening, John Aboud addressed the cancellation, writing that, “Will try for a more specific post later, but for now just a quick thank you to our hilarious cast, amazing crew, supportive execs, and lovely viewers. It was a joy to work on @HomeEconABC @mikecolton and I will forever be grateful for the experience.”