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Seeing a TV show get canceled is never fun, and there are a variety of reasons for shows coming to an end. Whether it's a Netflix project that had some potential, or a network show that people enjoy, seeing projects fall by the wayside is never fun.
A couple years back, Dax Shepard and Lake Bell teamed up for Bless This Mess, and the show was off to a solid start on its network. Despite good reviews and a loyal audience, the series was unable to last beyond its two-season run on ABC.
Fans have been genuinely curious about why the show was axed, and we have some details below that might provide some insight behind the network's decision.
'Bless This Mess' Was A Short-Lived Show
2019's Bless This Mess was a single camera sitcom that debuted on ABC.
Starring Dax Shepard and Lake Bell, who also co-created the show, Bless This Mess was a series focused on a couple leaving behind their digs in New York in favor of small town Nebraska.
When discussing what went into making the show unique, Bell said, "The challenge I try to pay attention to is space and expanse. What’s unique to ‘Bless This Mess’ is we shoot ‘on location’ — we don’t have a soundstage, so everything is texturally very authentic. You can see in the episodes that there’s texture to these little bits of messiness, and I had to fight really hard for that. I think now that the tone is more established, the editors, the producers, the network, and the studio are comfortable with it.”
For two seasons, the series was able to please fans and tell an interesting story. Sadly, this was not enough to keep the good times rolling on ABC.
It Was Canceled After Two Seasons
In 2020, after just two seasons on the air, it was announced that Bless This Mess was being axed by its network.
"ABC is cleaning up its act, canceling Bless This Mess after two seasons, TVLine has learned. News of Bless This Miss’ cancellation comes on the heels of ABC renewing 13 series. The network also axed Emergence, Schooled and Single Parents. This season leading out of ABC’s No. 1 comedy (The Conners), Bless This Messaveraged a 0.67 demo rating and 3.6 million total viewers, right on par with its freshman run. Out of the 10 sitcoms ABC aired this TV season, it ranked No. 5 in both measures," TV Line reported.
People were pretty surprised to see that the show was coming to an end. Not only was it maintaining decent ratings, but the show was enjoyed by both fans and critics. In fact, Bless This Mess' overall average open Rotten Tomatoes is an impressive 82.5%.
Despite this show having a lot going for it, the network still decided to pull the plug, leading many to wonder why this was the case.
Why It Was Canceled?
So, why was the shown canceled? Unfortunately, networks tightening things up after the onset of the pandemic might have played a factor in this decision.
"Viewership for the show actually went up during Bless This Mess' second season, where it averaged nearly four million viewers per episode. While it wasn't a ratings smash, it was a solid performer for ABC that looked like it was building an audience through word of mouth. While it was assumed Bless This Mess season 3 would happen, ABC canceled it and other shows like Single Parents in May 2020," ScreenRant reported.
"While there has not been any official word on why Bless This Mess was canceled, the timing of its cancellation likely holds the key. May 2020 was early on in the COVID-19 pandemic and a lot of studios were working to tighten their belts. With production on hold for many projects, there were several that it was easier to just cancel, and Bless This Mess likely met its fate because of this," the site continued.
Sadly, there were many shows that fell victim to the same thing, and people who enjoyed watching bless this mess were genuinely upset that it was being booted from the net work after such a short run.
The Hollywood Reporter did note that perhaps the network wanted to shift back to a single night of comedy programming each week, but again, nothing regarding the decision of the cancellation was made official.
Bless This Mess was not able to develop into a major hit like the network wanted, but it seemed to at least be on the right track before meeting its end.
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