Extended Family canceled after just one season (and the reason sadly isn't shocking)

It’s official, Extended Family will not be coming back for a second season at NBC. The network’s sole freshman comedy series failed to receive a renewal and joins a short list of shows canceled by NBC this season. 

The multi-camera comedy from Mike O’Malley brought together a strong trio of leads with Jon Cryer, Abigal Spencer, and Donald Faison leading the ensemble comedy. Many insiders had hinted that the series had a strong chance of coming back for another season, with outlets such as Variety and Deadline hinting that Extended Family was expected to get another season while Lopez vs Lopez was said to be in the most danger of cancellation. Instead, it was Lopez vs Lopez that was renewed, and Extended Family that received its walking papers. 

NBC canceled Extended Family due to low ratings

Although NBC did not release a formal statement addressing the cancellation of Extended Family, the show appears to have been canceled after one season due to disappointing ratings. 

Across the show’s 13-episode season, Extended Family averaged 3.2 million total viewers with a 0.4 demo rating with Live+ 7-day playback. Those stats made the show one of NBC’s least-watched programs of the season, and those ratings ultimately were not strong enough for NBC to bring the show back for a second season. 

What is interesting is that Extended Family was performing slightly better than Lopez vs Lopez in the ratings, so it is interesting that Extended Family was canceled between the two. Perhaps it’s that NBC had higher expectations for the series and ultimately felt more confident in Lopez vs Lopez.

Regardless of the reasoning, ratings were ultimately the downfall of the show which is a common occurrence for broadcast shows. Ratings can often be make-or-break for shows and that seems to be the case with Extended Family.

There are no reports of Extended Family being shopped

With NBC canceling Extended Family, fans might be eager to know whether the show could find a home on another network; however, there are no current reports of the show being shopped around to other networks or streamers. Typically, there are some early indicators when a show is going to be shopped but no report about the show’s cancellation has indicated that the show will be shopped around. 

This isn’t entirely shocking given the ratings for the series haven’t been the strongest, and comedies tend to be harder to shop around than canceled dramas tend to be.