We have the first canceled show of the fall: ABC’s Manhattan Love Story.
ABC has decided to axe the Tuesday night comedy series, which fell to a new low in the ratings this week. The most recent episode delivered only 2.6 million viewers and a 0.7 rating among adults 18-49. The comedy chronicled the relationship journey of a new couple and starred Analeigh Tipton and Jake McDorman.
Next week the show and its lead-in Selfie will be preempted by a Halloween special. The week after that the 8 p.m. hour will have two episodes of Seflie — which is easily the most mocked new comedy of the fall, but has firmly better ratings than Manhattan Love Story. The most recent Selfie had 3.8 million viewers and a 1.1 rating.
ABC gave Manhattan four chances at bat before pulling the plug. As we first reported earlier this week, networks have waited a far longer-than-usual time before axing any shows this fall. The reasons range from executives wanting to wait for more DVR viewing data to having less-than-usual confidence in their midseason replacement shows.
Previously there were a couple series demotions that don’t qualify as cancellations. Fox’s struggling Sunday night comedy Mulaney saw its episode order reduced. And Fox’s reality show Utopia was moved off its Tuesday slot to Fridays.
While ABC might have the first canceled series, the network has reasons to be proud this fall. The broadcaster has the highest-rated new drama among adults 18-49 (Thursday’s How to Get Away with Murder) and the highest-rated new comedy (Wednesday’s Black-ish).
