*We doubt this news is gonna surprise or shock anyone. On Friday, Jerrod Carmichael announced that he’s leaving NBC’s “The Carmichael Show.” And with that announcement, “The Carmichael Show” was history.
If you’re wondering what’s going on, Carmichael released a statement through his publicist.
“For three seasons (okay 2.5), I got to make a show that I love with my friends,” he said. “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.“
Just like last May, we heard renewal negotiation between NBC and 20th TV had been difficult, with the two sides far apart and talks going slowly. With no clear indications from the network one way or the other, I hear 20th TV quietly sent out feelers to other networks to gauge potential interest in case NBC opted to cancel the show.
Things between NBC and “The Carmichael Show” have never smooth, it seems. There’s always been friction as far as the parties were concerned. In fact renewal negotiations between NBC and 20th TV had been difficult, with the two sides far apart and talks going slowly.
“The Carmichael Show was such a wonderful show that we choose to focus today not on its loss but on the three incredible seasons we had the pleasure to produce,” said 20th Century Fox TV Presidents Jonnie Davis and Howard Kurtzman today in a statement. “We are thankful to the brilliant Jerrod Carmichael and his talented cast, and to showrunner Danielle Sanchez-Witzell, our fantastic writers and devoted production team. It’s a rarity that a comedy series tackles the social and political issues of the day in such a clever and hilariously funny way. This show was special, and we will miss it.”
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Deadline made this observation:
Season 3 of The Carmichael Show — a rare critically praised multi-camera sitcom — was produced for this midseason but was held until May 31. There had been concerns the delay would chip away at the show’s timeliness, which had been part of its DNA as the show had regularly taken on hot-button subjects like police violence.
But Season 3 has proven very timely — two weeks ago NBC postponed at the last minute an episode that deals with a mass shooting as it fell on a day of two real-life mass shootings in the U.S. — including the one at a congressional GOP baseball practice. The network’s decision was publicly criticized by Carmichael who called it “criminal.” That episode aired last night.
It was just last week, that “The Carmichael Show” took on the N-word and whether white people can say it on the heels of the controversy surrounding comedian Bill Maher’s use of the word on his HBO show.
Ratings-wise, The Carmichael Show has been relatively stable. Airing on Wednesdays behind Little Big Shots and its offshoot Little Big Shots: Forever Young, the comedy’s adults 18-49 ratings have stayed within the 0.7-0.9 in Live+Same Day.
Lil Rel Howery, a “Carmichael Show” cast member, posted a statement about the show ending.
