ABC Skips Alec Baldwin and Kelsey Grammer Comedy Series After Seeing Pilot

A planned ABC series from Modern Family‘s Chris Lloyd and Cheers creator James Burrows has been scrapped after the network failed to connect with the completed pilot. The as-yet-untitled series, which is set to star Alec Baldwin, Kelsey Grammer, and Alec Mapa as a trio of men who were roommates in their twenties until their warring egos pulled them apart. According to the series’ official synopsis, they reunite for one more shot at the lives they have always wanted. The project was originally ordered straight-to-series based on the pedigrees of those involved, but apparently was not what ABC expected. Producers will shop the show around, likely beginning with Hulu, since 20th Television and Hulu are both owned by Disney.

After reinventing his career with 30 Rock, Baldwin has not appeared consistently on network TV since. His notable appearances on Saturday Night Live, where he was brought in to parody former U.S. President Donald Trump, quickly became a source of frustration for the actor, who scaled those appearances way back.

Grammer is set to bring Frasier back. The series, which ran for 11 seasons on NBC, was produced by Paramount and distributed by CBS Television Distribution, which means that it is headquartered on Paramount+, where the new Frasier is expected to debut. The character of Frasier appeared in season 3 of Cheers as a therapist with whom Diane Chambers (Shelly Long) had fallen in love after she left the bar and had herself committed to a mental institution to deal with a breakdown. Even after Diane left the series, Frasier remained behind, ultimately becoming the only member of the sprawling Cheers gang to get a successful spinoff (there was an attempt to give one to Carla and her family, but the less said about The Tortellis, the better).

Vali Chandrasekaran, also of Modern Family, will executive produce the series alongside Baldwin and Grammer. Jason Schrift, Matt DelPiano, Tom Russo, Adam Griffin and Jeff Morton also produce. As noted by Variety, this series looks to be a reunion special, bringing Lloyd and Grammer back together after their work on Frasier, and Chandrasekaran, a writer and producer on 30 Rock, back together with Baldwin. Mapa and Baldwin appeared together in the movie Chick Fight.

Are you disappointed to hear that Baldwin and Grammer’s new series is not going forward at ABC? Where would you like to see it end up? Chime in below or tag us on Twitter.