Freeform Scraps New Series That Had Already Wrapped Production

Freeform has decided to not air an upcoming series, even though production on Season 1 is already completed. On Friday, reports revealed that the network has pulled the plug on While You Were Breeding, an hourlong comedy series based on Kristin Newman’s memoir of the same name. Production on the ten-episode first season of While You Were Breeding had already wrapped, and the show was in its post-production stage, before pausing those operations amid the recently-wrapped WGA strike. Since While You Were Breeding didn’t make its previously-planned August 2023 premiere date, Freeform reportedly reevaluated the show and decided it was no longer a fit for their programming.

That being said, Freeform Studios will reportedly have the ability to shop the show elsewhere, meaning that it could end up on another platform in the future.

What Is While You Were Breeding About?

While You Were Breeding follows Kacey (Chelsea Frei), single for the first time in her 30s, as she escapes her fast-paced life in Los Angeles to see the world. From culture clash to vacation romances, the comedy is a globetrotting journey of self-discovery that will inspire the wanderlust inside everyone. Catherine Cohen, Alice Hunter and Kosha Patel were also set to star.

“The hardest thing about being a showrunner during a strike is wondering if you’re the only schmuck furloughing all of your crew and potentially harming your career and/or show by halting work, so I wanted to say publicly that we shut down post production on the show that means more to me than anything I’ve ever made today,” Newman wrote when the post-production stoppage occurred. “It uses voice over, which is generally straight from, like, my journal and/or soul, so it’s impossible to edit without writing. The air date is being pushed from this August to sometime in 2024 and it’s incredibly painful but I want this strike to be as short as humanly possible and that only happens if we really commit and all do this together. I also want to acknowledge Freeform, who chose to do what this entire strike is about — value the voice of the writer/creator — and push pause until I can finish this thing we all care about and have worked so hard on properly. It was the right thing to do.”

What Shows Does Freeform Have?

Freeform’s original titles now include the final season of Grown-ish, as well as existing dramas Good Trouble and Cruel Summer, and the animated comedy Praise Petey. Earlier this summer, the network also cancelled Single Drunk Female after two seasons, and The Watchful Eye after one season. 

“We’re gonna get to know some of our other characters in the world,” The Watchful Eye showrunner Emily Fox explained in an interview with Deadline. “This world gets a little bit bigger with each episode and a little bit richer and more complex. I think we’re going to learn a lot more about the history of the building. There is a puzzle piece put in place with each episode. Part of what the viewer should be figuring out in the first few episodes is, ‘Wait, what are we trying to solve for here?’ There’s a whodunit, and there’s a whydunit. There’s the supernatural component too. One of my really favorite things about it is that there’s sort of no way to prove that it’s not happening, but when something is happening, just in your head, it can make you think, like, ‘Am I losing my grip on reality? Is there something in this building that’s making me see things?’ It’s yet another test for Elena.”

What do you think of Freeform deciding not to air While You Were Breeding? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

h/t: Deadline