ABC Cancels Five Popular Series Ahead of Fall Season

ABC is doing a bit of spring cleaning, and then some. Friday afternoon, the network revealed it has cancelled five shows, removing them all from the 2021-2022 fall television schedule. American Housewife is ending after five seasons on the network while Mixed-ish and For Life were each pulled after their respective sophomore outings. Rounding out Friday’s cancellations at the Craig Erwich-led network include Rebel and Call Your Mother, a multicam comedy starring Kyra Sedwick.

The initial report from THR also says ABC also opted to pass on four pilots it had previously ordered. Acts of Crime from Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot) and comedies Black Don’t Crack, Adopted, and Bucktown are not making it past the pilot stage at the network.

There are still reportedly five pilots in the works — Kevin Costner’s National Parks Investigation, Dark Horse, Epic, Promised Land, and Triage. It’s expected ABC is sitting on the pilots to see if they’d do better as midseason pickups.

Rebel was a series created by Krista Vernoff (Grey’s Anatomy), who just recently signed an overall deal with ABC Signature, another Disney-owned studio. Vernoff’s new deal is said to be for two years. She’s still involved in the development of Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19.

“Krista Vernoff is a superstar who makes the almost impossible task of running three shows seem like a reasonable amount of work,” Walt Disney TV entertainment chairman Dana Walden said at the announcement. “‘I am honestly in awe of her. Everyone at the studio and network is grateful for the tremendous job she’s done on the amazing Shondaland shows, and we are proud to be launching Krista’s first creation, Rebel, on ABC in two weeks. The optimism, intellectual curiosity and quest for social justice embodied in its title character are traits that could easily apply to Krista herself, and those are just a few of the qualities that make us feel lucky to work with her every day.”

Cover photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images