‘Love Connection’ Canceled by Fox After 2 Seasons

Fox has officially canceled its Love Connection reboot with Andy Cohen after two seasons.

Love Connection has struggled through its two seasons on the air, with low ratings and little fan engagement. On Wednesday morning, Cohen himself announced the cancellation in an interview on Sirius XM’s The Howard Stern Show.

“They canceled it,” he said glumly. Later, a Fox representative confirmed the news to reporters from TVLine.

Love Connection finished its second season in September. Even the big finale did not draw an impressive audience. The show scored a 0.5 Nielsen rating in the key demographic of adults ages 18 to 49. Its total viewers were judged at 1.82 million.

To its credit, Love Connection took a lot of risks to draw in more viewers in Season 2. The show ditched one of its most callous features — the optional pay-out. It allowed the audience to vote on the contestants’ best match, and if the contestant picked the same person, they were awarded $10,000. If they did not, they were forced to choose between their date and the cash.

The show did away with this part in Season 2, as it had been heavily criticized by critics and viewers. It re-branded, promising “more happy endings” for the couples that played, but it could not reclaim its alienated viewers.

Still, some will be sad to see Love Connection go, especially fans of Cohen. The magnanimous host was the real triumph of the show, and his followers are always disappointed to see a project fall by the wayside. Many tweeted at Cohen about the cancellation on Wednesday, but he did not address the show.

The original Love Connection is considered a classic game show. It ran from 1983 to 1994, with 2,120 episodes in its original run. The show was hosted by Chuck Woolery, and it was a cultural phenomenon with an impact still felt to this day.

This was not the first time a network has tried to get a reboot going. In 1998, it ran for one season with Pat Bullard as the host before it was canceled. That little-regarded version was never syndicated, as the original was.

After that, Warner Bros. developed a reboot in 2015 with comedian Loni Love serving as the host. That version fell through in its early stages, and just two short years later, Fox took its shot. Even though that is over now, there is no doubting the dating show’s impact on American TV culture.