‘All Access’: ‘Access Hollywood’ Spinoff Hosted by Mario Lopez Canceled

Access Hollywood spinoff All Access has been canceled. The half-hour entertainment news program, which is hosted by Mario Lopez, Kit Hoover, Scott Evans, and correspondent Sibley Scoles, is set to come to a close following its current season, with its final episodes airing in June. News of the cancelation was confirmed Thursday by Variety. The reason for its cancelation is unclear.

A spinoff of Access Hollywood, the series sought to “dig deeper into the national headlines to uncover the extraordinary real-life drama occurring in everyday places and exploring compelling true crime and uplifting human interest stories.” It premiered on Sept. 19 on six NBC-owned stations: New York (WNBC), Los Angeles (KNBC), Philadelphia (WCAU), San Francisco Bay Area (KNTV), Miami (WTVJ) and Hartford (WVIT). It was first announced to be in the works back in August 2019.

“With the rapidly evolving entertainment news cycle, we strive to bring our viewers the most up-to-date headlines and going live will achieve that,” Maureen FitzPatrick, senior executive producer of Access Hollywood, All Access, and Access Daily, said at the time. “We will be able to advance the stories in real time as news breaks.”

The series joined flagship series Access Hollywood, now in its 25th season, Access Daily, and Access Weekend. Those three series are set to continue next season. They are all executive produced by Hot Bench alum Maureen FitzPatrick, who stepped into the role in 2019 following the exit of longtime executive producer Rob Silverstein. Silverstein left the franchise after 20 years, telling staffers in a note, that his “vision of the show moving forward differs from the management team, so we have agreed today will be my final day as EP.”

All Access‘ cancelation comes amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has resulted in the cancelation of numerous series. Netflix, for example, canceled a number of previously renewed series, including The Society, I Am Not Okay With This, and Glow, citing the pandemic for each cancellation. TruTV, meanwhile, canceled Andrea Savage’s I’m Sorry. After renewing it for a second season, ABC in September reversed course and canceled the Cobie Smulders-starring series Stumptown. It is unclear if the All Access cancellation was a result of the pandemic. Amid the pandemic, Access Hollywood resumed in-studio production in June. At the time, a source said the show had a “lean set” with only a handful of people working in the same vicinity. The series’ hosts, meanwhile, practiced safe social distancing while filming.At this time, Lopez, Hoover, Evans, and Scoles have not commented on the cancellation. Stay tuned to PopCulture for the latest updates!