Amazon Cancels Erinn Hayes’ New Show ‘The Dangerous Book For Boys’

Amazon canceled The Dangerous Book For Boys on Wednesday, meaning Kevin Can Wait star Erinn Hayes is once again without a series.

Deadline reported on the show’s cancellation, which was not a surprise. Four months after the show was released, it did not gain a following and was expensive to produce.

“I would say it’s looking very tough for the cost of the show. It’s really difficult, coming from the genre where it exists and the kind of audience it’s drawing,” Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke told Deadline in June. “The math doesn’t quite work.”

The series was a passion project for Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston, who co-created it with Greg Mottola (The Newsroom).

Based on the book by Conn and Hal Iggulden, The Dangerous Book For Boys focuses on the McKenna family after the death of patriarch Patrick (Chris Diamantopoulos), an inventor. Patrick created the titular book to help his three sons and inspire their fantasies. Wyatt (Gabriel Bateman) imagines a fantasy world inspired by the book, which helps him connect to the real world and his deceased father.

Hayes played the boys’ mother and Swoosie Kurtz played their grandmother. Drew Logan Powell and Kyan Zielinski portrayed the two other sons while Diamantopoulos also took on the role of Patrick’s twin brother.

Cranston had been trying to turn The Dangerous Book For Boys for years, started at NBC. The peacock network passed on it, and Cranston took it to Amazon. Cranston also worked with Amazon on Sneaky Pete, which was picked up fro a third season.

Hayes signed on to The Dangerous Book in July 2017, shortly after news broke that she would not return for CBS’ Kevin Can Wait for a second season. Star Kevin James and the Kevin Can Wait writers chose to kill off Hayes’ character between seasons and tapped King of Queens star Leah Remini.

“They’re such different shows,” Hayes told PEOPLE in April when comparing her shows. “One is a sitcom, it’s three jokes a page… You’re not diving into too much real emotion. And I had a wonderful time on that. And now I’m on this. This show is so true to life, and it’s… cinematic. The jokes can be the jokes and they come when they come, but it’s not like you gotta hit that thing.”

Without Hayes, Kevin Can Wait‘s ratings suffered as fans turned their back, and the show was canceled in May.

Hayes can next be seen in the movies Holly Slept Over and Sharon 1.2.3.

Photo Credit: Amazon