‘Bob Hearts Abishola’ Demotes Cast Members in Big Change

As the broadcast TV landscape continues to change dramatically, CBS is reportedly cutting back on the sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola. According to an April 26 exclusive from Deadline, 11 of the 13 series regulars will be demoted to “recurring” status for the upcoming fifth season, meaning they won’t appear in every episode. Billy Gardell and Folake Olowofoyeku, who portray the titular characters of Bob Wheeler and Abishola Bolatito Doyinsola Oluwatoyin Wheeler, are the only two who will remain series regulars. 

The rest of the cast will reportedly have a five-episode guarantee, and it’s unclear if they will be able to appear in more than five installments in Season 5. As of now, Season 5 of Bob Hearts Abishola is only supposed to have 13 episodes. If CBS extends the episode number to 22, matching with the previous two seasons, the five-episode guarantee could remain intact, but it will be dependent on schedules if the cast can appear in more.

There’s also the possibility that Bob Hearts Abishola could end in Season 5 with no backorder, meaning it would end on 13 episodes. Currently, there’s no word if the comedy will end next season or what the official number of episodes will be. It does sound like the cast will appear in fewer episodes than normal, and there’s no telling what the storylines will look like or how the show will explain character absences.

This news comes not long after it was announced that stars in the Law & Order and One Chicago franchises will also have a reduced episodic guarantee due to budget cuts. A lot of shows these days are experiencing budget cuts and doing episodic cuts or pay cuts due to licensing fees and other formalities. If Bob Hearts Abishola winds up getting a sixth season, it’s unknown if the episodic guarantee will continue, but it’s hard to predict where everything will be financially this time next year.

Since there are still four episodes left of Season 4, fans will take comfort in knowing that they will still see all of their favorites in the remaining episodes of the season. It will be interesting to see if the finale will set up any future storylines that will foreshadow what some of the characters will be up to and explain why they won’t be seen as often. At the very least, hopefully, it goes along with the story, and it’s not just random because that would make it all the more better if we can’t see them in every episode.