CBS Cancels Major Sitcom

CBS has marked the end for the United States of Al. The network has canceled the Chuck Lorre comedy after its second season, Deadline first reported Wednesday. Two more episodes remain of the show's second season, and the Season 2 finale will now serve as its series finale when it airs on May 19.

The United States of Al told the story of the friendship between Riley (Parker Young), a Marine combat veteran struggling with the readjustment to life as a civilian in Ohio, and Awalmir (Adhir Kalyan) – also known as Al – an interpreter who served with Riley's unit in Afghanistan and had just come to the U.S. to start a new life. Kelli Goss, Elizabeth Alderfer, Farrah Mackenzie and Dean Norris also starred.

The second season of the comedy was praised for depicting the crisis in Afghanistan when U.S. troops withdrew from the country last summer, leading Taliban military forces to take over. In the show, Al was frantically trying to get his sister out of their country amid the crisis, and the Dugan family rallied around him to ensure her safety. None of the show's stars have yet to publicly comment about the cancellation on social media, but Deadline reported Wednesday that the network had made the calls that morning.

Season 2 of United States of Al had been averaging 5.9 million total weekly viewers and a 0.6 demo rating with Live+7 playback, down just slightly from what it averaged with its first season. This brought the comedy to number five out of seven in CBS' sitcom rankings. United States of Al was previously on the bubble twice before its cancellation alongside its fellow Lorre-produced comedy B Positive

While both ultimately were renewed last year, Deadline previously reported last month that there were talks about having only one of the two join Lorre's Young Sheldon and Bob Hearts Abishola on the 2022-23 CBS schedule. The publication reports now that with United States of Al's cancellation, B Positive looks to have a better chance of getting renewed. Also remaining on the bubble at CBS are drama Magnum PI, freshman comedy How We Roll and freshman drama Good Sam.

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