Fox Cancels Denis Leary Sitcom Despite ‘Last Man Standing’ Lead-In

Denis Leary is available for another project after Fox canceled The Moodys on Thursday. The show was one of the last broadcast series waiting for word on its future, but it was never really in doubt. Although some episodes of Season 2 had Last Man Standing as a lead-in, the show never attracted an audience.

The first five episodes of The Moodys Season 2 aired as originally scheduled on Thursdays in April, with the first two airing on April 1. The next three episodes aired after new episodes of Last Man Standing's final season, but the remaining three episodes produced were pulled from the schedule. Two episodes aired on June 6, and the now-series finale aired on June 20. That decision pretty much sealed the show's fate and made it impossible for the show to get traction. Season 2 averaged just 1.7 million viewers and a 0.4 18-49 rating, that that is including a week of delayed viewing, notes The Hollywood Reporter.

The Moodys starred Leary and Elizabeth Perkins as a married Chicago couple who welcome their adult children home. The rest of the main cast included Francois Arnaud, Chelsea Frei, and Jay Baruchel. The first season was billed as a limited, six-episode series that aired between Dec. 4 and Dec. 10, 2019. The first season was based on Trent O'Donnell and Phil Lloyd's Australian series A Moody Christmas. The American version was created by Rob Greenberg, Bob Fisher, and Tad Quill. The series was produced by CBS Television Studios and Fox Entertainment.

With The Moodys gone and Last Man Standing over, Fox's only returning sitcom for the 2021-2022 TV season will be Call Me Kat. That series stars Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory) as a single woman who runs a cat cafe in Louisville. Swoosie Kurtz, Leslie Jordan, Kyla Pratt, Julian Grant, and Cheyenne Jackson co-star.

Fox does have two new sitcoms on the way. Welcome to Flatch is based on the BBC's This County. It centers on a documentary crew that plans to chronicle the lives of presidents from a small American town. Seann William Scott and Aya Cash star in the series. Pivoting is set in a Long Island town and focuses on three close friends who cope after the death of a fourth friend. Eliza Coupe, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Maggie Q star.