Showtime Cancels Jim Carrey’s ‘Kidding’ After 2 Seasons

It looks like Showtime has brought the ax down Jim Carrey’s show, Kidding. The network announced it canceled the show after airing two seasons. The series followed Carrey in his leading role as children’s show host Jeff Piccirillo (commonly called Mr. Pickles). Outside his job, his life took a turn for the worse when his son died and his marriage fell apart. Along with Carrey, the show also starred Frank Langella, Catherine Keener and Judy Greer. The network thanked Carrey and the show’s director and producers for all the work they put into it, “We are very proud to have aired this imaginative, critically acclaimed and rewarding series.” Showtime first premiered Kidding in September 2018 with the second season wrapping up on Mar. 1. After its first season, the show and Carrey earned a Golden Globe nomination for best comedy series and best actor.

Kidding was Carrey’s first time back on a television set full-time since his work on In Living Color. The Ace Ventura star said in an interview in The Guardian that he was sold on the show when he saw he would get to work under the guidance of Michael Gondry, who admitted in that same interview that “we wanted to work together again.” The two had previously worked on his sci-fi romance film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which starred Carrey and Kate Winslet.

Before taking on the project of Kidding, Carrey had taken a step back in Hollywood. He had last worked two years prior in Dark Crimes and The Bad Batch, none of which garnered much attention. He and Jeff Daniels teamed back up in 2014 for Dumb and Dumber To after the original from 1994 helped kickstart his career. Carrey’s first big break came with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective that same year, followed by The Mask and his role as The Riddler in Batman Forever. Kidding helped reinvigorate his career as he took on the part of Doctor Robotnik in this year’s Sonic the Hedgehog film.

Kidding isn’t the only series to be pulled from Showtime this year. In February, it was announced that Showtime axed Ray Donovan after seven seasons. This hit series starred Ray Schreiber and earned 10 Emmys and seven Golden Globes nominations. At the time of the news, the network said it was “proud that the series ended on such a powerful note.” The final season concluded at the end of January.