‘Stumptown’ Canceled at ABC After First Season Due to COVID-Related Circumstances

Stumptown has been officially canceled at ABC after one season, as Deadline reported Wednesday. While the series was initially renewed for Season 2 back in May, the decision has been reversed due to issues tying back to the coronavirus pandemic. The show will now be shopped around in the hopes that it will find a new home on another network or streaming service.

As fans will recall, Stumptown was a part of ABC’s fall line-up, which was announced in June. It was set to return on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET, the time slot that it occupied during Season 1. Due to a production start delay, the series couldn’t return in the fall. So, the ABC network decided not to move forward with another season of the series, which starred Cobie Smulders. Stumptown films in Los Angeles, but it did not have a firm start date for which Season 2 would begin production. Deadline noted that the coronavirus pandemic played a significant part in ABC’s decision to ultimately not move forward with another season.

Additionally, with the pandemic playing a part in the delay, the production needed extra time to get scripts in shape because of a showrunner change at the end of Season 1. As a result of these changes and delays, Season 2 of Stumptown would not have been ready until April, which is at the end of the traditional broadcast season. Since the show wouldn’t be ready until 2021, the network decided to cancel the series. The cast and crew were reportedly made aware of the network’s decision on Wednesday afternoon.

As previously stated, Stumptown was one of the many shows that ABC decided to renew in May. At the time, the network renewed 13 of their shows including Stumptown, The Conners, The Goldbergs, and The Bachelor. Karey Burke, the president of ABC Entertainment, released a statement in which she noted that they were keeping the current state of the pandemic in mind in renewing these shows. “Our top priority now is to work with our studio partners to ensure a safe return to production so that we can build on the strong momentum of a winning lineup with measured bets on new series that will invigorate our air and continue to deliver the quality programming that our viewers have come to expect and love,” she said.