'The Good Doctor' Spinoff Was Just Scrapped by ABC

The Good Doctor spinoff The Good Lawyer is officially not happening. Variety reports that ABC has passed on the potential series starring Kennedy McMann and Felicity Huffman. There was a backdoor pilot during the latest season of the medical drama. McMann starred as the titular lawyer, a 20-something named Joni DeGroot who has OCD. Huffman starred as her boss, superstar attorney and partner, Janet Stewart. The series was the final pilot at ABC still in contention. The network only picked up one pilot, Kaitlin Olson's High Potential, originally for the 2023-24 season but has now been pushed back to fall 2024 due to the strikes.

The Good Lawyer would have been McMann's first follow-up to Nancy Drew after The CW mystery drama came to an ende in August after four seasons. Currently, she has no other projects in the works, but hopefully, with the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike, that will soon change. As for Huffman, her appearance on The Good Doctor was her first role since the College Admissions Scandal. According to IMDb, she does have a couple of other projects in the works, so at least there is still that.

ABC has definitely been harsh as of late. News of The Good Lawyer comes at the same time as the announcement of The Rookie: Feds getting canceled after only one season. So, unfortunately, these spinoffs will no longer see the light of day. The network also recently canceled sitcom Home Economics after three seasons. All three shows were the only ones awaiting any news, and with the strikes, it was unknown when it could come. After news of Home Economics broke, it was likely Feds and The Good Lawyer would follow soon after. While they did, it wasn't the news fans were hoping for.

It's unknown if the series, which comes from Sony Pictures Television and ABC Signature, will be shopped around. The end of the actors' strike definitely makes it easier, but as of now, it doesn't seem like it. Hopefully, The Good Doctor Season 7 will be able to find some way to still incorporate The Good Lawyer. As long as another doctor doesn't stand trial. It's definitely a disappointment, especially after fans have been waiting since March for any news. At least they will no longer have to wait, even though they were not looking forward to this piece of news. The good news is that The Good Doctor is coming back soon, which is better than nothing.