‘Tommy,’ Edie Falco-Led Series Canceled at CBS After One Season

CBS has chosen not to renew Edie Falco-led police drama Tommy for a second season, TVLine reported Wednesday after the network excluded the series from its mass renewal announcement. Tommy, which debuted in early February, followed the Emmy award-winning actress’ no-nonsense character, Abigail Thomas, a former high-ranking NYPD officer who shakes things up on the golden coast as the first female chief of police for Los Angeles.

The freshman drama came in with just shy of a 0.5 rating and 4.9 million total viewers in live and same day numbers, reports TVLine, putting it second to last of CBS’ 18 dramas in the demographic, topping Madam Secretary, and coming in 14th in audience size. Other series to get the ax along with Tommy were freshman sitcoms Carol’s Second Act and Broke, as well as Matt LeBlanc’s Man With a Plan, which is in its fourth season.

Falco, critically acclaimed for her roles in The Sopranos and Nurse Jackie, told the Associated Press ahead of Tommy‘s premiere that she is drawn to playing complicated and imperfect characters. “I think there seems to be more of an appetite in audiences now to see people who are complicated, that perhaps more easily represent people that they know and love, or themselves,” she explained. “You know, it’s very hard sometimes when you see a lot of perfect people on television, they look perfect. They act, they wear the right clothes, they have a great apartment. And I think people are ready to see people, to hear stories that might be closer to their own. So all across media right now, I think we’re representing more complicated people with complicated problems. It doesn’t mean that they can’t also be chief of police.”

With a show that tackled issues of sexism, immigration and sex trafficking, Falco said it was important to her to put forth a project with a message that means something. “If I’m lucky enough to be in the public eye in any way, on a television show that people are watching, it starts to really matter what I’m putting out there,” she said. “You know, it’s more than just entertainment at this point. It’s got to be something that I share the vision of or there’s gonna be a reason I want to be saying whatever it is the show might be saying to an audience. It does start to matter what I’m putting out there, and this show appealed to me in that way.”