Michael Cudlitz slams ABC's 'rude' comments blaming Kids Are Alright cancellation on fans
The Kids Are Alright
- Movie
UPDATE: Michael Cudlitz has released a statement to EW expanding on his tweets about ABC blaming The Kids Are Alright's cancelation on not having "a strong enough fan base."
"My Twitter post from yesterday was not sour grapes about cancellation. Far from it," Cudlitz says in the statement. "We are all very aware that our numbers @TheKidsABC were far from stellar. (Many reasons 4 this) The lifespan of any show ends in cancellation. Just be honest about the reasons or don't discuss the subject. ✌️ This is really all I have to say on this subject but I would like to thank the press for supporting The Kids during our run and after cancellation. The cast/crew from the top down had a blast making the show and we are very proud of what we created."
EARLIER: Michael Cudlitz is apologizing to fans of The Kids Are Alright after ABC blamed the show's cancellation, at least in part, on viewers — or the lack thereof.
"Seriously, @abc. Just say 'no comment.' This is just rude. I apologize to the @TheKidsABC fandom on behalf of @abc. Smfh," wrote the actor, who played Mike Cleary on the show during its two-season run.
Cudlitz' comments come in response to ABC president Karey Burke telling reporters at the Television Critics Assoc. on Monday that "there did not seem to be a strong enough fan base" to renew the show.
"The Kids Are Alright was a good show — I liked [it], personally," she said. "It was not that it didn't fit my personal vision for the network. It was that we really looked at it… from a ratings perspective, and we just did not see enough upside.
"We looked at many measures," Burke continued. "We looked at multi-platform viewing. We looked at social media sentiment. There did not seem to be a strong enough fan base at the time. These things always come down to business decisions, and this was a tough, tough decision."
Leading up to the finale of the show's first season, it was averaging an 0.87 in the demo, which was stronger than other ABC comedies like black-ish, Splitting Up Together, Fresh Off the Boat, Speechless and Bless This Mess, according to TV Line.
Cudlitz and actress Mary McCormack headlined the series, a family sitcom set in the 1970s. It centered on a brash Irish-Catholic clan of eight kids and kicks off when the eldest son returns home from seminary, only to reveal to his proud parents that he's thinking of giving it up.
"It gets people thinking in a new and different way," Cudlitz told EW about the show last year.
Series creator Tim Doyle announced the cancellation via Twitter back in May, writing simply, "'The Kids Are Alright' is dead. I just got the call."
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