Kelsey Grammer Shocked As Show Kicked Off Fox

LOS ANGELES — Kelsey Grammer said Tuesday that Fox is dropping his sitcom "Back to You," calling the decision a surprise and a shame. "They have let it go," Grammer told The Associated Press. "We were told all this time we were in good shape and we were coming back."

On Friday, Grammer taped an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show promoting the series. When the veteran sitcom star ("Cheers," "Frasier") arrived home later that evening he received a call telling him that the show was canceled.

"Back to You," co-starring Patricia Heaton and set in a Pittsburgh TV station newsroom, debuted strongly last fall with nearly 9.5 million viewers. But its audience has slipped, with last week's episode drawing just under 7 million viewers.

Television watching overall is down, a trend that's been blamed in part on lingering effects of a 100-day writers strike that shut down TV production.

Fox's fall schedule is set to be announced Thursday in New York. The network declined comment on the fate of "Back to You."

Grammer said he spoke with Fox executives Peter Liguori and Kevin Reilly on Saturday and that they didn't fully explain the decision. He speculated that their interest in the show had "waned" so they were unwilling to be patient with it.

"I'm not really sure what the real reasoning is. I think they ended up with a show that was going to be a great show. It was a great show," he said.

An online petition campaign is afoot to save the show and Grammer and his wife, Camille, sent an e-mail note to friends inviting them to jump aboard. Grammer said he's "nursing a tiny hope" that CBS might pick up the show after talking with CBS CEO Leslie Moonves.

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"I spoke with Les the other day and he was not completely discouraging," Grammer said, wryly.

Grammer and his wife e-mailed friends that if they wished to voice support for the show to CBS, "you won't hear us complaining."

In an interview, Grammer dismissed talk that the show, with two high-profile TV stars in him and Heaton ("Everybody Loves Raymond"), was too costly for Fox.

"That's rarely a stumbling block if they really want a show," he said. "There are ways around that. They just really didn't want it."

But, he said, this week's episode (8 p.m. EDT Wednesday) is excellent and an example of why "Back to You" deserves to continue.

"It does exactly what you want a sitcom to do. Granted, there are new trends in viewing and it's edgy to watch something with no laugh track," Grammer said. "But when the old form is firing it's the funniest form in the world."

___

On the Web:

http://www.fox.com

Petition for "Back to You": http://www.petitionspot.com/signature/back2useason2

Comments

[mondobleu]

Cant sell shit on melba toast.

[bimplebean]

Well I like Kelsey Grammer and I love Fred Willard, and the show was very slickly produced, but it was a bit tired even out of the starting gate, I'm reluctant to say. Very formulaic, very old school -- the only thing that could have saved it would have been better writing. It just wasn't that funny.

Heck the Cosby show was formulaic too, and not groundbreaking --- but it was amazingly well written and very funny because of it.

Kelsey will land on his feet. Bear in mind his production company is responsible for NBC's 'Medium,' which is an outstanding show, still going strong.

[elcojonu]

Poor Kelsey, not even Fox wants him.
It must be devastating.

[StillIRise]

When is FOX going to get cancelled?

[MikePatronSaintofTruth]

Grammar is a Rush-Limbaugh GOP stalwart. I'm glad this show got canceled. And she's no better. Selfish. Arrogant. Solipsistic. Judgmental. Typical Republicans.

[choadius]

I never saw "Back to You" before it was cancelled. I did enjoy "Cheers" and "Frasier", but if I had known that Kelsey Grammer was a Republican I wouldn't have liked those shows and would have been happy when they were cancelled. I wish we could stop Robert Duvall, James Woods, Dennis Hopper and that Libertarian, Drew Carey, too.

[choadius]

Patricia Heaton is annoying and definitely not funny.

[MadMoll]

Why should someone's politics be deciding factor of an actor's talent.? The Right thinks we lost our right to express an opinion publicly when we first set foot on a stage. Now to get it from :"my" side. thanks for your support

[JhNyc]

Oh stop. That's just silly. As nonsensical as the Republicans sound. If you don't want to watch those actors, don't. It's that simple.

[choadius]

Of course it is silly. Thank you so much for noticing. You have helped restore some of my faith in humanity and I am not being sarcastic this time. :-) Sadly, there are similar posts that are not intended to be silly. Ex. 1. "I find it amusing that some of you feel the same way I do about them both being Republicans. I thought I was the only person that did not watch either one of them after finding out they were both repugs. I was pissed when I found out Heaton played a roll in that ABC bullsh*t mini-series about 9-11." Ex. 2. "I am glad Patrica Heaton is no longer there. I stop watching Everybody loves Raymond and the reruns ever since i found out that she is a repug and campaign against Clair in Missouri. " Ex. 3. "They best hurry down to register, there will soon be a surplus of useless Republican scum lining up at the ol' Unemployment Office . . . and many with far better resumes . . . ."
As you know, there are many other examples of this type of thinking found here and my examples were taking from just one page. Thank you again. I am a fan.

[psgoodguy]

i watched this show 4 times. the only thing worse is how i met your mother. oy.

[DMcD]

Guess thats what he gets for working for and trusting in Faux ----------- Faux is well known for their abscence of loyalty to America (Murdoch is a citizen of "what country" now ?), let alone their own employees.

[JhNyc]

They're very loyal to shows that people watch, like The Simpsons...

[BushBites]

Groening should have took his act out of there a long time ago.

Not sure why he stays: He knows Fox is an Evil Empire.

[RaraAvis17]

I find it amusing that some of you feel the same way I do about them both being Republicans. I thought I was the only person that did not watch either one of them after finding out they were both repugs. I was pissed when I found out Heaton played a roll in that ABC bullsh*t mini-series about 9-11.

Kelsey was great on Frazier, but that's over and done with.

[BushBites]

Bush, Grammar, Kudlow.....half the traders on Wall Street.

Seems like most cokeheads go Repub.

[drzoon]

i've never been a Heaton fan. she just seems mean mean mean to me! on or off camera..

[CammyV]

He's surprised? Did he ever watch this program?

[eurydice]

Two more staunch Republican Bush supporters bite the dust:

Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton

[MelCraig]

~

It stunk. Heaton was absolutely humorless.

'Til Death better pick it up too, or it will be gone. Brad Garrett is carrying the whole thing himself.

~

[swingerofbirches]

I tried watching the first few episodes and found it unbearably uncomfortable to watch. It felt incredibly forced and was not funny. I have to agree with someone else's comment that 30 Rock has really lost its edge. It's choppy, and has too many unfunny, nonbelievable plotlines. These shows that were good at times (30 Rock, The Office) don't get that they are good when they FLIRT with obscene, over the top ideas that are stretches for normal human beings. But when the characters themselves are obscene and over the top in everything they do, their antics are no longer edgy, they're stupid!

Are there any good shows left? I liked the free episodes HBO put out of In Treatment and will see the rest when it comes out on DVD--but what about comedies? The Office and 30 Rock were my standbys, but they're no longer too good.

[Nyk]

I'm still enjoying The Office. We also watch Everybody Hates Chris, but those are the only sit-coms we are currently engaged in.

[ElPerro]

"But when the old form is firing it's the funniest form in the world."

Uh, no it isn't Kelsey. There many of us that decried that predictable joke-set-up, laugh-track, formula since the 70s, but if we wanted comedy, we had few alternatives. But thank god that cable provided competition and talent opportunities beyond the networks through the late 80s and 90s. And as a result we now have plenty of comedy options that are funnier than anything we had to chose from 30 years ago, don't insult the audience's intelligence and are not based on formulas so old they should be collecting social security. Take your Comedy Edsell and move on, Kelsey.

[sociocanuck]

can you honestly expect a self-described conservative republican to support anything other than the "old" way of doing things?

i can't.

[ibivi]

What-Fox suddenly has taste? Amazing. Heaton and Grammer play two unlikable, self-involved twits. Most of the newsroom characters are stupid. How did this dreck get on the air in the first place? Goodbye!

[JackND]

Yeah, the show was terrible from the gitgo.

[ElPerro]

So they were playing themselves?

I've never really got the appeal of Grammer anyway. I thought he was merely ok as part of the ensemble cast of Cheers, but would have been a disaster as a lead player. Fraiser was mostly unwatchable, except as a cure for insomnia. But I guess he's ok as Sideshow Bob.

and Patricia Heaton, who the hell is she? Just another mediocre actor who lucked out from timing and place. There are at least a few dozen actresses that could have played the bland generic wife on Raymond. There's absolutely nothing that makes this woman stand out from the crowd.

Good riddence. But I am a bit surprised that Fox didn't keep them around as part of some Wingnut Welfare policy.