'Work It' Canceled: Will 'Cougar Town' Take Its Place?

After only two episodes, ABC has pulled the plug on its controversial new comedy, "Work It," reports Zap2it.

Tuesday night's episode drew only 4.9 million viewers, and a dismal 1.5 rating in the coveted 18-49 demo. "Work It" was consistently panned by critics, including HuffPost TV's resident critic Maureen Ryan, who called the cross-dressing comedy, "One of the worst sitcoms of all time."

"Work It" has been widely criticized for its gender politics, but that's not all. In its pilot episode, Amaury Nolasco's character uttered the cringe-worthy line, "I'm Puerto Rican... I'd be great at selling drugs."

Not surprisingly, the joke backfired, setting off a firestorm of criticism on Facebook and Twitter, and even a primetime demonstration by about two-dozen people on Wed., Jan. 11 outside ABC studios in New York.

It looks like even the sitcom's provocative artwork and timely references couldn't save this sinking ship.

So with a hole in the Tuesday night lineup, that means "Cougar Town" can make a speedy return, right? Well, not yet. They will need some time to promote the new season.

Reruns of Tim Allen's "Last Man Standing" will fill the 8:30 p.m. Tuesday spot for the rest of January. ABC has yet to announce its official plan for the time slot.

But don't worry "Cougar Town" fans, showrunner Bill Lawrence tweeted the following Saturday morning:

Hopefully we will hear after Holiday weekend (on Tuesday) when we come back on...I feel good about it...

— Bill Lawrence (@VDOOZER) January 14, 2012

"Work It" also inspired a lot of Twitter activity -- and not all of it was negative. Yes, several people praised this so-called sitcom, but the masses agreed with the critics, and it looks like ABC listened. Read some of the uncensored Twitter reactions to the "Work It" premiere below.

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Comments

[lita m]

03:21 AM on 01/18/2012

I found this show offensive for no other reason than it was horrible--poor writing, poor acting, and because it was an incredibly poor remake of ABC's Bosom Buddies. The ads to promote the show were enough for most people to see what a disaster this was going to be. (Aren't the ads supposed to be the best parts of an upcoming show in order to draw people in?) Whoever gave the green light to this should be fired--that or limited to serving coffee and sandwiches to people who are more capable of producing quality entertainment... if ABC has any left.

[Delphi Omally]

01:12 AM on 01/18/2012

Too many of us are wishing we had merely been offended, from the grave. We didn't survive the "offense." The second we begin transition, whatever "easy life" we may have had is over---for life. We settle for a "hard life"---yet it is life rather than death. There are many other problems in the world to address but they can only be addressed by the living.

The printed media sans video and sound is very effective. Visual and aural media exponentially more so. Of this for over 60 years now, there has been no dispute---else why spend millions on visual and aural media---pardon me---on [commercials] to sway opinion, distort facts, broadcast deception, and create perceived reality? The history of television and movies related to T-persons is deplorable and has eluded self-policing. We will stand for this NO LONGER, comedy or not. We are here and have always been here. We told ABC that open season on T-males/females is now over. ABC listened and to save face broadcast (2) shows. How many shows get cancelled so quickly? Yes, this is a race----but only to the starting line for T-persons long overdue.

[Delphi Omally]

12:43 AM on 01/18/2012

Rather than engaging in a tit-4-tat diatribe with our detractors, I present this from GLAAD:

"While the show does not explicitly address T-Gender people, many viewers unfamiliar with the realities of being transgender will still make the connection. As the ad placed in Variety stated- by encouraging the audience to laugh at the characters’ attempts at womanhood, the show gives license to similar treatment of T-gender women."

Our vehement protest is about a "30,000" foot overview of the realities of being T-gender today. A T-gender journey is best described in the following way: we are inside a building with high ceilings and a very large area. Inside we are engaged in an obstacle course that begins with medical diagnosis for Gender Dysphoria and culminates after a complete gender and/or sex change. The detractors ARE NOT inside. They are peering in through tiny windows and are listening through keyholes. This analogy applies to all other UNIQUE journeys that involve "someone else's shoes." In short, your comments register very low on the Richter scale by lacking requisite credibility. With all (due) respect.

[moe11]

05:57 PM on 01/17/2012

work it great show too bad off air,people need to shut up and stop bithing

[Gyrlznluv]

04:00 PM on 01/17/2012

I watched the first episode, and so bad!!!!

[Diana Scrimger]

10:46 PM on 01/16/2012

I think that there should be new programs on Saturday night. I also think that Pan Am should be renewed. It has interesting storylines. Desperate Housewives and GCB should be on back to back. They should both be on Saturday night. Another idea is to have on Sunday night this schedule Once Upon A Time, Pan Am, Desperate Housewives, and GCB. I would move the show that is on at 7 to another night.

[gaydood]

09:26 PM on 01/17/2012

what?

[lightyear1720]

04:55 PM on 01/16/2012

They stole the original idea from the 70's version where Tom Hanks played the guy who dressed as the girl. THAT show had humor and pizzaz. This was pure crapola. Good riddance!

[lita m]

03:23 AM on 01/18/2012

Don't forget Peter Scolari.

[Oneandoneandone]

03:42 PM on 01/16/2012

Good. Should have canceled it after one episode. Yuck.

[Nieschk]

10:59 AM on 01/16/2012

I’d like to say I cared but quite simply I do not.

[Ryan Bourgo]

08:41 AM on 01/16/2012

I wish people would stop being offended whenever someone farts in their general direction. Grow some thicker skin people. You think people would have the time to be offended if we were still hunting for our food?

Being offended is not part of survival. Its part of having a child-like mentality. Good work, giant babies.

[somebody9191]

10:44 AM on 01/16/2012

Nice use of Monty Python in a post!

[gobucksjoe]

01:26 PM on 01/16/2012

and your father smelled of elderberry!

[Delphi Omally]

03:00 AM on 01/17/2012

Technically you are correct. Practically you are far from correct. This isn't equivalent to poking fun at racial groups for the food we/they eat. This isn't about poking fun at politicians or someone tripping and falling over a shopping cart. This is about poking fun EXTREMELY implicitly at we who SERIOUSLY grew up with a physical body contrary to our inner cognitive gender knowledge. We can choose to minimize the flatulence tossed in our direction...we can choose to paint on thicker skin.

What we can't choose is the defamation of our characters as transgender persons that would have been perpetuated by this show. Oh it didn't directly poke fun at us and few of us get fired "directly" for being transgender from employment or face "direct" acts of discrimination. No sir. No ma'am...thick skin or pretending that "words don't kill" didn't protect victims of bullying, genocide, or transphobia and never will. If in fact you meant good by your comment, you wouldn't have stooped so low to call us "babies". Articulating a point without resorting to name-calling requires adult maturity, something you clearly lack and is a characteristic of what is commonly referred to as a "young person", or in common-speak, a baby. See? Didn't need to call names, directly at least.

[Ryan Bourgo]

09:47 AM on 01/17/2012

Nonetheless, being offended for such matters is most certainly not paramount to survival. Only because we live in the "easy life" society we do (i.e. grocery stores, technology), do people have the time to worry about such issues.

And as far as I'm concerned, even the fact that people get offended by these things should feel a bit ridiculous when we look at the real problems faced by the starving, the dying, or those who have actually been imprisoned or been a part of a genocide and lived to tell the tale.

Get over yourself. My maturity has nothing to do with my viewpoint; in fact, what I see in your argument is yet another inability to deal with stress or difficulty. Plenty of people are victims of bullying and its likely that NONE of those stem from satirical TV. People that commit real injustices or crime are criminals, don't pretend that those people didn't exist until televised comedy inspired them.

While you fancy yourself so far ahead in this race, you're faulty logic has you struggling to keep up.

[Maggi Lara]

07:24 AM on 01/16/2012

i just wish the next show to be canceled is Whitney ...god! talking about bad bad shows

[Ann Oid]

12:00 PM on 01/16/2012

Yeah, cancel Whitney and BRING BACK COMMUNITY

[Oneandoneandone]

03:40 PM on 01/16/2012

I think Whitney already got renewed for another season? I remember reading that somewhere.

[0u8one2]

10:50 PM on 01/15/2012

There is a TV god!

[geddy lee is a god]

10:46 PM on 01/15/2012

Bring back regular Law and Order. They spiced up the Lt. character then left the viewers hanging, lol.

[lovely09]

07:54 PM on 01/15/2012

Oh, the "Bosom Buddies" knock-off?

Its cancellation comes as zero surprise to everyone with a functioning brain.

[nypapajoe]

07:22 PM on 01/15/2012

They need to fire the writers and those responsible for allowing it to air!

[v2787]

03:49 PM on 01/16/2012

I often wonder how the television/movie executives who sign off on these horrible excuses for entertainment can justify those decisions. I mean, how does one reach and/or maintain a position of responsibility in a major media corporation by saying something like, "Yeah, I think 'Work It!' deserves to be funded and subsidized by our company"? What a bunch of morons these tv/movie executives must be! There's no creativity, no originality, no fresh ideas, no leading-edge wit--it's a race to the bottom, apparently, and "Work It!" is exhibit A.