NBC Pulls Plug on Coach Revival

Earlier this year when NBC announced it had ordered a 13-episode revival of the 1989-1997 sitcom ABC Coach, like many people I thought perhaps it was a joke. It wasn’t. NBC was serious about bringing back the sitcom with original star Craig T. Nelson. On Tuesday, however, the network revealed it has decided not to move forward with the revival. Although it was given a straight-to-series pickup, only the first episode was filmed. Despite the fact that straight-to-series orders are supposed to eliminate the need for pilots, NBC seems to have treated the first episode as a pilot and used it to evaluate the series.

It’s unclear whether any additional scripts have been completed. The series was never given a premiere date. Creative differences between the network and producers reportedly led to the project being scrapped. The production studio (Universal TV) is apparently trying to find a new home for it. Deadline Hollywood has more details.

This is only the latest in a long line of recent network cancellations of shows that were given straight-to-series orders. In November 2014, ABC pulled the plug on Members Only, which had received a 13-episode order but only one completed episode. NBC cancelled sitcom Mission Control in October 2014. It had a 6-episode order and likewise only completed one episode. In August 2014, NBC yanked a planned 10-episode limited series called Emerald City without finishing any episodes (only to revive it earlier this year). FOX cancelled its event series Hieroglyph in July 2014. It had a 13-episode order; again, only the premiere episode was finished. And back in October 2013, FOX pulled the plug on an animated sitcom called Murder Police, which also had a 13-episode order but no completed episodes.

Even if Universal TV is successful and convinces another network, cable channel, or streaming service to pick up the Coach revival, at some point are the networks going to realize that perhaps their attempts to bypass pilots by giving concepts straight-to-series orders aren’t working?

(Thanks to Bob for passing this along.)


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5 Replies to “NBC Pulls Plug on Coach Revival”

  1. I suspect the pilot was too much like a continuation of Coach. What the networks likely wanted was a complete remake.

    I suspect what may be happening is that the networks agree to give the show a full season for a certain amount per episode. The producers can’t afford to make just a pilot for that amount and want a full series commitment. After making the pilot the producers realize that the budget is too low and try to renegotiate. If the producers can’t work it out the network cancels the show order.

    It may also have something to do with the wording of the “full season order.” The networks may be committing to air a full season of produced episodes provided they like the pilot. So if the show makes it past the pilot it gets a full season. It’s a conditional full season order. It’s also likely there’s other conditions that apply to the show and if the producers fail to meet those conditions the show is rejected.

  2. The new Coach sounds perfect for TV Land. They already were producing their own woefully dated sitcoms.

    If I was reviving a series as a nostalgia overload I’d pick Love Boat. Take the level of cheesiness all the way up to 11 like the Brady Bunch did and try to get some big-name actors to make guest appearances.

  3. There is a god.
    What an odd idea. Guess I missed the cries of dismay when it went off the air (at last).
    Can’t believe how long that thing ran. It was the ‘According To Jim’ of it’s day.

  4. I for one enjoyed “Coach” and would rather watch it than the show critics claim gave it its fame “Roseanne”.

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