It seems like only last week that everyone was marveling at the fact that none of this season’s new network TV series had been canceled, an uncharacteristic show of patience from typically kill-happy broadcast outlets. It would appear that network programmers were merely waiting for all of the leaves to change color (or keeping their fingers crossed while the final DVR numbers came in): Late in the day on Friday, ABC officially pulled the plug on Manhattan Love Story. It’s unlikely that time-shifting could’ve saved the budding relationship of Analeigh Tipton and Jake McDorman, as USA Today reports that Manhattan Love Story’s most recent episode delivered series-low ratings, with an audience of 2.6 million viewers. (And yet this writer hasn’t come across a single mention of the most justifiable motivation for ending Manhattan Love Story: The endlessly chattering inner monologues of the two leads.)
In the wake of the cancellation, viewers who want to see a romantic comedy play out over the course of a televisions series now only have Selfie (which is doubling up to take Manhattan Love Story’s place on November 4, according to Entertainment Weekly), Marry Me, A To Z, and reruns of How I Met Your Mother to fall back on. There’s also a silver lining for male lead McDorman: If he lets his Manhattan Love Story scruff go unattended, he’s a shoo-in for the bearded, brash sidekick character all American comedy pilots are now required to include. Fans of intrusive voiceover won’t be left in the lurch either, as ABC has plenty of that in the actual and theoretical narration it ordered up before canceling Manhattan Love Story.