The network has canceled the second-year drama, although the show’s producers were given enough warning to craft an ending for the series. The show will end with a two-hour finale on April 26.
God Friended Me comes from Warner Bros. TV and CBS Television Studios. Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt created the show, and it counts Greg Berlanti among its executive producers. The show was one of a record 22 scripted series Berlanti Productions had airing across all platforms this season.
“We’re extremely proud of the unique concept and uplifting stories God Friended Me has told over the past two seasons,” CBS and Warner Bros. TV said in a statement. “We thank the brilliant cast, writers, production team and crew for a show that stirred thoughtful conversation about faith, life and happiness, and made viewers feel good at the end of each episode. The creative team behind the show has one last ‘friend suggestion’ in mind, as well as an ending we hope brings a satisfying conclusion to Miles’ journey in search of the God Account.”
The series stars Brandon Micheal Hall as an outspoken atheist who receives a social-media friend request from “God” and unwittingly becomes an agent of change for the people around him. The cast also includes Violett Beane, Suraj Sharma, Javicia Leslie, Joe Morton and Erica Gimpel.
The Sunday-night show averages a little under 7.7 million viewers and a 0.8 rating among adults 18-49 with a week of delayed viewing. It’s down 20 percent in viewers and 33 percent in the 18-49 demo compared to its inaugural season in 2018-19 and is drawing the smallest audience of CBS’ current Sunday lineup, which also includes NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans.
God Friended Me is the fourth CBS drama to bow out this season, following the longer-lived Madam Secretary (six seasons), Hawaii Five-0 (10 seasons) and Criminal Minds (15 seasons). The network has renewed comedies Mom and Young Sheldon and first-year drama Evil but has yet to make a decision on the bulk of its scripted offerings.
With the novel coronavirus pandemic having shut down production on hundreds of TV shows and movies, including the bulk of pilots for next season, broadcast networks are facing uncertainty as to how to fill out their schedules. CBS will launch a movie night on Sundays in May and has a completed season of The Amazing Race on tap for summer, but the fall schedule remains an open question.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
