Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that the pay cabler opted not to move forward with the Jamie Foxx-produced Jay Pharoah vehicle right before the new year — not an atypical time to drop bad news. A Showtime rep was not immediately available for comment.
The series’ cancellation does not come as a huge surprise, considering fellow freshman half-hour SMILF was quickly renewed a month ago amid radio silence on White Famous‘ own future prospects. Produced by Showtime alongside Lionsgate Television and Foxx’s Foxxhole Productions, the comedy was greeted with mixed reviews and courted a weekly audience of 1.8 million viewers once all platforms were tallied. (By the cabler’s standards, that’s fair to middling.)
What White Famous did give Showtime was a not-so-terribly common half-hour comedy for the network. The pay-cable outfit is better-known for such flagship hourlong as Homeland and Shameless. Its only new half-hour on the immediate horizon is Jim Carrey’s buzzy TV effort Kidding, on which he will star alongside Catherine Keener.
In addition to Pharoah and guest appearances by Foxx, White Famous counted Utkarsh Ambudkar, Cleopatra Coleman, Meagan Good, Stephen Tobolowsky and Michael Rapaport among its players.
The series’ first season will live on at Showtime’s various streaming platforms.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
