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HBO Cancels 'Crashing,' While Showtime Cancels 'SMILF' Amid Sexual Misconduct Investigation

By Dustin Rowles | TV | March 11, 2019 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | March 11, 2019 |


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I have not seen last night’s now series finale of Pete Holmes’ Crashing yet, becuase I’m otherwise occupied at SXSW, but I am nevertheless saddened by the cancellation of the HBO series. It’s not because of Pete Holmes, mind you — the show is best when its focus is elsewhere — and it’s not because we need another comedy about comedy, necessarily. But the writing here is often fantastic, and Jamie Lee — who plays Ali on the show — is the best reason to watch the series. In fact, I would not object to a spin-off focused on her character that also dives into some of the lesser known areas of the comedy world (Holmes’ foray into a faith-based comedy tour was terrific). Anyway, Holmes gets on my nerves, but I’ll still miss Crashing, Jamie Lee, and the many stand-up comedians he brings onto the show as cameos (last week’s episode ended with the funniest 45 seconds of the last year of Amy Schumer’s career).

Meanwhile, over on Showtime, SMILF is also being canceled after its second season (currently airing). The series showed a lot of promise early on, and provided a much-needed perspective on a struggling single Mom (it should have been a perfect complement to Shameless), but the story kind of meandered and it never really found its stride.

In the meantime, SMILF creator and showrunner Frankie Shaw has been under investigation by the network for inappropriately handling sex scenes, race-based separation of the writers’ room, and issues surrounding credit. There’s a lot going on there, and it probably factored into the decision to cancel.



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