'Sean Saves The World' Is Basically Cancelled, But Not Really (But, Sort Of)

NBC says it has not officially cancelled 'Sean Saves the World' but is halting production on the poorly rated comedy with four episodes remaining. Clearly, this isn't a sign of confidence and fans of the show can probably kiss goodbye to seeing Sean trying to save the world again.

The news came through on Tuesday evening (January 28) after the show averaged only 2.6 million viewers and a ridiculously bad 0.7 rating among adults 18-49.

NBC had ordered 19 episodes of the show, starring Will & Grace's Sean Hayes as a divorced gay father with a successful but demanding career. When his 14-year-old daughter moves, in, he's forced to juggle his work life with trying to be a good father.

At the TCA press tour week, NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt spoke about his struggles with The Michael J. Fox Show, though the top-dog used his answer to address Sean Saves the World.

"Well, we're, obviously, not happy about a 0.6 for any show and especially for Michael J. Fox," Greenblatt said. "We like that show. We like Sean Hayes' show a lot. Creatively, we think they're good shows, and we're really unhappy that we can't find an audience for them in those time periods. So we're going to still work hard to see what we can do on Thursday nights. It is a real, real uphill battle. The future of the show? Obviously, we have to see how it plays out for the next few months and then get in the scheduling room and make some hard decisions. It's not anywhere near where we'd like it to be."

Fox's highly anticipated comedy was given a 22 episode commitment from NBC, though it's unlikely to be kept on after that.

As for Sean, he tweeted about the news this week, saying, "Thanks to @SeanSavesWorld actors & crew & @NBC for a wonderful opportunity. Looking forward to Obama's minimum wage increase to $10/hr."

So, NBC isn't mentioning the C word, but it's simply a matter of time.