Published:May 12, 2012
It’s closing time for Chelsea and her pals. NBC has decided to cancel the low-rated sitcom Are You There, Chelsea? after 12 episodes and one season.
Based on a book by Chelsea Handler, Are You There, Chelsea? follows the life of an opinionated and unapologetic young woman (Laura Prepon) who lives life to the fullest as a cocktail waitress. She’s many things to many people — friend, daughter, sister, and sexually dynamic “advanced drinker.†Others in the cast include Lenny Clarke, Lauren Lapkus, Jake McDorman, Mark Povinelli, Ali Wong, and (occasionally) Chelsea Handler.
The sitcom had a decent start — registering a 2.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 6.18 million viewers — but things went downhill from there.
Subsequent episodes of Chelsea saw big drops in the ratings and, over the course of the season, went as low as a 1.1 rating in the demo and 2.88 million. It aired opposite American Idol on FOX but these were numbers were poor even if you take the stiff competition into consideration.
The season ended up averaging a 1.5 rating in the demo with 3.76 million. Had the season gone on longer, the averages would have dropped further. On our NBC Ratings Report Card, which measures the relative demo success of shows on the network, the show has a “B-†grade.
To no real surprise, NBC has cancelled Chelsea. The last episode aired on March 28th. The peacock network has ordered several new sitcoms for 2012-13, hoping they’ll last longer than Chelsea did.
What do you think? Are you sorry that NBC has cancelled Chelsea? Do you think the show was better than what the ratings indicated? What would you liked to have seen happen in season two?