Fox Is Pulling Red Band Society from Its Schedule, But Won't Call It Canceled (Yet)

Kaitlin Thomas
Updated

Red Band Society has been taken off life support, and the prognosis isn't good.

According to Deadline, Fox is pulling the plug on the Breakfast Club-esque drama about a group of teenagers living in the pediatric ward of a hospital; not only will Red Band Society not be receiving a full-season pickup, it will disappear from the network's schedule after Episode 10, which is scheduled to air on Wednesday, December 3. Production will cease shortly thereafter, once filming is finished on the final three episodes of the series' initial 13-episode order. It's currently unclear if/when/where those final three episodes will air.

And just to add some more pain and suffering to the show's plight, the news of its probably terminal diagnosis broke while a new episode was airing on the East Coast. Talk about harsh.

However, much like the situation that Constantine is facing at NBC, a Season 2 renewal is reportedly still a possibility for Red Band Society, even though Fox has opted not to extend the show's freshman season. According to TV Line, a second season seems unlikely, but hey, whatever makes you feel better about punching kids who have cancer, Fox!

Red Band Society opened to fairly low ratings in mid-September, drawing only 4.10 million viewers and a 1.3 rating in the 18-to-49 demo even though it debuted prior to the official start of the fall season and aired against lots of repeats in its first week. Things only got worse from there; even with DVR increases, the series has only been averaging 5.1 million viewers and a 1.8 rating. And the writing was pretty much on the wall when Fox announced its midseason schedule and Red Band Society wasn't on it, even though the network had ordered more scripts in October.

It's been a particularly rough fall for network TV. No matter what Fox says about its chances, Red Band will almost certainly join NBC's Bad Judge and A to Z and ABC's Selfie and Manhattan Love Story in the losers' circle. Meanwhile, Fox still hasn't officially canceled its freshman comedy Mulaney, even though the show is 99.9 percent dead. To be honest, Red Band Society is lucky to have lasted this long. If it weren't for the anemic fall season, it's likely it would have been pulled a lot sooner.

Still, I'll miss those kids, especially Dash. Dude knew how to keep it real.


Will you miss Red Band Society?