Though Fran Drescher is perhaps best known for her role in the beloved ’90s sitcom The Nanny, there’s another comedy she wishes could have had similar staying power in the television landscape.
In a recent interview with People, the former SAG-AFTRA president singled out the “poor business model” that led to the eventual cancellation of TV Land‘s Happily Divorced. Based on Drescher’s real life, the show centers on a woman who re-enters the dating world after finding out her husband is gay and juggles her relationship with her current boyfriend and ex-husband, with whom she still lives.
“It’s too bad that TV Land took Happily Divorced off after only 36 episodes,” she said, adding, “I did point it out to them, but they didn’t want to hear it. But ultimately, I was proved correct.”
The series, co-created by Drescher and ex-husband Peter Marc Jacobson, ran for two seasons and was canceled in 2013. It also starred John Michael Higgins, Tichina Arnold, Valente Rodriguez and Rita Moreno.
She continued, “Two years later, I ran into one of the executives, and they said, ‘If it’s any consolation, that’s like the big regret at TV Land. That shouldn’t have been canceled. That shouldn’t have gone away. It was so good.’”
Drescher said she believed the show was “finding its own” after a slow start and knew it would take sponsors longer to see its value in syndication. Happily Divorced had got off to a strong start, with the series premiere drawing 2.4 million viewers in Summer 2011.
“If you have limited money, you can’t pay for a series with the hopes that you’ll be able to syndicate it or advance sell it before you start running out of money,” she explained. “This was a couple that still loved each other, but he’s gay. It was going to take a little bit longer than 36 episodes to sell. Not to find the audience, because everybody loved it.”
The multi-hyphenate said she is still approached by fans who love the series: “People, to this day, say, ‘I liked it better than The Nanny. Why did they take that off?’ It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get an opportunity to do that longer because it had something to say. The global message was: Everyone has a right to live an authentic life and love is love.”
The post Fran Drescher Reflects On “Poor Business Model” That Led To Early Cancellation Of ‘Happily Divorced’: “I Was Proved Correct” appeared first on Deadline.
