CBS Cancels "The Crazy Ones"
by NELLIE ANDREEVA
May 10, 2014


Robin Williams' return to television has been cut short as CBS has canceled "The Crazy Ones". The single-camera comedy never quite fit into CBS’ multi-camera-dominated Thursday comedy block.

Creator David E. Kelley pitched a second season, which he would’ve overseen, and CBS brass had been intrigued by the idea of keeping Williams on the air. But, after a very soft first season following a big premiere, a renewal was considered a long shot.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/05/crazy-ones-cbs-cancelled-bad-teacher-hostages-bad-teacher/

Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar's single-camera "The Crazy Ones" never fit in (http://www.deadline.com/2014/05/crazy-ones-cbs-cancelled-bad-teacher-hostages-bad-teacher/) on CBS, home to many multi-camera comedies.

The actress who plays Lauren can now return to her previous show as soon as possible.

Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar's single-camera "The Crazy Ones" never fit in (http://www.deadline.com/2014/05/crazy-ones-cbs-cancelled-bad-teacher-hostages-bad-teacher/) on CBS, home to many multi-camera comedies.

http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3218516-the-crazy-ones-mork-and-buffy-run-an-ad-agency/page-21#entry16514385

This show was on the wrong network. Sitcoms that you have to pay attention to in order to not miss any jokes are on ABC (Modern Family, The Middle) or on NBC (The Office, at it's peak). CBS tends to have the broader, less refined, humor - where much of the laughs come from making fun of the characters and it is rare to have touching moments. I think The Crazy Ones would have done much better on Wednesdays on ABC.

That said, I wonder if some of the reason why shows like The Millers get to stick around and The Crazy Ones doesn't is due to cost. Bigger names usually means bigger salaries and maybe the ratings it was pulling weren't enough to warrant what they were RW and SMG.

In any case, this is sad news.

I was thinking the same thing, this show would have been better on NBC.

I watched the show a few times, but did not care for it and gave up on it. Robin Williams could work in some kind of sitcom or comedy/drama, this just was not it. Sarah Michelle Geller? Really?

A show I will watch a few episodes and then stop completely always dies. If I immediately hate it, it lasts, if I never see it, or refuse too, it usually stays on. I am like the bell weather viewer, at least of sitcoms.

Show was a disaster.

The show was not funny, Williams needs to perform in front of a live audience. The funniest thing about the show were the outtakes. I did watch the full season and I'm glad it has ended.

I tried to watch the show a few times, but couldn't get into it for some reason...

CBS Cancels "The Crazy Ones"
by NELLIE ANDREEVA
May 10, 2014


Robin Williams' return to television has been cut short as CBS has canceled "The Crazy Ones". The single-camera comedy never quite fit into CBS’ multi-camera-dominated Thursday comedy block.

Creator David E. Kelley pitched a second season, which he would’ve overseen, and CBS brass had been intrigued by the idea of keeping Williams on the air. But, after a very soft first season following a big premiere, a renewal was considered a long shot.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/05/crazy-ones-cbs-cancelled-bad-teacher-hostages-bad-teacher/
Doesn't David Kelly usually do dramas?

http://www.tmz.com/2014/08/16/robin-williams-the-crazy-ones-cancelled-depression-suicide/

TMZ reports that Williams considered the cancelation of his CBS comedy a “personal failure” because his face was on all the billboards.
Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/tv-tattle#GXAJUTdeikqO26Hx.99

It was reported that The Crazy Ones was expensive to produce and its mediocre ratings didn't justify a second season renewal. If TCO really was expensive to produce, then what would have been the per episode salaries of Robin Williams and Sarah Michele Gellar on TCO (especially considering that Robin Williams had been a big movie star during the past few decades)?

I think it's hard to imagine a first-year comedy series being that expensive to produce, whatever its cost may be.

If it had been on ABC (when Mork and Mindy was on), it would have stayed on and Robin would have still been alive.

Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar's single-camera "The Crazy Ones" never fit in (http://www.deadline.com/2014/05/crazy-ones-cbs-cancelled-bad-teacher-hostages-bad-teacher/) on CBS, home to many multi-camera comedies.

What's sad is that the show actually got really good a few episodes in. At first (in the pilot especially), you could tell that the other actors were intimidated by working with a living legend. But once they got settled in after an episode or three, they all had really great comedic chemistry.

The concept of the show probably did it the most harm. Advertising isn't exactly something that is looked up to these days, and the product placement / brand name dropping in the show didn't help with that.

But the plot became secondary to the characters' interactions really quickly. You just wanted to see these people talking with each other. It had a lot of potential, and should have launched a few careers.

Even though Robin Williams is no longer alive many people think that with The Crazy Ones Robin was hoping to jumpstart his sitcom career after switching to movies after Mork And Mindy had ended and so with The Crazy Ones CBS wanted to make Robin Williams a king of sitcoms. But the actual reason The Crazy Ones was cancelled is that as soon as Robin Williams had passed away CBS heard about it and were afraid that just like NBC did with Newsradio when Phil Hartman died CBS was gonna replace Robin Williams with another actor but they realized that they couldn't have the heart to do it so CBS gave up and cancelled The Crazy Ones and despite overhyping the show it was simply one of CBS's worst failures in sitcom history
Bestie

But the actual reason The Crazy Ones was cancelled is that as soon as Robin Williams had passed away CBS heard about it and were afraid that just like NBC did with Newsradio when Phil Hartman died CBS was gonna replace Robin Williams with another actor but they realized that they couldn't have the heart to do it so CBS gave up and cancelled The Crazy Ones and despite overhyping the show it was simply one of CBS's worst failures in sitcom history
Bestie

No, the show was cancelled in May 2014 and Williams died in August 2014.

The show was not funny, Williams needs to perform in front of a live audience. The funniest thing about the show were the outtakes. I did watch the full season and I'm glad it has ended.

Ken Levine on the "Like a Jokes" (http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2020/11/like-jokes.html) problem:
There’s an expression we have in the writers room — Like a Joke.

A “Like a joke” has the rhythms of a joke but is not funny. It’s just a straight sentence delivered as a joke line. “I’m so hungry I could eat a meal.”

It’s the equivalent of playing an air guitar.

Remember a few years ago there was a Robin Williams series, THE CRAZY ONES? It was near the end of his life. In his prime, Robin would just fire off hilarious jokes like a machine gun. His ad libs were amazing. I knew there was something wrong when in this show he delivered a steady stream of “Like a jokes.”

For some reason I hear “Like a jokes” on quite a few “dramadies.” Maybe they think that by delivering a line in a comic rhythm it will pass for comedy. But when I hear them I think either they’re not trying, or (more likely) they aren’t really funny. Real comedy writers are always trying to beat jokes. Is there something funnier? Is there a sharper way of phrasing this?

Now some may argue that they’re not going for a hard laugh. They’re going for irony. Okay, you can convince yourself of that. But you can’t fool the audience. If something is not funny, if something is on the nose, or tepid it will fall flat no matter how dazzling the rhythm is.

Just something to keep in mind when you’re writing a comedy script. When someone orders an In & Out Burger he knows if you’re trying to slip him tofu.

I had to watch dementia destroy my mother. There is no sugar coating the fact that Williams was deteriorating, and deteriorating *fast*. His widow and daughter have both said that at best he only had a few years left, very difficult years as well.

CBS Cancels "The Crazy Ones"
by NELLIE ANDREEVA
May 10, 2014


Robin Williams' return to television has been cut short as CBS has canceled "The Crazy Ones". The single-camera comedy never quite fit into CBS’ multi-camera-dominated Thursday comedy block.

Creator David E. Kelley pitched a second season, which he would’ve overseen, and CBS brass had been intrigued by the idea of keeping Williams on the air. But, after a very soft first season following a big premiere, a renewal was considered a long shot.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/05/crazy-ones-cbs-cancelled-bad-teacher-hostages-bad-teacher/

I wanted to like it, as I liked SMG's previous work and I thought Robin Williams was a brilliant stand up comic and an underrated actor, but the show just didn't work for me.

Robin left this world before his dementia stole his identity and self. Others who are told they are going to lose themself to dementia should be able to as well.