ABC Cancels Three Freshman Dramas, And One Comedy

ABC has just officially put the kibosh on three more of its freshman drama series, electing to end Missing, Pan Am, and The River after a single season.

Missing is a mid-season replacement starring Ashley Judd, that received a ten episode order and premiered in March. Unfortunately, ratings have been very soft, and Judd's name value seemed to do little to improve things. The plot followed retired CIA Agent Rebecca Winstone, whose 18-year-old son goes missing in the pilot episode, and her attempts to uncover the reasons why. Winstone assumes it has something to do with her fellow CIA agent husband (Sean Bean) dying in a brutal car bombing a decade prior. No word yet on whether the May 17th series finale will give viewers any type of closure.

The next victim is no surprise, as 1960's period drama Pan Am has been on life support since the ratings dropped off after the first few episodes. The numbers weren't awful, but also weren't great. If the show was on the struggling NBC, it might have survived, but ABC has the luxury of being able to end shows that perform below expectations. The series starred Christina Ricci, and revolved around the pilots and stewardesses of the titular airline near the beginning of the commercial jet travel age. The last episode aired in mid-February.

Our third entry was presumed dead from episode one, as despite critical praise, found footage horror/mystery series (from the creator of the Paranormal Activity franchise) The River never attracted much of an audience. There were talks that Netflix might pick it up if ABC passed, but those seem to have gone nowhere. The short eight episode "test" season ended on March 20th.

And finally, Kristen Chenoweth and her band of Good Christian Bitches Belles had their last argument on May 6th, as the low-rated hour-long dramedy GCB has been canceled after ten episodes. The series did okay with critics, and the veteran cast (Chenoweth, Leslie Bibb, Annie Potts, etc.) was highly praised, but the ratings just weren't there to justify another season.

Will you miss watching Missing? Do you think one or more of these shows deserved another chance?