NBC has opted to not continue with freshman comedy Champions, as the show’s cancellation was confirmed today.
The news doesn’t come as a surprise, given NBC’s half-hearted promotion of the show and how Champions has been airing after repeats of Will & Grace deep into the spring. The series might not have made it with a full effort, seeing as how queer content has had trouble gaining footing on broadcast television, but it certainly wasn’t helped by NBC just throwing it onto the schedule and only giving it a couple weeks of an original lead-in.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, series producer NBC Universal is said to be shopping the series to other outlets, with SVOD partner Netflix to continue carrying the series despite passing on a second season. The cancellation of Champions means that every scripted series that aired during 2017-18 has had a decision on its fate announced, as it, Ghosted, and Timeless were among the shows who remained in limbo weeks after upfronts.
From Charlie Grandy and Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project), Champions followed brothers Vince (Anders Holm) and Matthew (Andy Favreau), who own and operate a gym in Brooklyn. The two live the type of simple life they always wanted, all working out and dating a string of beautiful women, only for Vince’s high school girlfriend Priya to show up with their 15-year-old son Michael (J.J. Totah) in tow. The series chronicled Vince adjusting to new fatherhood and reassessing what he thought was important in life.
In addition to Holm and Favreau, Champions starred Fortune Feimster (Chelsea Lately) and Mouzam Makkar (The Vampire Diaries).
The series finale of Champions aired last month on NBC.
