Shonda Rhimes' The Catch Just Lost Its Showrunner, Which Seems Like A Bad Sign

If you’ve caught all of the trailers for the network’s 2015-2016 TV premieres, there are a few standing out from the pack. One of the most vibrant and bold-looking shows set to come out is The Catch, the new drama from Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland brand. But recastings and more have plagued the midseason drama over the past couple of months, and now The Catch has lost its showrunner.

While Shonda Rhimes acts as the showrunner on two of ABC’s dramas, she’s had to pass along duties to other presumably capable individuals for How To Get Away With Murder and the upcoming drama The Catch. Peter Nowalk is in charge of the former, and until today, Jennifer Schuur was in charge of the other. However, now EW is reporting that Schuur has left The Catch, citing “creative differences” as her big reason for quitting the show. As a separate casualty, Schuur’s #2, Josh Reims, is also being replaced.

A showrunner is ultimately responsible for the direction a series is going in and losing a showrunner when a series is already well into the throes of production is typically not a good sign, although it’s not always a death sentence by any means. However, the loss of Schurr isn’t the only problem The Catch has been facing. The series actually stars Mireille Enos as Alice Vaughan, a fraud investigator who is defrauded by her own fiancé. Originally, that fiancé was supposed to be played by Damon Dayoub and his partner-in-crime was going to be played by former One Tree Hill actress Bethany Joy Lenz. You can see them in the trailer for the drama.

However, the show ultimately opted to go in a different direction with the characters and replaced both actors, eventually signing on Peter Krause and Sonya Walger in the roles. Adding Krause and Walger is definitely a more mature direction, age-wise, for the characters. But the casting change-ups are just another example of the problems plaguing the upcoming drama.

Even though there have been a lot of big changes in a row, The Catch does have a little time to retool and work out the kinks. Instead of airing this fall, The Catch isn’t expected to hit ABC’s schedule until midseason. We’ll let you know if any other big changes are made to the series before it hits the schedule. For now, you can check out all the trailers and premiere dates for what is coming up this fall.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.