Hollywood is severing ties with comedian Louis C.K. following his admission of guilt regarding the allegations of sexual misconduct lodged against him by several women. So far he's lost his new movie, his role in The Secret Life Of Pets 2, and any involvement with the FX network, and he may be losing yet another show. TBS announced last week they're suspending production on his upcoming animated comedy The Cops, and it's now coming out that the animation team was laid off as well. With the animation team not working, it looks like TBS may be dropping the show.
The news comes from Deadline, who report the animation team for The Cops received their walking papers earlier in the week. With the layoffs coming so close to Thanksgiving, word came from the show's art director, Francis Giglio, that many on the team were frantically searching for other projects to join. Giglio, who also expressed concern about the losing of his job, posted an open-letter on Facebook to Louis C.K. written on the box he packed up his belongings in. The letter, which makes mention of the hardship C.K. has put on the animation team as well as his victims, can be found transcribed below:
I am writing to you today to give a voice to another group of people that have been affected by your actions. The amazingly talented crew on The Cops that has been tirelessly working hard to create a unique prime time animated show. We now find ourselves out of a job right before the holiday season. So many of us are frantically looking for a new project to jump on. Myself included as my wife stays home with our 3-year-old daughter and I want to always make sure they are taken care of. However, here is the bigger point. All of the stress and frustration that I find myself in now is nothing compared to the pain and distress you have caused those women. I will happily walk away from this project and any other project to fully support anyone that needs to come forward about sexual abuse or harassment.
The official word is that TBS is still deciding what to do in regards to The Cops, but Francis Giglio's public letter appears to indicate which way the animators think the network is leaning. The series, which is centered on two cops doing their job throughout Los Angeles, was slated to star Louis C.K. and comedian Albert Brooks. The series was a co-production with FX (who has severed ties with C.K), and now that the comedian is officially out of the project, discussions are being had about whether or not another voice actor could portray the character Lou. With the character made to resemble and act like Louis C.K., it sounds as though that will be a difficult feat to accomplish.
That said, it's not entirely impossible, and provided the series could convince another cynical comedian with red hair to get involved (maybe Bill Burr), it's possible they could move on as planned. Then again, with all the controversy surrounding Louis C.K. and everything he's attached to, TBS might just find it better to drop the series to prevent any chance of public outcry despite C.K.'s removal from the project.
The fate of TBS's The Cops is still up in the air, but it seems safe to speculate that the series will have some sort of delay in production should the networks choose to continue on with another actor. In the meantime, there are still plenty of great shows that are premiering every day. Keep up with the latest offerings via our fall premiere guide, and for a list of shows that didn't make it out of 2017, visit our cancellation guide.
