NBC’s sophomore comedy A.P. Bio has been cancelled. The series starred It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Glenn Howerton as a former Harvard professor who ends up having to work as an Advanced Placement Biology teacher. Hence, the show’s title.
A.P. Bio’s creator Mike O’Brien shared the news of its cancellation on Twitter. Like the fans, O’Brien is saddened by the decision. In its wake, he took to social media to express his disappointment and gratitude. The creator’s tweets reveal the agony that sometimes comes with creating television.
Those final four episodes of A.P. Bio will begin airing next week (Thursday, May 30). The show had been on a break beforehand. In another tweet, Mike O’Brien continued to express his thanks to everyone behind-the-scenes.
The half-hour sitcom has cultivated a devoted fanbase. Unfortunately, ratings for A.P. Bio were likely the reason NBC chose not to renew it.
Season 2 saw its numbers slip from Season 1’s. Adding to the issue is that the all-influential 18-49 demo rating did not rise above a 0.5 during its sophomore run. Something that made A.P. Bio a bubbler as it came into renewal season.
One of the comedy's stars, Patton Oswalt, also took to Twitter to share his thoughts. The actor and comedian directed fans to the thread written by A.P. Bio’s creator. Like Mike O’Brien, he expressed the joy that had gone into making the series. Check out Oswalt’s tweet below:
Fans are already doing their part to try to bring the show back. The hashtag to save it -- #SaveAPBio -- was trending on Twitter Saturday morning (May 25). Hopefully for fans, those with the powers to revive it will be keeping an eye on that.
A vigorous fan campaign worked for fans of the series Lucifer when Fox cancelled it last year. Netflix ended up picking up the series. Could it also save A.P. Bio? Anything is possible at this point. Given that episodes of the comedy are currently streaming on Hulu, that could be another option.
As it tends to be, May has been a rough month for fans of network television. It is the time of year when networks firm up their fall slates and announce the departure of struggling series. The good news is that it leaves the summer for fans to attempt to make a difference. There is precedence with Lucifer and other series.
Last year, Fox cancelled its fan-favorite comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine before strong fan response led to it readily getting saved by NBC. Time will tell if A.P. Bio ends up getting a similar reprieve from an outside source. For now, school appears to be out.
A.P. Bio returns for the rest of its second season run on Thursday, May 30 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
