‘The Jim Gaffigan Show’ Cancelled After Two Seasons

Well, this is a bummer. After wrapping up its second season this past Sunday, TV Land decided to cancel their original series The Jim Gaffigan Show, therein by potentially ending any goodwill I’ll ever have for the comedy-based station.

Alright, I’m getting ahead of myself, because it’s not TV Land’s fault entirely. They didn’t cancel the series due to lack of faith or public interest, especially since it was their best-reviewed program by a long shot. As the report revealed, it was a mutual decision agreed upon by both them and the show’s lead producers, Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan, who wrote all 12 episodes of season two together.

In a statement from TV Land, they said the following about the surprise cancellation (via Yahoo!).

We are really proud of The Jim Gaffigan Show and the amazing comedy that Jim, Jeannie, the cast, the creative team and JAX Media have made for us. After two great seasons, we have mutually agreed to not move forward with season three of the series. We have an incredible amount of respect for everyone involved, and are grateful to them for bringing their passion and dedication to The Jim Gaffigan Show.

Additionally, in an online statement, the Gaffigans responded to the termination of their self-titled show by thanking TV Land for the opportunity, while also elaborating on their reasons for prematurely ending their show.

After months of discussion, Jeannie and I have decided to make season 2 of The Jim Gaffigan Show the final season. We realize this may surprise some and we don’t make this decision lightly. It is hard to say goodbye to this highly personal passion project, which we have nurtured and poured our hearts into for over five years. Jeannie and I are grateful that TV Land allowed us to do this show about our lives the way we wanted. It was empowering, exhilarating and exhausting

As many of you know, all the episodes this season were written by Jeannie and me. Jeannie was the showrunner and I acted in virtually every scene. In one way it was a perfect scenario. We worked with an amazing cast and crew, learned tons and laughed so much. However, the time commitment to make the quality of show we wanted was taking us away from our most important project: our five children. We are truly grateful for all the support friends on social media and television critics have given The Jim Gaffigan Show. Jeannie and I are excited to move forward with other creative pursuits.

As someone who championed this newest season for maturing the themes of the first season and expanding upon their thesis on both parenthood and fatherhood, particularly in the 21st century, I understand and ultimately respect their decision to end the series. And I’m glad to know that it was on good terms. After all, it would be tragic and coldly ironic if they sacrificed their actual family time to work on a sitcom dedicated to the power of families. They should be proud of what they accomplished, and I’m looking forward to seeing where they take their creative pursuits next.