CBS cuts diplomatic ties with the United States Of Al
The Chuck Lorre-produced series will end with its second-season finale next week
Aux News CBS
CBS has formally pulled its diplomatic recognition of the United States Of Al tonight, with Deadline reporting that the sitcom’s second season will be its last. The Chuck Lorre-produced show was one of four Lorre series CBS had on its schedule over the last year, alongside fellow sophomore effort B Positive, three-season series Bob Hearts Abishola, and the unkillable metal juggernaut that we humans who live in fearful worship of it refer to as Young Sheldon.
United States Of Al—which airs its penultimate episode this week, and its now-series finale on May 19—stars Parker Young as Riley, an American veteran of the fighting in Afghanistan, and Adhir Kalyan as Awalmir “Al” Karimi, an interpreter who worked with Riley in his native country before moving to the United States and moving in with him.
Like many outlets, we came away from the first season of United States Of Al disappointed; as great as it was to see a network sitcom focus on an Afghan immigrant (and have Afghan actors and writers working in front of and behind the camera), the show’s first season also fell back on lazy stereotypes and ham-fisted attempts at both comedy and meaning. (Our own Saloni Gajjar, in her March 2021 review: “As well-intentioned as it may be, it’s this exact method of presenting authentic, unexplored stories to mainstream audiences in the laziest manner that fails the marginalized community it’s trying to depict.”) Deadline does note, though, that the series has drawn some praise for its second season, including a season premiere that talked seriously about the consequences of the U.S. withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
United States Of Al was created by David Goetsch and Maria Ferrari; Elizabeth Alderfer, Kelli Goss, Dean Norris, and Farrah Mackenzie all co-starred. Deadline notes that CBS’ decision to cancel the series might bode well for Lorre’s B Positive; executives at the network were supposedly weighing which of the two second-season sitcoms to keep around.
33 Comments
I assumed it was AI as in artificial intelligence, and this was some sort of Sarah Connor Chronicles reboot
But wacky!
the show’s first season also fell back on lazy stereotypes and ham-fisted attempts at both comedy and meaning
Did anyone actually expect anything else from a Chuck Lorre production?
So, it was 50% dick jokes?
yes, but they were all about whether it was halal or not. diversity!
And dick jokes are half the battle!
“as great as it was to see a network sitcom focus on an Afghan immigrant, this was a Chuck Lorre show, so it was godawful”
Al is an Afghan immigrant who came to America to become an astrophysicist. But then a big-titty blond walks in and he can’t speak unless he’s drunk on wussy cocktails.
It’s hilarious!
We won’t achieve true racial parity until underrepresented groups can ALSO star in piece of shit Lorre-produced sitcoms!
United States of Al or B Positive. Not exactly a Sophie’s Choice for Chuck.
Al B. Shore?
Looks like B Positive was canceled too.
Al got deported for not for not being a singing dancing blond American lady
♫ Meh meh meh, meh-meh, m-meh meh meh Meh meh meh meh meh-ly meh! Meh meh meh! Me-meh meh meh!Oooooo! Meeeeeehhhhhhh! ♪
Is this AV snark-speak for “they cancelled an unwatchable piece of crap”?
Curious if part of the reason is because it didn’t dominate its timeslot. Granted, Grey’s Anatomy and SVU are really tough competition, but it still held its own and got over 4 million viewers. Which is still better than literally all of NBC’s comedy shows, of which only Young Rock is able to get above 2 million viewers in average. I also find it interesting that this show got the ax before Good Sam, which is bombing horribly.
Isn’t Al showing right between Ghosts and Young Sheldon?Given the surrounding shows’ success, it seems like CBS would consider that a prime slot, and anything there would be expected to perform really well.
So just guessing, but it seems like Al maybe didn’t meet high expectations.
Looks like NBC canceled Mr. Mayor and Kenan. Lots of cancellations are rolling n today.
Not surprising in the least. Neither of them could average 2 million viewers a week and were near the bottom in the 18-49 demo.
Both at least did better than Transplant, though, which is dangerously close to CW-level. Then again, NBC doesn’t pay for Transplant’s production costs, so CW-level ratings are likely still enough to turn a profit.
CW ratings may not be profitable. It looks like CW just canceled: Naomi, 4400, Dynasty, Charmed, Roswell: New Mexico, and In the Dark.
Yea, it seems like Warner Bros. Discovery is cleaning the slate on all the previous non-Max content. They fired the guy who was in charge of Cartoon Network (who has only been on the job for a year and actually brought some classic shows back to the network) a few days ago and moved CN and Adult Swim under the same umbrella as the other Warner cable networks instead of being under the animation umbrella.
I was really looking forward to Mr. Mayor knowing that it was originally intended to be a 30 Rock spinoff but I stopped after two episodes – it was just bad.
Oh it also looks like Good Sam just got the axe along with Magnum P.I. and How We Roll.
Good Sam and How We Roll aren’t surprising, given they’re the worst performing scripted shows on CBS.
Magnum is surprising, given that it was pulling in 5 million viewers on a Friday and handily winning its timeslot.
I can’t say I’m too surprised as it was never particularly funny nor was it that well-written. Still, I thought it had a certain charm. Not sure why I thought that, though. Maybe it just felt like there was a better show in there struggling to break free.
I stopped watching when they revealed Al’s last name was Qaeda.
Still a fan of Parker Young from Suburgatory and Enlisted!
I love following
I love following
Well, this show I never watched took Elizabeth Alderfer away from A.P. Bio, so I can’t be too sad about its departure. But then we also lost A.P. Bio so I’m just sad all around.
Is that sitcom with Thomas Middleditch still on the air? A friend told me it is but they pushed his character to the side instead of going full Jeff Garlin.
B Positive. It just got cancelled, too. They completely changed the premise in Season 2, made it about the female lead who inherits a ton of money and buys an old folks’ home.
Adhir Kalyan deserves so much better –