'Samantha Who?' canceled

Budgetary issues contributed to show's demise

By Nellie Andreeva

May 18, 2009, 01:41 PM ET

It will indeed be "Samantha Who?" next season as the sophomore series will not return for a third year.

ABC had offered to renew the amnesia comedy starring Christina Applegate if producing studio ABC Studios would cut $500,000 per episode from the show's budget for next season. (To do that, the series' producers were looking to add a third camera to its shoots, keeping the single-camera look but trimming its production schedule.)

But after running the numbers, the network brass also faced another problem -- with 10 new series picked up, four of them comedies, it had no good slots available and no ability to promote the return of "Who?"

With budget pressure, no guaranteed time slot and little chance for promotion, the network and the studio ultimately decided to pull the plug on the series.

'Samantha Who?' canceled

Budgetary issues contributed to show's demise

By Nellie Andreeva

May 18, 2009, 01:41 PM ET