Late last week, news broke that the upcoming sixth season of Mike & Molly will be the last.
CBS is officially canceling the program, which centers on a relationship between a Chicago couple who met at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting and stars Melissa McCarthy and Billy Gardell. But viewers didn't hear about the series shutdown from the network; the intel came from the actors themselves.
On December 3, Gardell tweeted a message about the upcoming season, and thanking fans for their support along the way. Less than a week later, Rondi Reed, who plays Mike's mother on the show, shared a lengthy Facebook post on the subject. "The network has its reasons," she wrote, "and I will not get into a debate, discussion, or campaign to get them to change their minds." On Monday, Melissa McCarthy weighed in via Twitter, too.
I was shocked and heartbroken when @CBS canceled #MikeAndMolly. I would have shot this show for 50 more years. I'll miss my 2nd family.
— Melissa McCarthy (@melissamccarthy) December 14, 2015Refinery29 has reached out to CBS for comment but has not received a return response at the time of publishing. However, Business Insider reported that the series saw an 11% drop in viewership among 18 to 49-year-olds during season five, and with series like Supergirl and The Odd Couple, CBS seems to be competitively courting younger potential audiences.