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‘Necessary Roughness’ Canceled By USA

By Tayla Holman
Published on: 05:55 PST, Nov 20, 2013

Necessary Roughness has been been canceled by USA after three seasons.

The series is based on the true story of Dr. Donna Dannenfelser, who worked for the New York Jets. The series was originally titled Dr. Donna when it first appeared on USA’s development slate in December 2009. In May 2010, USA placed a cast-contingent pilot order under the name Necessary Roughness.

Callie Thorne was cast in the lead role as Dr. Dani Santino, a professional therapist for the New York Hawks football team. Thorne was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress for the role. Mehcad Brooks was cast as Terrance “TK” King, the Hawks’ star player and Dani’s main focus when she is first hired by the team.

John Stamos joined Necessary Roughness in its third season as Connor McClane, the founder of V3, a global sports and entertainment management company. USA aggressively pursued Stamos for the role.

“We are proud of this show and its writers, which had a unique ability to address topical subjects before they unfolded in real life on the sports pages,” USA said in a statement. “We want to thank [creators] Liz Kruger and Craig Shapiro, the incredible cast led by Golden Globe nominee Callie Thorne and our partners at Sony Television.”

The third season of Necessary Roughness premiered on June 12 to 2.61 million viewers, down from the previous season premiere of 3.01 million viewers (the series premiere drew 4.67 million viewers). In the third season premiere, Dani is fired by the new coach and general manager of the New York Hawks. Connor offers her a full-time job at V3 on the condition that she work for him exclusively. The season finale premiered of August 21 to 2.36 million viewers.

Callie Thorne took to Twitter to address the series’ cancellation Tuesday.

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