Kirstie Alley’s Show Canceled: TV Land Axes ‘Kirstie’ After First Season

Kirstie Alley’s show has been canceled after just one season on TV Land. The news that Kirstie will not be coming back for a second round of episodes came out via Deadline, and fans are left wondering what the actress will tackle next.

Though the show never became a big player in terms of rating or buzz, Kirstie Alley’s show did have an impressive cast. Michael Richards of Seinfeld fame along with Rhea Perlman from Cheers joined Alley in the show. Kirstie featured a Broadway star, played by Alley, whose biological son showed up to form a relationship with her after his adoptive mother passed away.

Rhea played the best friend and assistant to Kirstie’s character, Maddie Banks, while Michael played her driver. While it would certainly seem that a network could fashion a hit out of this trio of comedic stars, many would say the writing fell flat and the show simply did not work. It probably did not help that Marco Pennette, the show’s creator and showrunner, left after the first reason ended due to “personal reasons.”

Deadline previously reported on Pennette’s departure, indicating that there was “a personal issue that makes it difficult for Pennette to perform showrunner duties on a series, which are very physically demanding.” It was noted that Pennette and Alley are long-time friends. Pennette has since gone on to take on a part-time job as a consulting producer on Mom. The network did not make any firm decision regarding a second season at the time Pennette’s departure was announced, but it seems they ultimately decided not to move forward with new episodes.

Where will the show’s stars head now? The Hollywood Reporter shares that Rhea Perlman has already signed up to appear in an arc on The Mindy Project. There is no word as of yet regarding what projects Kristie Alley or Michael Richards might tackle next.

How has Alley reacted to the news? She is known for being extremely outspoken, but her latest social media post didn’t reflect any sadness over the show cancellation. Kirstie tweeted, “GOOD MORNING WORLD!!!!! Life feels grand today!!! OMG I’m going to go on a road trip!!!!” Some would say it’s been a tough week for Kirstie, as she is not only in the headlines for the show cancellation, but former Dancing With the Stars partner Maksim Chermkovskiy had some interesting tidbits to share in his Watch What Happens Live appearance this week that raised some eyebrows.

Though Maksim and Kirstie had always been close, and participated in two seasons of DWTS together, it seems they are no longer on speaking terms. As Zap2It shares, it seems that perhaps Chmerkovskiy’s friendship with Leah Remini, who appeared on a recent season and quite publicly quit Scientology, may be to blame. Kirstie Alley is still a dedicated Scientologist, and she railed on Remini publicly not long ago. Chmerkovskiy wouldn’t name names, but said, “Now that I’m associating with other people that she can’t be associated with, I am no longer to be spoken with.” That would certainly seem to reference Kirstie, Leah and possibly his other “friend” Jennifer Lopez.

Fans of Kirstie Alley hope she lands on her feet with a new project soon, and it would seem a good bet that she will. Will you miss TV Land’s Kirstie?

[Image via FanPop]