“American Auto” has been canceled by NBC, TheWrap can confirm. This marks the third comedy to be canceled by the network after “Young Rock” and “Grand Crew,” which were axed earlier this month.
Created by Justin Spitzer, the series starred Ana Gasteyer and Harriet Dyer as the employees of a Detroit-based carmaking company. The series followed the struggles of Payne Motors after a CEO (Gasteyer) from the pharmaceutical world who knows next-to-nothing about cars is hired to run a car manufacturer. The series also starred Jon Barinholtz, Tye White, Michael Benjamin Washington, Humphrey Ker and X Mayo. Jim O’Heir, Andy Daly, Martha Kelly, Seth Meyers and Ryan Reynolds also appeared in the series as guest stars.
“American Auto” first premiered in December of 2021 to critical acclaim. Season 1 still has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 11 reviews.
Despite its recognition from industry insiders, the series never exactly found its audience. Season 1 averaged a 0.37 rating and 2.17 million viewers based on live + same day viewing. Season 2 dropped in the ratings nearly 25%, with an average of 0.28 in the ratings and 1.95 million viewers.
“American Auto’s” cancellation is not too surprising. The network still hadn’t made a decision about the series during its upfront presentation in May. Though “American Auto” will not be seeing the light of day next year, “Magnum P.I.” and “Lopez vs. Lopez,” which had similar live + same day ratings, were renewed.
Heading into fall of 2023, NBC will be premiering three new scripted series as well as a new night of Big Ten Football. “Extended Family,” stars Jon Cryer, Donald Faison and Abigail Spencer and follows a divorced couple who has to learn to get along in the midst of this massive life change. “Found,” starring Shanola Hampton and Mark-Paul Gosselaar, revolves around a public relations specialist who’s dedicated to finding missing people in America. Finally, “The Irrational,” which stars Jesse L. Martin, centers around a world-renowned leader in behavioral science who takes on cases involving governments, law enforcement and corporations.
