Patricia Heaton Is Set to Make a Comeback after ‘Carol’s Second Act’ Cancelation
Patricia Heaton is ready to join a new television series a year after her television sitcom Carol’s Second Act got canceled.
Unlike her previous Emmy-winning TV shows such as Patricia Heaton Parties and Everybody Loves Raymond, Carol’s Second Act couldn't garner enough audience. As a result, CBS canceled the show right after its last episode of season one aired on March 12, 2020.
About 'Carol’s Second Act'
A medical drama, Carol’s Second Act revolved around Heaton's Carol Kenney, who pursued her lifelong dream of becoming a doctor after her adult children moved out of her house. Her journey as a new doctor and the challenges she faced forged a path for the plot.
Other casts to grace the series included Ito Aghayere, Kyle MacLachlan, Sabrina Jalees, Ashley Tisdale, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Lucas Neff, and Cedric Yarbrough.
While the series impressed its fans, there wasn't enough audience for consistent rating performance. During its 18-episode freshman rotation, the project only averaged 0.63 demo ratings and 5 million total viewers. Because of this, CBS canceled the show after its first run.
Patricia Heaton to Star on a New Nashville-Based Project
In her career spanning 25 years, Heaton has starred in multiple movies and TV shows. And she is taking no break.
Deadline reported Heaton's new project on July 26, 2021, revealing that Fox Entertainment and Kapital Entertainment would produce the new comedy.
The project has already gained Fox's script-to-series commitment. But, the show's name and writer haven't been finalized. Also, it doesn't have a plot synopsis yet.
That being said, it's confirmed that the Ohio native would reunite with Aaron Kaplan, who worked as a producer for Carol’s Second Act.
The multi-talented actress will also be the executive producer for the show alongside husband David Hunt under their FourBoys Entertainment banner.
The comedy will be filmed in a studio in Nashville, and the actual city locations will be featured as the background for the series.
Heaton, who spends her days in Nashville and Los Angeles, supports the project's base. The Everybody Loves Raymond actress told Deadline how she wanted to support the growth of the entertainment production business in Nashville.
I have gotten to know and love Nashville over the years while visiting my son and my sister there. It’s a wonderful city with an incredible quality of life, along with a vibrant culture and so much creative energy.
The 63-year-old believes shooting a project in the city would provide hundreds of jobs for the local cast and crew. And for that, she is "looking forward to working with Fox."
The project will be filmed through Kapital Entertainment's new cost-effective production model implemented in its new series, Women Of the Movement. In addition, Fox Entertainment gave the green signal for the novel approach.
The president of entertainment of Fox, Michael Thorn, told Deadline they believed that broadcast comedy could attain success with innovative models. He also praised Heaton and shared how the new project represented the next step in the ever-evolving live-action comedy strategy.