The Timothy Hutton and Brittany Snow-led drama “Almost Family” has been canceled by Fox after one season, an individual with knowledge told TheWrap Monday.
Executive produced by Jason Katims and Annie Weisman, “Almost Family” followed Julia Bechley (Snow), who finds out her father Leon (Hutton), a prize-winning fertility doctor, used his own genetic material to conceive upwards of dozens of children. Following that revelation, Julia discovers she has two new sisters: her former best friend Edie Palmer (Megalyn Echikunwoke) and ex-Olympic athlete Roxy Doyle (Emily Osment).
News of “Almost Family’s” cancellation came hours after BuzzFeed News published a story in which 50-year-old Canadian model and actress Sera Johnston accused Hutton of raping her in a Vancouver hotel room back in 1983, when she was 14 years old.
Through a lawyer, Hutton told BuzzFeed News that he “completely and unequivocally” denies the accusations and said the account was “patently false and designed only to extort money from him.” Representatives for Hutton did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Fox and “Almost Family” studio Universal Television declined TheWrap’s request for comment regarding whether or not the accusations posed against Hutton today had anything to do with the network’s decision to end the show.
At the time of its cancellation, “Almost Family” was settling for a 0.7 rating in the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic and 2.5 million total viewers, according to Nielsen’s “most current” data, which includes a week’s worth of delayed viewing where available.
“Almost Family,” which premiered Oct. 2, originally aired at 9/8c on Wednesdays, acting as the lead-out for the second season of “The Masked Singer.” The show returned from winter hiatus Jan. 1 and remained in its original time slot for three weeks until it was pulled from the schedule following its Jan. 15 episode. Fox aired the final two episodes of the drama’s 13-episode freshman run on Saturday, Feb. 22.
Along with Hutton, Snow, Echikunwoke and Osment, “Almost Family” stars Mustafa Elzein, Mo McRae and Victoria Cartagena.
Katims, Weisman, Jeni Mulein, Imogen Banks, Sharon Levy and Randy Zisk executive produced the series. Weisman wrote the pilot, which Leslye Headland directed.
“Almost Family” is a co-production between Universal Television and Fox Entertainment and is based on an Endemol Shine Australia-produced show from Banks and Jonathan Gavin.