‘Coach’ Reboot Series Axed at NBC
The “Coach” revival series is, well, not being revived at NBC. Variety has confirmed the comedy is not moving forward at the network with insiders citing creative issues for the network’s change in heart.
The project, which landed a straight-to-series 13-episode order this past March, was set to pick up 18 years after the sitcom went off the air. Original star Craig T. Nelson was cast to reprise his role as Coach Hayden Fox in the sequel series, which was slated for a midseason debut.
Though the mid-production cancellation seems sudden, the series was only garnering mixed reviews internally.
From the time the reboot was announced, critics were quick to question the new “Coach.” At the Television Critics’ Assn. press tour this summer, reporters asked NBC prez Bob Greenblatt about the show’s progress to which he responded, “One man’s practical joke is another man’s hit show.”
Greenblatt defended the show, saying, “It’s a way to do another variation on a family show with, I think, a truly talented star and a great showrunner and a presold title.”
The modern-day “Coach” was going to follow Nelson’s Hayden Fox getting back into the game, after he had retired from coaching when he is called back home to become assistant coach to his grown son, who is the new head coach for a new team at the Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology.
The creator of “Coach,” Berry Kemp, was going to write the Universal Television series and serve as an exec producer, along with Nelson, who’s fresh off of NBC’s “Parenthood.”
Debuting in 1989, the original series ran nine seasons on ABC for 198 episodes. The laffer earned Nelson the Emmy for best comedy actor in 1992.
“Coach” was one of many revival series set to make way back to television, alongside NBC’s “Heroes Reborn,” premiering this fall; Fox’s “The X-Files,” which bows in January 2016; and Netflix’s upcoming “Full House” sequel, “Fuller House.”
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