With the cancellation season in full swing, NBC has canned another series hopeful. The network has officially passed on the comedy, Hungry, which was to drop Modern Family alum Ariel Winter into the leading role. The pilot was not without its shakeups which could have ultimately led NBC to give it the pass. Initially meant to star in the production, Demi Lovato exited their leading role, leaving them to serve solely as an executive producer. The replacement came just days before production began with Lovato citing the changeup as a scheduling issue. The bizarre part is that NBC seemed very excited about the series, listing it as a high priority and beginning filming just days after Winter’s involvement was announced. Regardless of the how's and why's, the series has been officially canned.
Hungry was to follow members of a food-issues group who end up becoming a tight-knit circle of friends. Throughout the series, audiences would have watched as the pals helped each other through the ups and downs of dealing with their food-based problems all while searching for love and success and attempting not to reach for food as a coping mechanism. Along with Winter, the series was set to star Valerie Bertinelli, Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias, Ryan McPartlin, Alex Brightman, and Ashley D. Kelley.
What was first dreamt up as a single-camera operation got moved to a multi-camera pilot when James Burrows took over as director. A huge name in the world of television, Burrows was the person you’d want behind your pilot as over the years he stood at the helm of over 50 of them. Along with his role of pilot director on breakthrough shows including Will & Grace and The Big Bang Theory, the creative also holds the gigantic credit of being one of the co-creators of Cheers.
Given his impressive track record, it’s a doozy to know that one of Burrows’ pilots didn’t fulfill a series order. Along with the backing of Burrows, the pilot also featured the writing talents of Suzanne Martin who is known for penning episodes of Will & Grace, Frasier, and Hot in Cleveland.
Martin was also set to executive produce alongside Lovato, their manager Scooter Braun, Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, Scott Manson, and James Shin. While Hungry joins an ever-growing list of projects that won’t see the light of day, we look forward to the lineup of pilots that will be receiving series orders.