'Filthy Rich': Five reasons why FOX cancelled the popular Southern gothic drama after just one season
Spoilers for 'Filthy Rich'
FOX's 'Filthy Rich' had enough televangelist drama that had people tune in every Monday to see what the Monreaux family was up to. The series follows the Monreauxs who recently suffered the tragic loss of their patriarch Eugene Monreaux. If that weren't enough, Eugene left behind three illegitimate children with three different women — a secret, his wife Margaret uncovers after his death.
How you ask? Ah, as always with rich people, there's a wealthy sum to be inherited from their will. As Margaret tries to figure out how to keep the money in the family, along with her two children with Eugene, she also has to tackle the family business — therefore, she takes on the role of the Monreaux matriarch. After this initial premise played out in the first two episodes, we've come a long way in the drama since then.
From members of 1820 threatening Margaret to the audience finding out that Eugene is alive and trying to help his family without showing his face, in the midst of all this, of course, we have murder, lies, an adult website called Sin Wagon, conspiracies, corruption, sacrilegious tapes — you name it. All the makings of what we thought was a great soap opera.
Unfortunately, three days ago, reports swirled that the series was canceled even before it's sixth episode aired, upsetting many fans that called out the network on their "stupidity" and begged other networks to pick the show back up. The good news is that the rest of the episodes from Season 1 (10 in total) will air to completion. However, here are five reasons why we think FOX's 'Filthy Rich' was sacked after just one season on the air.
Recycled Narrative
If you've watched the series, you'd quickly catch on to the fact that this isn't the first family drama with "rich" struggles to be on the air. There are many shows that are like 'Filthy Rich' that scream family money, business corruption, cult murders etc. If not a family, definitely groups of regular characters with the same fate. We're talking about shows like 'Dynasty', 'Empire', 'Devious Maids', 'Succession', 'The Family Business,' and so many more.
While 'Filthy Rich' does have its unique plotline with the whole televangelist mega-rich family thing, it does seem like it's yet another scripted show with twists and turns we've either already seen or can predict. There is a lot of women empowerment in this series, with many emotional themes but again, it's not a first. There is a high chance that even if the series did take off, people might get bored.
Slow plotline
Having watched the show ourselves, we can be real on this. In the first episode we find out the Eugene is dead, but then in the second episode we, as the audience find out that he's alive. Although it's fun to see how Margaret's life plays out in the absence of her husband and with the consequences of all his descriptions, we have to say, they've been stalling Eugene's storyline too much.
Some fans think that he's an angel while others think he actually survived the plane crash. Some also think he might be in a coma himself. However, he seems to be physically helping his son Eric now, so now we're thinking he's alive. He also made it as far as walking into his own home, to take a jacket and a hat, so he can hide out from his family. While we understand that he might not want to come back home after the stress and disappointment he caused his wife and kids, we're wondering why he's helping Eric in secret then?
Is he planning something we don't know? Was his plane crash a plan to murder him by the 1820? As the family's narrative continues to be explored, we don't get much on Euguene and by the recent episode 6 (5 as well, if you consider that the series was canceled before Episode 6 aired) we're really frustrated. This we think could have been what attributed to our next reason as to why the show was canceled.
Low ratings
If you're going by the live tweets that happen during the show, you'll see many fans enjoying the series. But, you'll also notice that the show, was in fact not getting too much of a buzz. Besides the fact that it stars 'Sex And The City' alum Kim Cattrall, the series didn't have much going for it. According to reports about the series being canceled, FOX network mentioned that low ratings played a part in the decision.
A Variety report stated that the series averaged "3.2 million viewers and a 0.5 rating among adults 18-49 after seven days of delayed viewing." This seems a tad bit bad considering shows that have come back after the pandemic, have gotten higher views. Of course, we can argue that this is a new show and could follow shows like 'Breaking Bad' where audiences took time to warm up to the series before it became a hit. However, networks have suffered enough loses due to the pandemic taking a hit on production, and a low rating show could be a liability.
High production costs
It would stupid to ignore the fact that the pandemic has resulted in many losses when it comes to productions - they've either been delayed, canceled, or halted until further notice. Reports claim that high production costs due to COVID-19 also played a part in the decision FOX made on canceling the show.
As of now, the series is considered to be one of the lowest-rated series on the network, and to continue to spend money on a Season 2 production would keep the network from putting in money on shows that are dishing out numbers. It's simply a reality that in these times, this won't be a 'Brooklyn 99' scenario (the series was brought back by NBC after FOX canceled it because fans were absolutely relentless) no matter how much fans seem to want it to be.
FOX's history with show cancellations
Speaking of previous show cancellations, fans have repeatedly called out the network for canceling shows that seem to be getting popular - just not on their time. Besides the famous 2018 meltdown that fans had when the network canceled #B99, the network has canceled many series that fans held dear and some even deemed popular.
It's come to the point where fans brace themselves for cancellation as soon as the network comes out with a new show. Shows that have suffered this fate include 'Scream Queens', 'Almost Family', 'Arrested Development', 'Alcatraz', 'Firefly' and many more.
It's safe to say that fans, as well as us, are sour about this news. While we hope that fans will be heard by other networks and the show could be picked up, we're still mad that the network didn't even consider the fact that only 5 episodes had aired when they decided to cancel.
Episode 7 of 'Filthy Rich' airs on Monday, November 9, from 9 to 10 pm ET on FOX.