[LukeB]

ITV producers have announced that they will be cancelling two of their comedy shows, including former BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather.

The comedy series, which starred Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, originally aired on BBC One and ended its run in 1998. It was off air for sixteen years before ITV decided to revive the series back in 2014.

"We had success with Birds of a Feather, that was our most successful sitcom in years, but it's come to a sort of natural end," said executive producer Kevin Lygo (via The Mirror).

The reboot was very successful, running for three series in total as well as two Christmas specials, but sadly producers have no plans for more.

As for the other sitcom coming to its end, that would be Jack Dee series Bad Move, which premiered back in 2017.

Jack Dee and Derek's Kerry Godliman starred as married couple Steve and Nicky who decided to relocate from the city to the countryside, only to find themselves quickly regretting their choice.

"We had two series of the Jack Dee sitcom but I don't think we’re continuing with it now. It’s just very, very hard," Lygo added.

As well as confirming the two series' cancellations, Lygo added that the future of scripted comedy on ITV looked "quite bleak", suggesting that viewers should instead turn to the channel's soaps, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, to get their comedy fix.

"Audiences can get their fix of character-based comedy from Corrie," he said, comparing characters Steve McDonald and Tracy Barlow to being "like a sitcom".

https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a26145...ther-bad-move/