PASADENA, Calif. — Lincoln Park native and stand-up comic John Mulaney’s eponymous sitcom has been bounced around Fox’s Sunday schedule, had its initial order of 16 episodes pared back by three and continues to flail in the ratings.
But Fox isn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet — at least not officially. Or publicly.
Fox Television Group co-chief Dana Walden acknowledged that “Mulaney” stumbled out of the gate last fall, but she said the network won’t decide its fate until the spring.
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“I really think John has a special voice,” Walden said about the St. Ignatius grad who spent five years as a writer on Lorne Michaels’ “Saturday Night Live.” Michaels is a producer on Mulaney’s semi-autobiographical series about a stand-up comic struggling to hit it big.
“It took him a little bit of time to step into the role on screen — he was so used to being behind the scenes, the writer,” Walden said. “If you spoke to John and Lorne I think they’d admit that the first few episodes as he was getting used to his role as actor were a little shaky and then it hits a great stride.”
The show airs at 6 p.m. (Central) Sundays on WFLD-Channel 32.
“Running Sundays at 7 [Eastern time], it’s a very challenging time period,” Walden said. “We’ll see. We’re not going to make any decision on that show until May.”
