Paramount Network has canceled “American Woman.” The decision to pull the plug on the drama comes roughly two weeks after its first season finished airing on the Viacom-owned cable channel.
Inspired by the life of “Real Housewives” star Kyle Richards, “American Woman” starred Alicia Silverstone and Mena Suvari, and followed Silverstone’s character Bonnie, an unconventional mother struggling to raise her two daughters after leaving her husband, with help from her two best friends.
The series landed a 12-episode order for its first season, but followed a winding path to the screen. It was originally developed for Viacom’s TV Land, but was moved to Spike last year ahead of the latter network’s rebranding as the Paramount Network. The Warner Horizon series then underwent a showrunner change midway through production, with John Wells stepping in after John Riggi exited the series over creative differences.
In his review of the series for Variety, Daniel D’Addario called it “surprisingly tame,” adding, “the show doesn’t give us nearly enough of whatever is the real Bonnie to make us understand why hers is a journey that deserves our time — let alone a title that positions her as an archetypal national figure. Much time is spent on subplots among her friends that are entirely disconnected from the story and offensively silly, to boot.”
