Anna Daniels
After one season on FOX, the drama series Almost Family has been canceled. News of the show’s cancellation follows the shocking revelation of rape allegations against one of the show’s stars, Oscar winner Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People, Iceman). Though the reason for cancellation has not been confirmed to have ties to these accusations, the timing would seem to indicate that one brought about the other in quick fashion.
The Wrap has word on Almost Family being canceled at FOX, a decision that was made just a few hours after the rape allegations against Hutton surfaced at BuzzFeed. If you haven’t heard about Almost Family, here’s the official synopsis:
Only child Julia Bechley (Brittany Snow, of the Pitch Perfect franchise) finds her life turned upside down when her father, Leon Bechley (Timothy Hutton of Leverage, Ordinary People), reveals that, over the course of his prize-winning career as a pioneering fertility doctor, he used his own sperm to conceive upwards of a hundred children.
Reeling from this explosive revelation, Julia discovers two new sisters – her former best friend, Edie Palmer (Megalyn Echikunwoke, of The Following), and an ex-Olympic athlete, Roxy Doyle (Emily Osment, of The Kominsky Method). As these three young women begin to embrace their new reality, Julia must figure out what life is like without Leon by her side; Edie comes to grips with her burgeoning sexuality, as her marriage falters; and Roxy faces adulthood out of the spotlight.
Against all odds, the three women will attempt to form an untraditional bond as sisters, even as they must welcome a tidal wave of new siblings into their rapidly expanding family.
Considering the allegations against Timothy Hutton, the premise of the show feels even more icky that it already did. FOX and Universal Television didn’t give a reason for the show’s cancellation, but one would assume it has something to do with the story that BuzzFeed broke last night. However, FOX had already removed the show from its schedule after the January 15 episode, and only finished the 13-episode first season with the last two episodes airing on February 22, so it could just be coincidental timing.
The allegations against Timothy Hutton come from 50-year old actress and model Sera Johnston, who has accused Hutton of raping her in a Vancouver hotel in 1983 when she was 14 years old. BuzzFeed has an extensive breakdown of the rape allegations you can read right here, but be warned, they are extremely graphic and disturbing.
For his part, Hutton “completely and unequivocally denies” these allegations in a statement through his lawyer. Hutton then went out of his way to question Johnston’s motives by saying he “will not spend one more minute dignifying these allegations as they are patently false and designed only to extort money from him.”
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