ABC network pulls the plug after pilot episode

The US version of Motherland has hit the buffers.

Bosses at the ABC network have decided not to press ahead with the series, having commissioned a pilot back in March.

The remake was titled Keeping It Together and starred Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt  lead Ellie Kemper as frazzled mum Julia, the role originally played by Anna Maxwell-Martin

The show, also titled  Drop-Off at one point, in reference to the kids being deposited at the school gates, also starred by Indian-American comedian   Karan Soni, Michaela Conlin and Judy Greer as fellow parents.

Hollywood website Deadline reports that the network was passing on a number of pilots,  including rhe drama Public Defenders, The Hurt Unit and Judgement.

Kemper, who also appeared in the American version of The Office, was an executive producer on the project alongside creators of the BBC original - Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh and Helen Serafinowicz.  

Motherland - whose stars also inlcude Diane Morgan, Tanya Moodie  and Lucy Punch - has run for three seasons on BBC Two and streams on AMC+ in the States. 

Last month, Horgan said she wasn't sure if there would be a fourth series, telling the Radio Times: 'There have been conversations [but]it's really tricky to keep getting that cast together. I think I'd say we're waiting to see what happens.

'The actors, they're all successful people. It's very difficult getting them in a room together.'

Graham Linehan, Serafinowicz's ex-husband, was also one of the original creators but stepped back from subsequent series. 

Published: 10 Jun 2023