Michael Weatherly announced today that this will be Bull’s final season on CBS.
“Hello all! It’s been my privilege to play Dr Jason Bull but after 6 Seasons of incredible storylines, I’ve decided it’s time to pursue new creative challenges and bring his story to a close,” the actor wrote. “It has been an honor to work with this talented cast, crew, and writing/producing team who helped reinvent the legal drama. Stay tuned for a big series finish…Thanks to all the fans from the bottom of my heart. You will always be a part of our Bull family!”
Is the news a surprise? Not really; it has never been a ratings juggernaut. This year has been even tougher on the show that was moved to Thursdays at 10p. That, and it was controversial after Weatherly was accused of sexually harassing Eliza Dushku and CBS gave her an almost $10 million settlement.
In other cancellation news, NBC is no longer in business with Ellen DeGeneres. That is because they cancelled Ellen’s Game of Games after four seasons, according to Deadline.
When CBS announced that they picked up Bull for another season, many people called Bull. That is because they could not believe that the network would keep a show where they had to settle a sexual harassment case for $9.5 because of the legal drama’s star.
Since the renewal, it was revealed that Amblin, the production company behind Bull, pulled out from producing the show; but we have not heard from CBS. Today, CBS Entertainment President Kelly Kahl explained his decision. He said, “Michael made a mistake in his comments [to Dushku]. He owned that mistake. He was apologetic at the time, and he was remorseful.” Then he added Weatherly, “was willing to take any kind of coaching or training we deem necessary for him to create a positive environment on the set.”
Ultimately the exec says, “When we looked at the totality of the situation, we felt comfortable bringing ‘Bull’ back on the air. He took everything very seriously and wants to move forward. He’s a dad, he’s a father. He was upset by this. He wants to make it better.”
Should that be enough? We have not seen Weatherly make any public statement since then. Whatever he says will be ripped apart, but at least we can see if he is truly remorseful. I think he needs to do that. I also think CBS needs to let us know if has he done anything to rectify the situation. If not, it makes it seem like, to me, CBS is OK with sexual harassment as long as you tell them you want to do better. That is not enough.
Do you agree with CBS’s decision to renew the show?
CBS announced that they picked up SEAL Team, S.W.A.T., Madam Secretary, Bull, Hawaii Five-0, MacGyver, 60 Minutes and 48 Hours for another season. The news programs make sense. The dramas are a little surprising because they are all ratings duds except for Hawaii Five-0. However, we all thought after the Eliza Dushku story came out about her saying that Michael Weatherly sexually harassed her that they would have cancelled the show. Especially since they paid her a huge settlement ($9.5 million) because of it.
The story broke when the show was on hiatus, and many of us thought it would not return in the #MeToo era. But it did. In fact, it stayed around the same in the ratings which were not nearly as good as when it followed NCIS for its first two seasons. Therefore, CBS, the network who fired its boss over sexual harassment claims, had a way out. Yet they did not take it.
Which dumbfounded a lot of us. No one as much as Steven Speilberg and his company Amblin Entertainment who produce the legal drama. Or should I say produced as in the past tense? That is because a rep for the production company told Deadline, “Steven Spielberg, Amblin Television, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey are no longer attached to Bull.”
That should mean that CBS is the sole producer of the show. Something networks like more and more these days. But will they want to produce it by themselves? Yes, Michael Weatherly was one of their biggest stars on NCIS, but is he worth keeping around when so many women lost respect and interest in him after we all found out about Eliza Dushku? I honestly thought they would take the loss, boy was I wrong.
I guess the #MeToo movement has come and gone, and now it is OK to harass us again. It is not and the only way to keep the momentum going is to fire and not work with people that have to been proven to be harassers. It is not only about us. It is about the next generation and the generation after that and so on. For too long we stayed quiet. Not anymore. I am woman, hear me roar!
BTW I guess you can say I am calling bull on Bull being picked up for another season.
Even though we are two months and two days away from the season 2 premiere of Bull on CBS, they are already filming new episodes. The show’s star Michael Weatherly kept up a tradition he has and that is to drop trou and show off his sexy legs. I wish they would show them more on the legal drama because that is why I always tune in. I want to see the gorgeous gams on the ham as much as possible!
Not only does Michael Weatherly play Dr Phil in Bull, he is now copying his look. The actor debuted a mustache that looks a lot like the daytime talk show host he portrays. At this rate, he will be balding by the time they go back into production of the CBS later this summer.
When it is comes to the stache, we need DiNozzio back if you know what mean.
