Why ABC Cancelled A Heather Graham Sitcom After A Single Episode
In the 2006 ABC sitcom "Emily's Reasons Why Not," Heather Graham played the titular Emily Sanders, a self-help guru trying to suss out her own dating life. In the wake of her latest breakup, Emily is hurt, having figured she has previously forgiven her boyfriends of too many of their all-too-obvious flaws. As such, Emily adopts a strict new code for any future romances: when she begins a new relationship, she will begin keeping a list of reasons why she might want to break up. If the list reaches five bullet points, she dumps her suitor and moves on. In the show's first episode (January 9, 2006), she begins dating a man who is assertively chaste and who refuses to have sex with her. This leads her to suspect that he may be gay and in the closet, and is merely using an affected vow of chastity to avoid sexual activity with women.
The series was based on the eponymous novel by Carrie Gerlach, and was clearly to be a network-friendly version of "Sex and the City." Both shows were about the modern foibles of sex and dating in the big city, and both were whimsically narrated by plucky advice columnists. The series was also to feature Nadia Dajani as Emily's friend Reilly and James Patrick Stuart as her buddy Midas.
The most notable thing about "Emily's Reasons Why Not" is that it was canceled after only one episode. The network, ABC, dumped millions of dollars into advertising and seemingly were going to push it with all their might, but the first episode received such a negative response that ABC immediately pulled it. Only five additional episodes had been filmed, and none of them aired in the United States. It has inspired "canceled too soon" conversations for years.
An article in Vulture said that ABC canceled the show after one episode because, perhaps foolishly, they (allegedly) didn't watch the pilot episode before buying it from Sony.
ABC didn't watch the Emily's Reasons Why Not pilot before buying it from Sony
At the time, ABC's head of programming, Steve McPherson, felt he had a hit. Heather Graham was a known quantity, of course, and the show's similarities to "Sex and the City" were, in his eye, a positive trait. It also fit in an empty space on ABC's schedule, as they had no romantic primetime sitcoms that could quite match what "Emily's Reasons Why Not" aimed to do. McPherson bought the show before the pilot was produced. Ordinarily, a show will film a pilot, and then use that pilot as a means to shop a show around to various networks. Often, when a pilot is purchased, it may undergo a casting change, a re-shoot, or a full re-write.
"Emily's Reasons Why Not" bypassed the pilot process, as McPherson was confident it would be a hit. And while it wasn't a hit, one can understand why McPherson might have thought so. The show is slick and professional, and Graham is funny and assured. The premise promised a slew of rotating guest boyfriends, each one bringing their own comedic energy to the show. Heck, Macy Gray performed the theme song. On paper, it seemed like all the elements were in place.
After its only episode, negative press poured in. Slate said in its review that the one episode's "twist" was so obvious "that invertebrate life forms could have seen coming from the first scene on." Popmatters noted that many compared it — negatively — to "Sex and the City," with many noting that it was a limp retread (of course, in 2025, we've had plenty of those). Some people even complained that Heather Graham was too conventionally beautiful to play a scrappy "everywoman" type character.
Did Emily's Reasons Why Not deserve it?
6.2 million people tuned in, which is decent, but not what a new show should fetch, were it aiming to dominate a new generation of viewers. ABC, surprised by how mediocre the show was, pulled the plug immediately. And, yes, the pilot is mediocre.
The remaining five episodes were better, and if one marathons through them, one can see a small amount of growth. Still, it wasn't enough to make anyone want to save it from the dustbin. The show is available on DVD, so curious seekers can explore all six episodes, if they are so determined. "Emily's Reasons Why Not" is notorious for its brevity on the air, but it's not so terrible as one might believe. It's merely bad, but hardly a disaster. All six episodes aired in Spain, Austria, Slovenia, and Japan.
In the Popmatters article, one of the show's producers, Gavin Polone, is frank about the cancellation. Really, the only reason the show was dumped was lousy ratings. After a nationwide advertising blitz and an already-purchased show, it seemed unwise not to air at least one episode, but when no one is interested, then the door can be swiftly shut. As Polone said: "When the audience stays away, in this super-competitive environment, quick decisions are made."
Heather Graham has always had a healthy career in the indie film world, however, and never lost any work over "Emily's Reasons Why Not." The same year it aired, she was in "The Oh in Ohio," "Bobby," "Broken," and "Gray Matters." Since then, she has starred in a few dozen movies, and even made her directorial debut in 2017 with "Half Magic." and secured recurring roles on shows like "Law & Order: True Crime," "Get Shorty," "Californication," and "Bliss." Though "Emily" wasn't a hit, Graham soldiered on.