Front: Fran Drescher and John Michael Higgins
Back row: Tichina Arnold, Robert Walden, Rita Moreno
and Valente Rodriguez
Rita Moreno’s most current TV home closes up shop
Everybody loves Fran Drescher…except, apparently, TV Land. We haven’t seen a new episode of her sitcom Happily Divorced since last February, and now word has come down through Deadline.com that we won’t be seeing any more in the future: TV Land has decided to end the show with its second 24-episode season.
The legendary Rita Moreno has been part of the show, based loosely on Drescher’s own slightly madcap life, since it premiered in 2011. The show started strong with more than 2.4 million viewers, and even a 1.5 million audience got it a second season. But the network has decided to focus on its other shows, including Hot in Cleveland, The Exes, and the new Kirstie Alley sitcom, Kirstie, as well as some other new projects.
Moreno is one of those amazing actresses, even at 80 years old, who can play just about any ethnicity with equal bravissima. It’s one of the reasons she’s one of a handful of actors who has won an Oscar, an Emmy, and a Tony (to mention just a few of the literally thousands of honors she’s received). She’s played plenty of Latinos in the past, of course, but this time around she was just as convincing as Drescher’s exceedingly New York Jewish mother. And we’ll also miss seeing Valente Rodriguez (The Mentalist, George Lopez) and his comedic wit.
Here’s a last little glimpse of Moreno from TVLand:
Individual episodes of Season 2 are available for $1.99 a pop on Amazon Instant Video, right here.
