Fran Drescher Says Studio Execs Regret Canceling Her Little-Remembered Sitcom

Fran Drescher is best known to most audiences for the CBS sitcom where she made her name, "The Nanny," which ran for six seasons and made Drescher a household name. Recently, Drescher appeared on the big screen in the 2025 A24 sports dramedy "Marty Supreme."

In 2011, over a decade after "The Nanny" ended, Drescher led another sitcom, albeit one that was much shorter lived. "Happily Divorced" was created by Drescher and her former partner Peter Marc Jacobson and starred Drescher and John Michael Higgins. The series, which took inspiration from Drescher and Jacobson's own experiences as a previously married couple, followed the life of Drescher's florist Fran Lovett after her husband Peter (Higgins) came out as gay. The series ran for just two seasons on TV Land before executives at the network made the decision to cancel it in 2013.

Speaking recently to People, Fran Drescher reflected on "Happily Divorced" and revealed that executives at TV Land had told her that they regretted canceling the sitcom.

"It's too bad that TV Land took 'Happily Divorced' off after only 36 episodes," Drescher said in the interview. She blamed the series' struggles on a "poor business model," saying, "I did point it out to them, but they didn't want to hear it. But ultimately, I was proved correct.

"Two years later, I ran into one of the executives," Drescher said. "They said, 'If it's any consolation, that's like the big regret at TV Land. That shouldn't have been canceled. That shouldn't have gone away. It was so good.'"

She continued, "If you have limited money, you can't pay for a series with the hopes that you'll be able to syndicate it or advance sell it before you start running out of money. This was a couple that still loved each other, but he's gay. It was going to take a little bit longer than 36 episodes to sell. Not to find the audience, because everybody loved it."

TVLine has reached out to TV Land for comment.