It’s the end of the road for Package Deal and Meet the Family.
On Monday afternoon, Vancouver’s Craigslist posted the following “Huge Set Sale”:
“Tons of chairs, bar stools and tables, banquettes, theatre chairs, church pews (!!) couches, lamps and other lighting, furniture, kitchen items, tea shop and bar paraphernalia, glassware, carpeting, clothing (no kids clothes) and those ever present knickknacks!
April 22nd, 23rd and 24th from 10am — 4pm (NO early birds)
Location: Unit 1B — 2350 Beta Avenue, Burnaby (Street Parking Only)
Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to grab some amazing deals!”
Those listed items are the contents of the apartment, tea shop, courtroom and offices featured in the original sitcom during the last two seasons.
City confirmed Tuesday afternoon that both Package Deal and hidden camera sketch series Meet the Family would not return.
“Despite the strong teams behind both series and critical acclaim garnered to date, Package Deal and Meet The Family were unable to connect with the audience needed to continue,” said Nataline Rodrigues, Director of Original Programming of Rogers Media, in a statement. “We remain committed to Canadian originals, and we are proud to have provided our viewers with two fun seasons of both series; it was a real pleasure and privilege to work with the immense talent on these shows – on and off the screen.
Package Deal starred Randal Edwards as Danny, a successful lawyer who met and fell in love with Kim (Julia Voth). The problem? Danny’s two brothers, ne’er-do-well Sheldon (Harland Williams) and fastidious Ryan (Jay Malone), don’t like that Kim is taking Danny away from them. The multi-camera series was created by Andrew Orenstein (Malcolm in the Middle, 3rd Rock from the Sun) and shot in front of a live audience. Never able to score decent ratings (it was down to 72,000 viewers in mid-October) the second season finale was broadcast in December, and had the feel of a series finale to it.
The news comes the same day that Package Deal‘s production company, Thunderbird, announced both seasons are available for streaming in the U.S. on Hulu starting Tuesday.
Produced by Frantic films and based on the successful U.K. series, Meet the Parents threw unwitting folks into a uncomfortable situation: meeting the downright odd family of their girlfriend or boyfriend. The series starred Terry Barna, Liz Best, Hannah Hogan, Theresa Tova, Don Berns, Heather Hodgson, Ralph Small, Nicole Maroon, Peter Keleghan, Chris Wilson, Miguel Rivas and Matt Bernard.