It was no laughing matter over at Fox on Thursday: The network cancelled four freshman comedies.

The Grinder," "Grandfathered," "Cooper Barrett's Guide to Surviving Life," and "Bordertown."

The latter two shows were misdeason series, and viewed as unlikely candidates for renewal anyway. (Deadline reports that both shows "had been written off awhile ago," which seems harsh, if not inaccurate.) But "The Grinder" and "Grandfathered" were seen as promising additions to the Fox slate, and the network was strongly considering renewing at least one of them.

According to Deadline, "Grandfathered" did marginally better in the ratings than "The Grinder," and producers had been in discussions with Fox about "tweaking" the series for a potential season two (whatever that means). It was neck-and-neck between the two shows for a while ("The Grinder" got great reviews from critics, which was appealing to the network), but Fox ultimately passed on renewing either.

Fox reportedly has several other pilots waiting in the wings to take these shows' places, though we have to imagine fans of "Grandfathered" and "The Grinder" are pretty bummed that they won't continue. Maybe a streaming site can swoop in and save the day, like Hulu did with previously-cancelled Fox sitcom "The Mindy Project"? ("Grandfathered" star John Stamos has an existing relationship with Netflix, after all.) We'll have to wait and see.

[via: Deadline]

Photo credit: ​Ray Mickshaw/Fox