Talks to reboot the military-themed comedy “Enlisted” via Yahoo’s emerging video service ended without a deal, TVLine.com reported Friday, likely closing Fort McGee for good.
Fox canceled the series before the end of its first season, with critical acclaim and support from a vocal online fan base not matched by Nielsen ratings points. But after Yahoo Screen picked up the rights to NBC’s “Community,” another canceled comedy with a loyal audience, fans began pushing for the online service to do the same with “Enlisted,” which featured three brothers serving in the same Florida-based rear detachment at the fictional Fort McGee.
Yahoo listened and, according to multiple media reports, began negotiations with the show’s producers. But as reports surfaced Friday regarding the end of talks, show creator Kevin Beigel took to Twitter with what sounded like a final farewell.
“We made 13 great episodes that’ll live forever,” he said as part of a series of tweets. “That’s pretty wonderful. ... Besides, we’re all still on Twitter so [it’s not] like you won’t hear from us.”
The show boosted its Army following by copping to a series of errors in the pilot and offering a special Fort McGee challenge coin to viewers who spotted them. The show then hired consultants to improve its military bearing, Biegel said.
But despite that outreach, and an online following strong enough to make the show a trending topic on social media even when it wasn’t airing, “Enlisted” rarely finished outside the ratings basement in its much-maligned Friday time slot. A Deadline.com chart put the show at No. 143 in total viewers among 181 network offerings for the 2013-14 season.
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