CBS’ sitcom Mike & Molly is losing its creator, Mark Roberts. He’s leaving the Melissa McCarthy-starring show to pursue other projects.
In a statement to Deadline, Warner Bros. TV, which produces the show, confirmed the news, noting that Roberts will leave after “three successful seasons to focus on other projects.” The studio has promoted co-executive producer Al Higgins to showrunner for the fourth season. Deadline notes that WBTV didn’t say exactly why Roberts was leaving, but the site says that there had been some disagreements between him and the crew lately.
Entertainment Weekly notes that the show did get a 22-episode order for its fourth season, but was curiously missing from CBS’ fall 2013 schedule and has been held back to midseason. The show’s 9:30 p.m. Monday slot was taken by the new Anna Faris series Mom.
Other new sitcoms CBS is launching in the fall are The Crazy Ones, The Millers and We Are Men.
EW reports that CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler did tell reporters this week that by holding Mike & Molly back, it guarantees that a well-known show will launch in midseason. “It’s a show that we love, and it puts us in a great place strategically when we talk about getting more originals, less repeats,” she said.
Mike & Molly launched in 2010 and stars McCarthy and Billy Gardell. McCarthy won a Primetime Emmy in 2011 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a comedy.
image: CBS