Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Seasons, Cast, Ratings, Why Was the Show Cancelled?

Quick Facts

The American romantic musical comedy, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is the ‘it’ on The CW network. The ace production created by and Aline Brosh MacKena has indeed got all the ingredients needed for an absolutely remarkable TV series. Included in it, is a captivating and mind-blowing storyline and of course notable characters who gracefully and effortlessly brought the characters to life. The series chronicles the love life of ‘Rebecca Bunch’ a New York-based real estate lawyer who falls in and out of love while trying to reconnect with her ex-boyfriend, Josh Chan.

It happened that after crossing paths with Chan, her first love from summer camp, she gets to know of his plans to relocate from New York to his hometown, West Covina in California. In pursuit of happiness, she decides to follow her ex and purposefully finds a job at Darryl Whitefeather’s West Covina law firm, just to be close to Josh.

The fourth season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend greeted the screens in October 2018. Its 18 episodes which kicked off on October 12, 2018, ended on April 5, 2019. Before we get to the breakdown of the seasons, get to know the cast of the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend series.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Cast and Characters

Rebecca Bunch (Played by Rachel Bloom)

As mentioned earlier, Bunch is a real estate lawyer and a graduate of Yale who also studied in Havard University. She is plagued with maladies of anxiety and depression, forces which often cause her to hallucinate and make decisions on impulse. She is often delusional and makes the weirdest imaginations and assumptions. Meeting Josh Chan, to her, was like a second opportunity at love. Opportunity to Bunch came more than once and she was not going to let the second pass her by. She abandons life in NY and moves to West Covina, California where Josh also relocated, to try to win him back. With Rebecca, it was going to be a book of different chapters bearing in mind her often needy, awkward, and impulsive personality.

The real Rebecca, Rachel Bloom is a talented American actress, singer, and comedian. Bloom, who is one of the writers of the series earned herself a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her performance.

Josh Chan (Played by Vincent Rodriguez III)

He is the sole reason behind Rebecca’s relocation to California, and a little bit of a carefree person. Often oblivious and self-centered just like Rebecca, he finds it challenging to commit to this, and in the long run, it becomes a huge challenge for both of them. Josh tries to make it up to Rebecca for old times and hops on a self-discovery journey to improve himself after having apologized to her.

In reality, Vincent Rodriguez is an American actor. Born in California in 1982, he rose to popularity after playing the role of Josh in the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

Greg Serrano Played by (Santino Fontana) for the first two seasons and (Skylar Astin) for season 4  

An alcoholic and the best friend of Josh Chan who also has feelings for Rebecca, Josh’s crazy ex-girlfriend. He knows that this feeling of his is unacceptable and that it would ruin his friendship with Josh. For this reason, he leaves West Covina to attend business school at Emory University. He returns as another actor (Skylar Astin) in Crazy Ex-girlfriend season 4 and is a better person.

Paula Proctor (Played by Donna Lynne Champlin)

She is Rebecca’s new best friend in California and also her colleague at work. She is married and is facing huge challenges in her marriage. This causes her to play an insane devil’s advocate, especially over Rebecca’s choice to follow Josh. This was mainly to compensate for her lack of fulfillment from not pursuing her dreams when she was younger. But life happens, she eventually realizes and builds better stands with Rebecca.

Darryl Whitefeather (Played by Pete Gardner)

He is Rebecca’s middle-aged boss who is mostly confused about his sexuality and suffers a slight personality disorder. Darryl assures himself he is bisexual and also feels bad for being disconnected with friends. He starts dating Josh Wilson (White Josh), a friend of Josh Chan.

Heather Davis (Played by Vella Lovell)

She is Josh’s crazy ex-girlfriend, Rebecca’s neighbor who attends college. Heather does not take her studies seriously and her parents never disciplined or encouraged her. She later becomes Rebecca’s roommate but nothing changes about her approach to life.

Valencia Perez (Played by Gabrielle Ruiz)

Rebecca’s rival, Valencia is in a relationship with Josh and always tries to shield him away from other women. She isolates herself from other ladies as she suffers insecurity issues about herself, Josh, her body and whatnots. She later becomes friends with Rebecca after breaking up with Josh.

Josh Wilson (Played by David Hull)

Often called White Josh. He is Josh Chan’s friend who dates Rebecca’s boss Darryl. He later calls it quits with Darryl; after he (Darryl) opted for a baby with him but as friends and not a couple.

Nathaniel Plimpton III (played by Scott Michael Foster)

After buying equity in Whitefeather & Associates, Nathaniel who is a lawyer becomes Rebecca’s boss in the second season. They both feel a connection and start dating in the following season. Despite his assets, he suffers inferiority complex and is often disconnected from others. They break up later but he moves on and tries to work on himself.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Seasons

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is divided into 4 seasons with over 30 episodes. Season 1 which chronicles the events surrounding Rebecca’s meeting with Josh for the first time in years, has 18 episodes. The first season premiered on October 15, 2015. With the eighteenth episode airing in 2016, the first season was last aired on April 18 that year.

Season 2; still all about Josh, premiered on October 21, 2016, and consisted of 13 captivating episodes. The second season came to an end with the thirteenth episode airing on February 3, 2017.

Nathaniel and Rebecca started their relationship in the third season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend which aired first on October 13, 2017. Embedded in season three are 13 episodes. The last episode of the season aired on February 16, 2018. The fourth and final season of the series was released on October 12, 2018, and was last aired on April 5, 2019.

Ratings, Why Was the Show Canceled?

From the general perspective, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is quite an interesting romantic comedy series. But it is important to note that the series has got its negative and positive sides. While it may appeal to the younger generation, it also has themes that may encourage immorality. This includes the frequent use of sex-related words and expressions. More so, not every parent may want to see their child watching people consider taking their own lives on TV.

But we would not forget to mention the enchanting music and the very talented actors who effortlessly portray their characters, making the show quite appealing to everyone. But most importantly, the themes used in this show should not be digested without discernment. This is why most adults have rated the movie at 15+. This is not the same among the younger generation, especially teenagers who rate the show at 13+.

Clearly, the rating gap is not as conspicuous as expected, which goes to show that the show is enjoyed by young and old but it is not entirely suitable for the too young. These mixed reviews averaged to low ratings for the show, consequently leading to reservations by stakeholders towards the release of the third season.

In simpler terms, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was indeed a hit show after the release of its first season, but the viewership suffered stunted growth over the years. As its average, season 3 had 0.22 rating and less than 1 million viewers, only a small percentage of increased viewership when compared to the previous seasons. This was almost the same case with the second season of the show

It was clear to the CW network that the show was enjoyed by a limited number of viewers. There was no doubt that these viewers were ardent and loyal fans of the programme. But then the profit factor came into play and it was feared that the CW heads would rule off the show. However, after a series of considerations by stakeholders, CW head leader Mark Pedowitz approved airings for the fourth season.

Season 4 of the show received critical acclaim. It was indeed a pleasant surprise to the cast and producers to see the fourth season clinch an epic 100 percent on ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ with an encouraging reception from the 18-49 demo.

It appeared that pleading guilty to attempted murder was not enough to give Rebecca Bunch the peace of mind she craved. Season 4’s opening episode which saw the presiding judge reject her guilty plea was all the show’s viewers needed to tune back in. Everyone wanted to see how else Rebecca would make up for the wrong things she felt she has done.

Truly, giving people what they want is a huge determinant factor necessary for the success of any TV series. This belief was what CW executives held on to and risked airing the fourth season for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Fortunately for them, it worked.

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