Joshua Jackson sends messages to fans after cancelation of show ‘like nothing else on TV’

Dawson’s Creek star Joshua Jackson has sent a message to fans after the cancelation of his ABC TV show Doctor Odyssey.

“I hope they got the same thing that we got out of it, which was that it was a beautiful, over-the-top kind of experience that was like nothing else on television, I don’t think,” he shared.

The network gave the show a default cancellation when it allowed the cast’s contracts to expire; Hamilton star Phillipa Soo also starred in the series.

The crew also has already moved on, although many have floated to other Ryan Murphy shows.

“That was a really good group of people, and it was a really fun show,” Joshua told People of Doctor Odyssey. “But this is a crazy and difficult business, and whatever the reasons were for them not wanting to move forward with it, they don’t actually tell us those things.”

“I’m sad that we don’t get to go back and do it again,” he continued. “But I really enjoyed the time that we did get to do it.”

© Tina Thorpe

Doctor Odyssey was a cruise ship procedural from 9-1-1 executive producer Ryan Murphy. 

Joshua starred as Max, the new on-board doctor for a luxury cruise ship “where the staff works hard and plays harder”.

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9-1-1 enjoyed a crossover episode with the series early on, with Angela Bassett’s Sergeant Athena Grant-Nash visiting the ship.

Because the show has not been officially canceled, Murphy is now weighing creative options including selling it to another network. New contracts would need to be written for the cast, including Don Johnson, and there is no guarantee everyone would return.

© Tina Thorpe

There were high hopes for the series, with the trailer setting a broadcast series record with 77.8 million views in the first 48 hours, and the series amassed 13.6M cross-platform viewers for the premiere in its first week.

But it failed to hang on to the momentum, and season average ratings across linear were among the lowest on ABC despite the 9-1-1 lead.

ABC’s fall TV schedule will see the new 9-1-1 spinoff, 9-1-1: Nashville, take the 9/8c slot, followed by Grey’s Anatomy at 10/9c.

Joshua found fame on Dawson’s Creek, a coming-of-age teen drama centered around the lives of teenagers Dawson Leery (James Van Der Beek), Joey Potter (Katie Holmes), Pacey Witter (Jackson) and Jen Lindley (Michelle Williams).