The Real Reason A.P. Bio Was Canceled Twice

"A.P. Bio" is an NBC-turned-Peacock comedy set in a high school. While the show follows the exploits of a teacher, similar to other popular school-based sitcoms like "English Teacher" and "Abbott Elementary," this show's primary character is less Janine Teagues and more Mr. Johnson in personality and dedication to the subject material of his course.

Dr. Jack Griffin (Glenn Howerton) is a college professor with a job at Harvard until an unknown event causes him to be replaced, forcing him back home to determine how to move forward with his life. It also leaves him with the time and energy to plan ways to seek revenge on the guy who "took" his role at the prestigious university. He begins teaching a biology class at a public high school, but that's not exactly in his academic wheelhouse as a former philosophy scholar. Rather than helping the students learn science, he's imparting knowledge on different topics, like plotting his personal revenge schemes.

While "A.P. Bio" has a strong fan base, one large enough that it successfully managed to revive the series via a social media campaign after its initial, premature cancelation, the show did come to an end in 2021 after four seasons. Unlike many canceled projects, where fans fail in their efforts to petition another network or streaming service to pick it up, "A.P. Bio's" audience was initially victorious, making its second cancelation especially bittersweet. If you are confused about why "A.P. Bio" was canceled, here's everything to know about the real reason it happened — twice.

"A.P. Bio" is a classic story about losing your job and returning to your hometown to regroup. Dr. Jack Griffin was teaching philosophy at Harvard, and when he loses his job and his rival, Miles Leonard (Tom Bennett), is hired in his place, he returns to Ohio and becomes an AP Biology teacher in his hometown's high school. Is he qualified to teach biology? No — and the series doesn't skirt around that, since Jack makes little effort to educate the students on anything biology-related. By the end of the series, Jack is no closer to teaching any type of science, but he is still scheming about every aspect of his life.

Over the course of its four seasons, the show covers a variety of topics, from natural disasters around the school to the students feeling sorry for Jack. The high school principal, portrayed by Patton Oswalt, lets both the students and teachers get away with almost anything. Jack even shows his class how to get revenge against others, from the individual who "stole" his job at Harvard to someone who sold him a popcorn machine built for a dollhouse when he thought he ordered one that was standard size.

The students, as a group, don't have one particular feeling toward Jack and his teaching style. Sarika (Aparna Brielle) is against his antics, wanting to learn the course material as someone who is more academically focused. On the other hand, Heather (Allisyn Snyder), a more average student, is fairly willing to go along with whatever Jack does during class time.

The comedy was originally canceled in 2019, after its second season. While NBC didn't officially confirm the reason for dropping the show — the announcement came from creator Mike O'Brien and not the network — social media posts from the creative team indicated that "A.P. Bio" was canceled due to low viewership. Executive producer Mike Shoemaker posted on X (formerly Twitter) that, despite the low ratings it received, the series had a substantial online fan base who simply didn't watch television in the traditional manner.

Though it saw a strong start, with over three million viewers tuning in for the pilot, by the end of Season 2, those numbers were down by over 50% to just 1.38 million. NBC saw something in "A.P. Bio" despite the cancellation, though, and the network's streaming service, Peacock, picked up the series for another two seasons. Despite this revival, however, Peacock canceled "A.P. Bio" after Season 4 in 2021, seemingly for good.

O'Brien once again shared the news on X, thanking fans for their support. "I'm sad to announce that AP Bio will not be renewed for a 5th season. But mostly I'm feeling grateful right now. To all the fans who watched the show and fought for it to come back after the cancellation," he wrote. "This show has been one of the best experiences of my life and that's because of the hundreds of hilarious, hard-working, positive people that were involved." He went on to thank the cast, crew, and creatives behind "A.P. Bio" for their work and dedication to the series.

"A.P. Bio" ended in 2021 when Peacock canceled the series. The streaming service did not provide an explanation for the cancelation, and in the years since the show ended, there has been no sign of it being revived for a third stint. Nor has the series been shopped to other networks or streamers. While the original X campaign with the hashtag #saveAPBio once helped land the show two more seasons, it was not successful the second time around.

Fans revived the hashtag to ask Peacock to reconsider its decision, especially as the show continues to gain fans whenever it's added to additional streaming services, but there's been no response from the streamer. The use of the hashtag died down by early 2022, though there continued to be additional posts through 2024 as fans maintained their effort to bring it back again. Unfortunately, series creator Mike O'Brien has not made any social media posts hinting at the possibility of another resurrection. With all that in mind, it seems unlikely that "A.P. Bio" will ever be revived for a fifth season, despite the fanbase's continuing dedication.