"Starved," the FX comedy-drama starring Broadway ingenue Laura Benanti, has been axed, according to Variety.
The show, which debuted on August 4th, centered around the lives of four 30-something girlfriends who deal with eating disorders. Benanti played Billie, a "bisexual recovering bulimic/anorexic who is an
up-and-coming singer/songwriter," according to "Starved"'s website. The show co-starred
Sterling Brown, Del Pentecost and Eric Schaeffer, who also wrote and
directed the series. Along with Dan Pasternack, he was its executive
producer.
"The show had a lot of fans, so it was tough to choose," stated FX President John Landgraf, who was referring to "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," the show that follows "Starved" at 10:30 PM. "Ultimately, we felt that we're just not in a position to
spread our resources. We launched our dramas one at a time, and
launching two like we did this summer just didn't work out as well."Benanti, who will next be seen on Broadway in The Wedding Singer, received a Tony nomination for her performance as Cinderella in the 2002 revival of Into the Woods, as she did for Swing! in 1999. Benanti, the daughter of Martin Vidnovic, made her Broadway debut as Maria in the revival of The Sound of Music the year before; she was 18 years old. Her last Broadway appearance was as Claudia in the revival of Nine, and other New York credits include the Actors' Fund Benefit Concert of Hair, Time and Again at MTC and Wonderful Town at Encores! Regionally, she has been seen in A Little Night Music, Man of La Mancha and A Winter's Tale.