ABC Pulls Fred Willard Improv Show Following Arrest

ABC Pulls Fred Willard Improv Show Following Arrest

A recent arrest for public indecency has cost actor/comedian Fred Willard another job on the small screen. Willard, best known as the announcer in the film Best in Show, was arrested earlier this month and slapped with one count of committing a lewd act. The 72-year-old star was taken into custody by police doing a routine check at a Hollywood adult theater.
Less than 24 hours after his arrest, PBS president Paula Kerger announced her decision to remove Fred Willard as narrator of the new TV series Market Warriors, a companion show to the highest-rated serial Antiques Roadshow.
Now ABC has followed suit, pulling the plug on Trust Us, a comedy show which had featured Willard as a moderator. The show hit a 0.6 rating with adults 18-49 last week and drew only 1.83 million viewers, making it the lowest-rated broadcast the network aired all summer, The Hollywood Reporter said Monday. ABC will replace the show with repeats of Wipeout.
A week after his arrest, Willard turned up on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Thursday, to quip about the “misunderstanding.”

“It’s the last time I’m going to listen to my wife when she says, ‘Why don’t you go and see a movie?’”

The Los Angeles City Attorney’s office has determined that Willard’s case is eligible for a diversion program that will keep him from being formally charged with lewd conduct if he completes the required courses. Willard must pay $380 for the program.