television situation comedy aired season seven episodes series friends suffer eating disorders met shame based support group called characters included eating disorder created writing starring directing based struggle eating disorders addition life experiences drew experiences members principal cast coincidentally struggled food issues lead hour long comedy block sunny philadelphia executives wanted use series begin building comedy programming network demographic series debuted august poor critical reviews cancelled october picked sunny renewal characters sam trader suffers interests quickly turn despite different women series secretly love issues alcohol abuse bisexual raised gay fathers original impetus eating disorders moderately known singer songwriter novelist married person main characters worries weight lead wife leave continually schedules bypass surgery police officer abuses authority food restaurants delivery people eventually costs job leader leads support group friends attend sarcastic constantly friends failed attempts dealing food issues following leads group chant support group slogan production series star created recovery alcohol drug addiction describes having thinking drew experiences eating disorders experiences people knew creating scenarios series cast members struggled food issues spent years fighting danced broadway weighed pounds time filming contributed stories life series including scene character weighs postal scale heavy conventional bathroom scale brown heavy child describes haunted kid mentality producers discovered principal cast members food issues casting process completed sunny philadelphia developed auspices president sought expand network viewership providing wider variety programming shows network attempts following short lived series lucky time known primarily edgy dramatic series executive vice president outlined strategy kind unique space dramas different everybody natural evolution comedy space network ordered seven episodes series shot spring new_york_city single camera setup laugh track sunny shows produced episodes reception generated controversy premiere number specialists treatment eating disorders expressed concern program light eating disorders felt focus attention eating disorders medical condition called boycott claimed makers agreed pull advertising responded controversy saying difficult stuff watch know spirit intention good premiered audience million viewers scoring rating share adults network target demographic reviews unfavorable variety echoed slogan belt dismissing series noting series edgy content variety allows pushing envelope terms standards good assuming series earn right says earn right series stabs feel forced emotional standpoint seldom note washington_post concurred assessment describing premise hey happens characters eating disorders inventive laughs language sexuality described exceptionally coarse outrageous cable television later night worse issues post felt neglected develop characters favor coming contrived situations failure build understanding sour know new_york_times credited series bold premise noted provided insight eating disorders offering flashes clever dialogue satire ultimately times found relies heavily sight gags gross los_angeles_times found assured shallow accomplished acted review singles character sam especially points roles creator producer writer director object lesson wisdom system checks noting experiences addiction reviewer writes experience doesn mean interesting able articulate interesting thing called best probably watched nbc clip second episode outrageous moments canceled october president told variety lot fans tough choose sunny philadelphia ultimately felt position spread resources launched dramas time launching comedies like summer didn work
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