As networks slowly start to come to the end of deciding their shows’ fates for next season, spring 2023 has been a brutal season of cancellations, mostly leaning more toward the latter. NBC was recently pretty harsh, as it killed not one, not two, but three veteran comedies in a short span, including sophomore workplace sitcom American Auto. Now creator Justin Spitzer is revealing what could have been in Season 3.
The show starred '90s SNL alum Ana Gasteyer and focused on the lives of employees at the Detroit-based Payne Motors and everything that came with it. American Auto was not actually one of the expected 2023 cancellations, but nearly two months after its Season 2 finale, NBC made the decision to axe it. With any premature cancellation, there are now untold stories that will never start (or finish), and Justin Spitzer took to Twitter to tell his followers that Season 3 would have explored. In addition, he shared praises for the two seasons the show did get:
Season 3 of American Auto was going to show Katherine Hastings and Payne Motors finally finding success and taking the world by storm. I’m so sorry we didn’t get to make those episodes, but I’m immensely proud of the 23 episodes of the show we did put out there. Thank you so much to our outstanding cast, writers, crew, and fans. Lemme know if anyone wants to buy a Pika.
It’s no secret that when Katherine Hastings, portrayed by Gasteyer, stepped in as the new CEO of Payne Motors, it was a trying time for all of the employees. There was the amount of jumping around she did, plus the fact she initially had no knowledge of cars whatsoever. However, by the time of the Season 2 finale, she scored major and unexpected sales wins with the Pika car -- a car that wasn’t really that great. That, in turn, led her and the team to keep their jobs.
It definitely would have been great to see the way that Katherine and Payne Motors grew in just a short time, especially following their success at the end of Season 2. I would have loved to see the show return to the 2023 TV schedule this fall, but it wasn't to be.
With the series ending on the note that it did, as Justin Spitzer mentioned, American Auto still had a nice ending. Sure, a third season of the series would have been even better, but at least fans won’t have to worry about the series ending in the complete opposite direction, with Payne Motors failing instead of on the upbeat Pika note it ultimately drove off into the sunset on.
American Auto premiered on NBC in late 2021 and, along with Ana Gasteyer, also starred Harriet Dyer, Jon Barinholtz, Tye White, Michael Benjamin Washington, Humphrey Ker, and X Mayo. The series marked Justin Spitzer’s latest workplace comedy, as he served as co-executive producer on The Office and created Superstore, which ended in 2021.
Luckily, while American Auto may be done, the creator does have another workplace comedy in store. NBC recently ordered a hospital mockumentary titled St. Denis Medical, with The Goldbergs alum Wendi McLendon-Covey attached to the project. So there’s always hope that some stars from American Auto could appear in the new series (and maybe even as their characters). For now, though, both seasons are streaming with a Peacock subscription, so fans will just have to get their fix that way and hope this isn’t the permanent end of Payne Motors.
