In a sure sign that the once wildly-popular franchise is now fighting for its life, another Teen Mom series has bitten the dust at MTV.
The Ashley’s Reality Roundup is reporting today that Teen Mom: Young & Pregnant has been canceled after three seasons of declining ratings.
The show featured Kayla Sessler, Brianna Jaramillo, Kiaya Elliott, Madisen Beith and Rachel Beaver in its third and final season.
It also launched the careers of Jade Cline and Ashley Jones, both of whom later starred on Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.
Rumors about the possible cancelation of Young & Pregnant have been circulating for several months — and for good reason.
It was a surprise when the show was renewed for a third season, and the Season 3B premiere pulled in just 160,000 viewers.
So this week’s news probably didn’t come as much of a shock to the cast — but that doesn’t mean they’re handling the situation well.
“Calls went out today to the cast and let them know it’s done,” a production source tells the Ashley.
“The crew has also been informed that there will be no Season 4. All of the big exec producers were on the calls, and each girl and each of the grandmas were spoken to.”
The insider added that the news was not unexpected — but it still came as quite a blow for some of the ladies.
“Everyone expected to hear that the show had been canceled, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise, but it’s going to be tough on some of the cast members without that [MTV] money,” the source sad.
“It’s a sad day.”
The cast reportedly found out about the news via phone calls they received on Tuesday.
It seems producers consoled the newly-fired cast members by pointing out that they might one day be brought back into the Teen Mom fold.
“The [executive producers] told the girls on Tuesday that there’s always a chance they could revive the show, or bring them back for something else,” said The Ashley’s source.
While that’s obviously a possibility, it seems more likely that the cast’s time at MTV has come to a permanent end.
After all, these days, there are only two shows still standing amid the ashes of the once-flourishing Teen Mom empire …
… And they’re having problems of their own.
Ratings are way down for Teen Mom: The Next Chapter and Teen Mom: Family Reunion — although both shows are still doing much, much better than Young & Pregnant was in its final season.
Both series were assembled from the casts of previously canceled Teen Mom shows, so they’re already working with pretty stacked rosters.
But maybe they could squeeze in one more mom.
Hey — maybe MTV should make a new show in which the Young & Pregnant stars compete, Survivor-style for a single spot on Next Chapter!
Now, that’s how you keep a franchise fresh!
Teen Mom: Young & Pregnant CANCELED By MTV After 3 Seasons! was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.