Bayo Akinfemi, who stars in Bob ❤️ Abishola, is reacting to the news that the CBS sitcom would be reducing most of its cast to recurring roles.
Akinfemi plays the role of Goodwin and had been a series regular since its first season. However, ahead of its Season 5 renewal, Akinfemi and 10 of his co-stars were going to get bumped down to recurring and not guaranteed 22 episodes per season amid budget cuts.
The only stars to remain regulars on the show were the two leads that give the show its name played by Billy Gardell and Folake Olowofoyeku.
“It was a bit surprising, for all of 10 seconds,” Akinfemi told The New York Times in an interview before the SAG-AFTRA strike. “We are disappointed, but we also understand at the end of the day it’s a business.”
Bob ❤️ Abishola received a Season 5 renewal from CBS with an order of 13 episodes with recurring actors only guaranteed to appear in five of the episodes.
Bob ❤️ Abishola is a love story about a middle-aged compression-sock businessman (Gardell) who falls for his cardiac nurse (Olowofoyeku), a Nigerian immigrant, while recovering from a heart attack. Gina Yashere, Christine Ebersole, Matt Jones, Maribeth Monroe, Vernee Watson, Barry Shabaka Henley, Travis Wolfe Jr., Shola Adewusi, Anthony Okungbowa and Akinfemi also star.