Hilary Swank

OF ALASKA DAILY ON ABC

Q: I enjoyed Hilary Swank’s newspaper drama “Alaska Daily.” Why did it have such a short run?

A: The main answer is the one that applies to so many shows that don’t last long … ratings. ABC expectedly wasn’t shy about promoting that it had a double Oscar winner as the star of one of its shows, and the high hopes for it were evident from its getting a slot on Thursday, a night anchored by one of the network’s biggest and most enduring hits, “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Though there was some response from critics and viewers alike to the theme of the plight of Indigenous women in Alaska, that didn’t translate into a wider audience, with a significant dip in the numbers after the show’s premiere. It likely didn’t help that the series had an extended hiatus that saw it go off the air in November 2022 and not return until March 2023, which had to have impacted any momentum it might have been building.

The back half of the lone season of “Alaska Daily” proved interesting for another reason. At the point she filmed those episodes, Swank was pregnant with twins, though her journalist character Eileen Fitzgerald wasn’t expecting. Therefore, the actress was filmed creatively, using angles that concealed her condition — with head-and-shoulders shots, scenes of her captured from a distance, or views of her wearing bulky clothing.

What ultimately was the series finale set up “Alaska Daily” to continue if ABC opted for that, but it wasn’t to be. The last episode aired at the end of March 2023, and the cancellation notice came when the next season’s lineup was announced that May.