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ATX TV…from the Couch got off to a rocky start on Friday morning with the announcement that some of the virtual festival’s main panels had been canceled just hours before the event was set to begin. On the festival’s official Twitter page, ATX announced the cancellation of panels set for shows including “Scrubs,” “Cougar Town,” …
ATX TV…from the Couch got off to a rocky start on Friday morning with the announcement that some of the virtual festival’s main panels had been canceled just hours before the event was set to begin.
On the festival’s official Twitter page, ATX announced the cancellation of panels set for shows including “Scrubs,” “Cougar Town,” “Justified” and “One Day at a Time,” as well as the “Channel Changers” conversation, which had been set to feature the presidents of various networks, and the “Torchlighters” conversation with female creators and executives.
Although the festival gave no reason behind the sudden schedule change, organizers wrote, “We are working closely w/ these panelists to reschedule for a time later this summer.”
Amid the ongoing protests around the country in response to the death of George Floyd while in police custody, the festival announced on Wednesday that it would still be going ahead with programming. “We know that these are heartbreaking and overwhelming times. We want to let you know that we are moving forward with our virtual festival this weekend (June 5-7) because we believe television is a powerful platform and tool for change,” the festival wrote in a statement on Twitter.
ATX also said it would be raising funds “in support of” the organizations Color of Change, Direct Relief and The Actors Fund, and that the event “will not shy away from difficult conversations, but lean into them, and amplify the voices that most need to be heard.”
But on Friday with ATX’s panel cancellation announcement, “Scrubs” star Zach Braff wrote that the cast felt it would have been inappropriate for the comedy’s panel to take place as scheduled.
“Out of respect for all that is going on in the world, we are going to reschedule our reunion panel at the @atxfestival this weekend,” he tweeted. “It doesn’t feel appropriate to be being silly right now. We will continue to release the podcast however, a new episode was released yesterday.”
The updated schedule still includes panels for “Nancy Drew,” “The Bold Type,” “Perry Mason,” “The Leftovers” and more shows.
Reps for the festival didn’t return our request for comment.
