‘Mom’: Allison Janney Gives a Preview of Season 8 Without Anna Faris (VIDEO)
CBS’ returning comedy with one of the biggest shakeups of the 2020-2021 season is back in production.
On September 4, it was announced that Anna Faris would not be returning to Mom for its eighth season. The role of Christy will not be recast, but her absence will be explained on-screen. And now we’re one step closer to finding out what happened to her between seasons with production beginning on the CBS comedy.
Series star Allison Janney (who plays Christy’s mother, Bonnie) shared a video from set on her social media accounts Monday. “We are all back at Mom on our first day with the new COVID protocols,” she says, showing off everyone wearing masks. “It’s a whole new territory, but we’re excited for Season 8 to begin.”
That “whole new territory” applies both to working with the new protocols in place for everyone’s health and safety due to the coronavirus pandemic and the series without one of its original characters. In fact, for all we know, they could be preparing to film the scene that will reveal how they’re writing out Christy.
“The past seven years on Mom have been some of the most fulfilling and rewarding of my career,” Faris said in a statement when her departure was announced. “While my journey as Christy has come to an end, allowing me to pursue new opportunities, I’ll be watching next season and rooting for my TV family.”
The CBS comedy — which also stars Jaime Pressley, Mimi Kennedy, Beth Hall, William Fichtner, and Kristen Johnson — may premiere its eighth season in November, CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl said when the network released its fall schedule. Guess we’ll have to wait and see!
Mom, Season 8, TBA, CBS
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Dg: I don't agree with your assessment of Anna. The show is pretty much based around her life and her interactions with her Mother and the other women on the show (as well as the few men that are regulars on the show). Without Anna, the show will be floundering and I suspect will struggle to find a new direction. It was VERY stupid of them to get rid of Alvin and to write out Roscoe and Violet. I just wish Anna would have fulfilled her contract and stayed through Season 8. She really cheated the fans of Mom with this last-minute decision not to return.
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We don't know the whole story. She could have asked for more money and they refused. She could have health problems. Also, as for her contract, I can assure you that she fulfilled her contract because actors' contracts specify legal actions if they are not fulfilled. Her contract came up for renewal and I'm sure the money was not what she felt she deserved, so she chose not to renew.
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I love this show and watch the reruns every night. I am so sad that Anna has left but I really hope Violet and Roscoe return. I always loved them being in the show.
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She was already super famous from her movies, The House Bunny, The Hot Chick, Scary Movie 1-5, What's your number?, Overboard, etc... I always expected her to leave sooner because she was such a big movie star. As is Allison Jannie(her mom) this show really lucked out getting those two.
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Allison Janney is a wonderful actress and will carry the show, she always did.
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I agree
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I don't see it working without Christy who provided a good balance to Bonnie's character. Bonnie is self centered, mean, and a grifter. Christy was the glue that held the characters together.
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I love the show but, I'm worried about the rest of the cast being able to hold it together. The show has, since the beginning, been about Christy and her interactions with the other cast members. If they kill her character, I know the show will fail. It will be like "Two and a Half Men" once Charlie was gone. It was still funny but never the same. It floundered for a couple of years and died. Even the producer did a thing at the end, where he showed that when he killed Charlie, he killed the show, by having the plane, that Charlie was in, crash into the set, killing him and everyone else on the show, as the final scene.
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The end of Two and a Half Men had a piano drop on the Charlie character and then another piano on Chuck Lorre.
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Losing Anna will be rough, but it'll be worth tuning in.
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The show will still be good as long as they change Bonnie’s living scenery to her own place with Adam. And just write Christy out with going to take a job in another state or something positive. I think the show has potential to succeed without Christy ,the other characters are funny and heartwarming. I think Anna Faris could have faded herself out in season eight instead of just cutting the cord, unless she has health conditions in that case it’s understandable.
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I didn’t realize it was a wig either, but does it matter? I am not surprised Christy is leaving. Thinking back over season 7 her character was stagnant, stuck in a seemingly endless rut of school, waitressing, and failed love
I think Baxter and Rosco should return, as well as Violet. Bonnie has wonderful relationships with all and with Christy gone I feel she would want to keep them close.
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Anna was so thin last season. I am a little worried that she is experiencing some health challenges.
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I think Anna Faris got famous from you doing the sitcom mom and now has left the series 4 a better career which I believe will go nowhere
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I totally agree with you 70's rocker
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I love Allison Janney in everything she does but I am a Anna Faris Fan.... not sure I will be tuning in without her....guess I'll stick to the reruns that come on after friends.... sorry girls it's just not the same ;-(
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I was really expecting to see Christy to at least fall in love with someone in the show.....so sad.
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Not a criticism, but I've never knew Allison wore a wig on the show. She still looks great, but if I didn't know better I'd swear that was Jamie Lee Curtis, who btw would be an awesome guest actress on the show.
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well, i was never really fond of Anna Faris' character anyways so, I'm very happy 🙂 I love the rest of the cast 🙂
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I totally disagree with you,, You couldn't understand unless you were in her shoes, I somewhat had this experience in real life,, I totally understand where the character Christy is coming from,, except I'm not whiney,, It made me a better person & where I'm at at this point in my life & I'm 57 yrs old !! SORRY !!!!
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what is it that you feel I don’t understand? I have more than enough experience with alcoholism and what it does to the addict and the people around them. Perhaps you didn’t understand what I was trying to convey. At some point she should have been able to move past the whole “my mother ruined my life.” By hanging on to that and not letting go and moving in, she’s preventing herself from becoming the person she wants to be.
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I think it sucks that Christy is not returning,, Bonnie & Christy made the show, without Christy the show will never be the same, Christy I will miss you lots,, gotta see how this show is going to play out!!
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I really love this series. Allison carried the “heavy weight” but I can only hope she (the writers) can continue to make me laugh and bring a smile to me.
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I’m actually glad Christy isn’t returning. For a woman in her 40’s, she became more whiny as the years went on. She did so good with her sobriety, yet she constantly blamed her mother for ruining her life. After so many years of being sober, she should’ve been able to forgive her mother and finally move on to become the lawyer she wanted to be. Her constant need for everyone else’s approval didn’t help her either.
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I really liked the show in the beginning when it showed the characters struggling to get their lives in order. The last couple of years, it all seemed do fake.
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I’ve been binge watching this show. The last couple of seasons seemed really drawn out and boring. Not much has happened. I think they should have started this show when the characters were a little younger. I like the dynamic, but I think the show will pretty much be ruined once Kristy isn’t there anymore. It was a show about her, she’s the main character, and leaving? The producers must not have any more ideas. I’m really upset that Violet never forgave her mom and neither kid is really in the show anymore. It’s become a big disappointment. It should have ended a few seasons ago when the kids left. I want the show to continue, but I honestly don’t see it being very interesting without Kristy or the kids. It’s very mundane and easy to predict. I mean, The Big Bang Theory had more content at the end of their show and never got rid of the main character, but they still quit airing. Might be time for this one too before they destroy it. 🤷🏼♀️Just my opinion.
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So glad anna Faris is leaving. She was the weak link. She quit the week before shooting so she was angry. Probably because her role kept getting smaller and smaller. Good luck to her.
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I’m glad she’s gone too
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