CTV sitcom Children Ruin Everything is ending its run after four seasons.

Bell Media has confirmed that the series – created by Vancouver-born writer Kurt Smeaton and produced by Toronto’s New Metric Media – will end with its 50th episode on Feb. 27.

Children Ruin Everything follows a couple, played by Meaghan Rath (Being Human) and Aaron Abrams (Blindspot), as they navigate the challenges that come with modern parenting. The final episode follows the family as they try to fit in quality time during a busy summer schedule, and includes a guest appearance by Kids in the Hall comedian Scott Thompson.

“Kurt and his team have crafted the perfect ending, and we want to thank the talented cast and crew, as well as our partners at New Metric Media, for their incredible work and dedication, which created something truly special,” said Justin Stockman, Bell Media’s VP, content development and programming, in a statement. “We are extremely proud to have been part of the journey.”

Stockman tells Playback Daily that the decision to end the series was a creative one, not financial. “We talked it through [with Smeaton] and felt like he had built a four-season arc for it,” he says, adding that Bell Media had given the 16-episode order to ensure Smeaton had enough space to finish the story.

“Part of our thinking is that a lot of these shows live on forever, including on Crave, so we want to make sure we get to enough episodes that people get into that binge mode with it, which we feel like we achieved [with Children Ruin Everything],” says Stockman.

He adds that, while the ratings have been strong during this broadcast year, they wanted to make sure the series went out on top. Bell Media said in a release that Children Ruin Everything has been its No. 1 Canadian comedy since 2020, citing data from Numeris.

Smeaton says he got the call about season four in December 2023 and was grateful for the opportunity to “narratively and creatively finish the show.” He says they had a tight timeline to film all 16 episodes, with each episode getting a three-day shoot in Hamilton, Ont. and Toronto.

“That was only possible because of how great the cast and crew was and how much talent and chemistry they had over four years,” he says. “So many people put their love and creativity into the final season of the show, and I’m super grateful for it.”

The cast includes Logan Nicholson (Blues Clues and You), Mikayla SwamiNathan (Rubble & Crew), Ennis Esmer (Blindspot), Nazneen Contractor (Ransom), Dmitry Chepovetsky (Killjoys), Darius Rota, Veena Sood (The Indian Detective), Lisa Codrington (Letterkenny) and twins Ryan and Tyler Hastings.

The series’ send-off includes exclusive on-set interviews with members of the cast on eTalk on Feb. 24 and 27.

Children Ruin Everything is produced by New Metric Media in association with CTV and the participation of the Canada Media Fund and the Bell Fund. Executive producers include New Metric Media president Mark Montefiore, Smeaton, Rath and Anita Kapila. Andrew De Angelis is co-executive producer, Alyson Richards is a producer and Max Wolfond is supervising producer.

Bell Media Distribution holds international rights, while New Metric is the international sales agent. The series airs in the U.S. on the CW. The first three seasons were acquired by Netflix for Canada, the U.K., Australia and German-speaking territories, including Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.

Image courtesy of Bell Media