"Pushing the envelope in terms of standards is all well and good, assuming that series earn the right to do so." Starved, it says, did not earn that right. The series' "stabs at poignancy feel unconvincing and forced" and "from an emotional standpoint there's seldom a truthful note." The Washington Post concurred in this assessment, describing the premise of the show as "Hey, what happens if you take the characters from Seinfeld and give them eating disorders?" While crediting Starved for "a few inventive laughs," the language and sexuality of the show are described as "exceptionally coarse" and "outrageous for cable television, even later at night." Worse than these issues, the Post felt that Schaeffer neglected to develop the characters in favor of coming up with contrived situations for them. "[T]his failure to build understanding into the show dooms it to emptiness, with a sour aftertaste. As if you had just, you know, hurled." The New York Times credited the series for its bold premise and noted that the show provided some insight into eating disorders while offering "a few flashes of clever dialogue and satire." Ultimately, however, the Times found that "Starved relies too heavily on sight gags and gross-out farce." The Los Angeles Times found the show "vexing" for being "at once assured and shallow, accomplished and unconvincing, well-acted and empty." The review singles out Schaeffer's character Sam as "especially unappealing" and points to Schaeffer's roles as creator, producer, writer and director as "an object lesson in the wisdom of a system of checks and balances." Perhaps most damningly, in noting Schaeffer's experiences with addiction, the reviewer writes that "just because you’ve had an experience doesn’t mean you have anything interesting to say about it or are able to articulate whatever interesting thing you have to say." New York called it the Best Show You Probably Never Watched. NBC used a clip from the second episode in "The Most Outrageous TV Moments". FX canceled Starved in October 2005. FX president John Landgraf told Variety, "The show had a lot of fans, so it was tough to choose [between it and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]. Ultimately, we felt that we're just not in a position to spread our resources. We launched our dramas one at a time, and launching two [comedies] like we did this summer just didn't work out as well." As of 2020, Sunny is in