It's the end of the road for The Carmichael Show.

The current third season of the critically praised but little-seen NBC sitcom will be its last.

"The Carmichael Show was such a wonderful show that we choose to focus today not on its loss but on the three incredible seasons we had the pleasure to produce," 20th Century Fox Television presidents Jonnie Davis and Howard Kurtzman, whose studio produced the comedy, said in a statement Friday. "We are thankful to the brilliant Jerrod Carmichael and his talented cast, and to showrunner Danielle Sanchez-Witzel, our fantastic writers and devoted production team. It’s a rarity that a comedy series tackles the social and political issues of the day in such a clever and hilariously funny way. This show was special, and we will miss it."

The news comes as the options on the cast were due to expire. Further complicating the matter was the fact that The Carmichael Show is owned by 20th Century Fox Television, with NBC having to pay a license fee for the series. NBC, like many broadcast networks, is focusing more on owning its series, with all of its newly ordered shows for the 2017-2018 broadcast season produced in-house at Universal Television. That made a fourth season of the ratings-challenged sitcom increasingly unlikely. Instead, The Carmichael Show, currently in the midst of its third season, will wrap its run with a series finale in August.

"We are enormously proud of The Carmichael Show and Jerrod's talent and vision to do a classic family sitcom that also taps into issues and relevant stories from the real world," NBC Entertainment heads Bob Greenblatt and Jennifer Salke said in a statement. "We thank and salute the cast, crew, and producers — and especially Jerrod — for three critically acclaimed seasons."

Added series co-creator and star Carmichael: "For three seasons (OK 2.5), I got to make a show that I love with my friends. It's something I've wanted to do since I was 13. Now, I'm excited to go make other things that I love. Thank you to every person who worked on or watched The Carmichael Show."

The decision to cancel the series comes a little more than a year after The Carmichael Show famously earned an eleventh-hour season-three renewal after NBC had already unveiled its 2016-2017 schedule to the press. NBC brass were forced to explain the show's absence in a scheduling call with reporters, and hours later, the series earned a 13-episode season-three pickup after producers 20th TV and Carmichael had been pushing for a 22-episode run. (Sources at the time noted NBC was balking at even a 13-episode run.)