Approaching the TV renewal bubble…
Over at TVGrimReaper.com, the e-ink is dripping with new announcements coming regularly:
Cancelled | Wicked City Blood & Oil The Good Wife Angel From Hell Mike & Molly Truth Be Told The Player Heroes Reborn Minority Report | Wicked City, Blood & Oil, Angel from Hell, Truth be Told are no surprise. Mike and Molly and The Good Wife are ends of long runs (arguable in some cases that it was TOO long a run). And while I was watching Heroes Reborn, it wasn’t gelling; The Player wasn’t that compelling; and The Minority Report was too diffuse in its focus. |
On fumes | CSI: Cyber Code: Black Person of Interest Mysteries of Laura The Grinder Second Chance Crazy Ex-GF iZombie | This is an oddly satisfying category — I tried 6 / 8 of them, and passed on all of them except 1 in the first episode, and the one that I’m still watching (Second Chance) has no redeeming value other than the one actor I like. A friend watches iZombie and likes it, and I thought I would try it on binge, but maybe not now. |
Likely to be cancelled | Galavant The Muppets Agent Carter Nashville Undateable Telenovela Sleepy Hollow Bordertown Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life Last Man On Earth | I gave almost all of these a pass early on, with exception of 4, and only 1 am I still watching (Sleepy Hollow) but don’t disagree with plan to cancel, it has really deteriorated. |
Toss-up | American Crime Castle Quantico You, Me and the Apocalypse Grimm Grandfathered The Vampire Diaries The 100 | This is where the pain starts, but not that much. Castle should have died last season, and based on what they have had left in the tank, it did die, just nobody told them. Quantico started out strong, but it’s been slipping in quality steadily for me. Grimm is a show I really like, but the plot with the Black Claw this season has been slow and monotonous. Finally they have gotten to the keys and the map and Eve, and if they did that in Episode 2 or 3, it could have been rocking. |
Likely to be renewed – no idea why | Dr. Ken Fresh off the Boat Last Man Standing Grey’s Anatomy Once Upon A Time Hawaii Five-O Madam Secretary 2 Broke Girls Mom Criminal Minds Brooklyn Nine-Nine New Girl Reign Jane the Virgin | Fourteen shows in this category, and basically I can say “I don’t understand the attraction of these shows”, or more pointedly, “I don’t get them.” Sure, some of them are not for my demographic, sure. I only ever had even basic attraction to Once Upon A Time, Hawaii Five-O, Madam Secretary, and Mom, and that interest left REALLY quick for the last two. |
Likely to be renewed | Elementary Limitless Blue Bloods NCIS: LA Lucifer X-Files DCs Legends of Tomorrow | I separated these ones out as I am watching them. I am shocked though that Lucifer is in this category, as I see almost no redeeming quality to it at all. I love the premise, but the acting is questionable, the writing needs a lot of work, the visuals and plots aren’t compelling. Happy to keep watching for now, but surprised. Also, same for Limitless and Blue Bloods — *I* like them, but not sure why they are ranked this high. Rest have obvious fandoms. |
Waiting for notification of renewal | How To Get Away With Murder Black-ish Scandal The Middle The Goldbergs Modern Family Life in Pieces Family Guy The Originals Supernatural Ones I watch Agents of SHIELD Supergirl Scorpion NCIS: NO Gotham Rosewood Arrow The Flash | There’s nothing particularly surprising to me in the first group. I don’t “get” these ones, but I see the attraction. For me, the WTF moment came for the shows I *do* watch…why is Scorpion consistenly ranked so high? Incredibly cheesy and makes MacGyver seem realistic. NCIS: NO is also this high? And Rosewood? Who is watching these crappy shows besides me? |
Renewed | Shades of Blue Superstore Chicago Med Chicago Fire Chicago P.D. Law & Order: SVU Scream Queens Bob’s Burgers The Simpsons Bones Empire Blacklist NCIS Big Bang Theory Blindspot | Hard to believe SoB is renewed already — it just premiered, I haven’t even tried to catch up on it yet. And reviews aren’t that solid. Somebody has a good contract. Superstore has buzz, maybe that’s enough these days. Chicago x 3 is a good budget decision. SVU is still on? I guess if you rip from the headlines, there are always more headlines. Bones? I have never gotten the appeal of this show. I like both the main actors, love forensics, hate the show. They even did a cross-over to Sleepy Hollow and I thought they pulled that mediocre show down further. Blacklist is uneven, but renewal makes sense. NCIS is the cash cow, okay. Big Bang Theory is the same. But Blindspot has been popular yet so uneven, I hope they gave a really good pitch for where the storyline goes from here. |
Overall, they’re not cutting anything I want to keep, and none of them are head-scratchers to me. I get a bit more cheese than anyone needs in their diet, and we haven’t seen the new stuff yet, but overall, I can live with a high dairy content from time to time.