TV shows that have been dropped or are in freefall
I was reading TVByTheNumbers, but switched over to reading the Grim Reaper (who has bounced around a bit and now does his own thing on his own site). A little more snark, but the analysis is a bit better.
At ABC:
- Wicked City is cancelled — This “1982 serial killer” show wasn’t exactly a huge draw, but surprised it didn’t get a couple more shows in before a decision was made;
- Castle and the Muppets are toss-ups to be cancelled by end of year, but I think the Muppets will leave before then and Castle is a definite lock to be the last season;
- Quantico is on the list for “likely renewal”, but I think it is way too early to decide that, unless someone has a REALLY compelling storyline for Season 2 already in the works; and,
- SHIELD is on the list for definite renewal, must be something I don’t see, as it’s a watch or not toss up for me.
At CBS:
- Elementary is a toss-up, but again, I think way too early to decide;
- NCIS: LA and Blue Bloods are likely to be renewed, but I’d put them in the same category as Elementary;
- Newbies Limitless and Supergirl are also listed as likely to be renewed, but I would downgrade Limitless to a toss-up and upgrade Supergirl to “definite” as a Berlanti-diamond-that-needs-polishing; and,
- NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, Scorpion and Big Bang Theory are all expecting renewals, but I’m not sure why for any of them.
At NBC:
- The Player has been cancelled, which saddens me…there is a plot line here for a weekly action show, one man with some skills against the world, and nobody has cracked it in the last five seasons, wonder who will try next year;
- Undateable is likely to be cancelled, and I gave up on it some time ago;
- Heroes: Reborn is rated as a toss-up, but I think they have too much chaff and not enough wheat in their lineup, so might upgrade that one, depends on what happens with the plot going forward, if it will hook people or lose them;
- Grimm is down as likely to be renewed, and there may be some syndication money at play there (they’ve reached their 100th episode), but I would list that one down a bit unless they can pump up the storyline a bit; and,
- The Blacklist is predicted as guaranteed to be renewed and Blindspot is already renewed, and I’d be interested to see what the writers for Blindspot have pitched for mythology creep in Season 2, as at least one of the major pieces has to drop this year or people will cry foul.
At Fox:
- Minority Report is already cancelled, which is a shame, I think it had potential just needed a bit more spark outside of the police department;
- Sleepy Hollow is predicted as likely to be cancelled, and can’t disagree with that, the storylines have been pretty flat this year;
- Gotham is predicted as guaranteed to be renewed, which I don’t disagree with; and,
- Rosewood is listed as guaranteed to be renewed, which seems like a giant odd-man-out, and worries me for recent retooling to make both Rosewood and Villa single and available for each other, leaving little tension, they’re almost happy together.
At CW:
The hybrid of CBS and WB, TV Grim Reaper suggests treating them like two “sources” of shows since they seem to be almost managed as two pools (often the top CBS shows get renewed, even though they’re worse than some of the bottom WB ones):
- Crazy Ex-GF for CBS is on life support, and TV Grim Reaper thinks they already pulled the plug without telling anyone;
- Arrow is guaranteed to be renewed, and like The Flash, I think it’s a no brainer, partly as I think Berlanti is achieving some economies of scale between multiple productions and makes up for it volume (Arrow, Flash, SuperGirl, DC Legends of Tomorrow, etc.).
That’s it for now, will probably recap in about a month when the first “season” ends (the networks now treat it as the “fall season” for 10-13 episodes and the “winter season” for 10-13 more, plus replacements).