The Fates of Network TV Shows in 2017-2018

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

The Upfronts are something I look forward to much more than the average person. In fact, I should probably explain to the average person that the Upfronts are a series of presentations in New York where television networks (both cable and broadcast) showcase what they plan to air the following season. Sometimes new pick-ups are announced, but in recent years those stories tend to break before the official event. It's the hard line where shows are renewed or canceled. (well, except when it's not...cough cough Timeless...)

Many new shows tank every year. I've seen many a laughable pilot that is kicked to the curb after a second episodes. Networks have been more generous in the past few years, but pulling things mid-season and then burning them off during terrible programming time still is not uncommon. There are trends that tend to help understand if a show will be pulled in subsequent years, but surprises still slap me in the face.

What returner slapped me in the face this year? Scorpion's cancellation. The ratings had gone down, but if it hadn't been on CBS (which houses some really well-performing dramas), it's fate might have been different.

What rookie slapped me in the face this year? The Brave's cancellation. It wasn't my favorite new show, but I was always happy to see a new one pop up on the DVR. Three military dramas premiered this season, so the competition was steep. The Brave aired right after The Voice, and I'm not sure if that programming choice was ideal to retain viewers. Not only will I be sad to not find out what was going to happen next, I'll also be sad that the actors won't be appearing alongside one another again, as I felt the casting for that series was a strong point.

Moving on, here are other first-season cancellations that I find worth noting. (and by "worth noting," I mean I had some sort of vested interest in them at the start of the season.)
Kevin (Probably) Saves the World was good but not great. It was always the last thing I'd catch up on while surfing my DVR.
Ten Days in the Valley was really tough for me to get into, as I had to watch the first two segments of the pilot three times before I figured out what was going on.
9JKL had horrible writing at times.
Wisdom of the Crowd started off strong for me but after five episodes or so I had lost interest in the concept.
Living Biblically was good for two or three episodes. I was mainly upset about how far it strayed from the book, but also found the episodes pretty lackluster.
I truly enjoyed what was aired of Me, Myself, and I, both in writing and in concept, but its super-short lifespan (only six episodes aired) also made it nearly forgettable by now.
Rise was terrible and not realistic, so no tears were shed here.

And, interestingly, I ended up deciding not to check out The Crossing, and found LA to Vegas absolutely horrendous, so gave that up early. (well, that one technically isn't canceled yet, but the ratings are abysmal. 5/22 Update: yep, it was canceled.)

Renewals for a second season that I'm happy to share...

The Good Doctor will return, and I can't get enough of how good Freddie Highmore is in that!
Young Sheldon will give us more insight into the captivating Cooper.
We'll continue to see the crazy drama that is Dynasty.
We'll get to see Nic's reputation restored on The Resident.
More ridiculousness will occur in Mr. Griffin's A.P. Bio class.
I found the return of Will & Grace superior to that of Roseanne, but still look forward to both continuing next season.

I really didn't care for The Gifted, and probably won't tune in for the second season. Similarly, I found Ghosted so terrible that I deleted the series recording after about four airings. I forgot about Good Girls (I mean, a 2/26 premiere? c'mon!), so that and The Mick are two things I need to catch up on this summer.

While there is a lot of shake-ups there, series that I was continuing this season did very well for the most part. We all knew going in that it would be the final season of The Middle (HOLY COW! Flashback to the first episode I ever saw!), but otherwise nothing I watch is actually ending (aside from the aforementioned Scorpion)! That's right, here's the renewal list for what I watch:
for a third season: Speechless (I love Minnie Driver SO MUCH), American Housewife (this is so realistic I can't stand it), This Is Us (counting down already!), Man with a Plan (it's lighthearted comedy if nothing else)
for a fourth season: Superstore (it's so different from everything else that it works)
for a fifth season: Black-ish (it's getting rough, though...), Fresh off the Boat (this is also getting stale), How to Get Away with Murder (it's getting out of control), Jane the Virgin (it'll be the final season, and I'm ready for that)
for a sixth season: The Goldbergs (I can't believe it's been on this long already!)
for a seventh season: Last Man Standing (which was canceled by ABC a year ago but is going to air new episodes over on FOX next season)
for a ninth season: Bob's Burgers (I'm kinda surprised this is still going)
for a twelfth season: The Big Bang Theory (I like it but I no longer look forward to it)

Well, technically there's still fates to be decided for Trial & Error, which doesn't even premiere its second season until July, and Code Black, which I was surprised to see even get a third season (of which only four episodes have aired to date). (5/24 update: yep, it was canceled.)

What about you - any slaps in the face? Anything you can't believe is still on the air? Should I share what I watch on cable these days?

2017-2018 Network Prospects: Why Not?

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Where have I been? Well, around the time of the last post, I excitedly became pregnant. Later that month I signed a large contract for my other occupation that kept me very busy, from that point until about five months after the babies were born. Then, we moved across the country, and I have been filling my days with everything that goes along with navigating a new area (while learning to parent twin toddlers).

I'm not entirely sure what my blogging plans are at this point (I'm not sure if I have any press contacts left out there), but I've been looking forward to the new television season for several months now, and want an outlet to talk about the prospects. I didn't really ease up on my viewing, and have largely stayed up-to-date with all of the series I followed before (both broadcast network and cable). I actually even began a post last year, planning to discuss those pilots, but I never got around to finishing/publishing it.

Anyway, let's dive in. Expect my thoughts to be scatterbrained, as I'm rather out of practice at this point, and am more in the mindset of having fun than editing.

First, here are the pilots that interest me on each of the big five networks:
ABC: The Good Doctor, Kevin (Probably) Saves the World, Ten Days in the Valley, The Crossing, Deception.
CBS: 9JKL, Young Sheldon, Wisdom of the Crowd, By the Book, Me, Myself, and I.
The CW: Dynasty.
FOX: The Gifted, Ghosted, The Resident, LA to Vegas.
NBC: The Brave, Good Girls, Rise, A.P. Bio, and the return of Will & Grace (not really a pilot, per se).

That's 5 each on ABC, CBS, and NBC, with 4 on FOX and 1 on The CW. Technically, that makes perfect sense, when you look at the total airtime of each of those networks. It's actually not as simple as that, as the networks didn't all offer the same number of pilots, but moving on...

Looking at the programming schedule, those shows (save the ones that will begin in 2018) air as follows:
Sunday: 3
Monday: 5
Tuesday: 1
Wednesday: 2
Thursday: 1

I historically have huge conflicts with Monday shows, but generally don't have a lot on Sundays, so that's rather interesting. However, let's look at it in the scope of the returning network shows I'm tuning in to watch:
ABC: Fresh off the Boat, American Housewife, The Middle, Speechless, The Goldbergs, Black-ish.
CBS: Man with a Plan, Trial & Error, How to Get Away with Murder, Code Black, Scorpion, The Big Bang Theory.
The CW: Jane the Virgin.
FOX: Bob's Burgers.
NBC: Timeless, This is Us, Superstore.

Low on FOX, very heavy on CBS and ABC (I've been particularly drawn to ABC's programming as long as I can remember), average for NBC and The CW.

Add in the fall returns by day:
Sunday: 1
Monday: 1
Tuesday: 4
Wednesday: 3
Thursday: 3
Friday: 1

This is where I really start to get fired up and want to talk about the season! If we didn't have the technology to record multiple shows at once or to access them outside of the original broadcast, I'd be doomed. Not looking specifically at the different timeslots within primetime, I could be in some trouble. Four on Sunday night is weird (while four on Thursday night is expected), and six on each of Monday and Tuesday is insane! Five more on Wednesday means I would constantly be struggling to keep up at the water cooler by Thursday morning, but at least a measly one on Friday night would make it easier to plan movie nights to go see the latest soon-to-be-blockbuster. However, we're fortunate enough that we can watch three "hours" of television in just about two, thanks to the magic of fast-forwarding. And, in my own case, I don't see movies on their opening nights anymore; the amount of coordination that takes doubles when factoring in childcare!

If you're a longtime reader (not sure if any of those are left, honestly), you know that I always try out a large number of new shows in the fall, so a dozen does not scare me, but an additional 13 returning series really start to twist my mind a bit. 25 series to watch at least 2-3 episodes of (not factoring in which are sixty minutes rather than thirty!) makes for a bit of a daunting October (the fact that it's taking forever for shows to start is an entirely separate issue...). And that doesn't factor in which shows my husband will choose to watch with me (of the returning fall series, he's only a fan of Scorpion, Superstore, How to Get Away with Murder, Man with a Plan, and Bob's Burgers), and which he'll need time to view on his own (he really only picks three or four pilots each year, but they're generally different from my own choices).

Fortunately, my boys are phenomenal sleepers, so between their almost-three-hour nap and the eleven hours they sleep at night, I think I can fit it all in. I guess only time will tell.