Did Social Media Affect Rookie Cancellations?

The slaughter of the rookie television series on the major broadcast networks is always rough… there usually aren't too many surprises, but many people cross fingers for something that doesn't make the cut. More than ever, the market share isn’t accounting for the actual popularity of a program, between delayed viewing, internet viewing, and illegal downloading/streaming, to name a few alternatives. The latest ratings technology is trying hard to account for these things, but it has been speculated (and even admitted in some cases) that social media has been playing a larger factor. PR departments have actors live-tweet alongside episode airings, networks post on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram how things are going on the set, and some series even have accounts on such websites as Pinterest these days.

All of this led me to be interested in how the social media popularity of the new 2013-2014 shows correlated with their respective cancellations and renewals. After all, with the new pilot season upon us, I'd love to have more renewal prediction tools available! So, I looked up all of last season's Facebook Likes, though this is a flawed system. First, Like numbers have changed since the fate of the shows was announced - people have dropped following shows with no futures and jumped on bandwagons for those that do. Two, it doesn't account for the interaction on these shows - just because a page has a lot of Likes doesn't mean those folks are actively engaged with the Page. That said, the below counts are current as of 8/14/14, and are shown in descending order, with comedies and dramas in separate lists. The networks renewed blue shows and canceled red ones.

Comedies
Super Fun Night (ABC Comedy): 332,987 likes
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX Comedy): 300,545 likes
The Michael J. Fox Show (NBC Comedy): 274,448 likes
The Goldbergs (ABC Comedy): 241,529 likes
Dads (FOX Comedy): 126,785 likes
About a Boy (NBC Comedy): 126,624 likes
Mom (CBS Comedy): 121,080 likes
The Crazy Ones (CBS Comedy): 117,236 likes
Sean Saves the World (NBC Comedy): 106,069 likes
Mixology (ABC Comedy): 103,257 likes
Surviving Jack (FOX Comedy): 103,103 likes
Enlisted (FOX Comedy): 71,481 likes
Trophy Wife (ABC Comedy): 70,522 likes
Growing Up Fisher (NBC Comedy): 63,564 likes
The Millers (CBS Comedy): 61,076 likes
Undateable (NBC Comedy): 59,952 likes
Welcome to the Family (NBC Comedy): 54,704 likes
Friends with Better Lives (CBS Comedy): 48,611 likes
Back in the Game (ABC Comedy): 41,281 likes
We Are Men (CBS Comedy): 7,229 likes
Murder Police (unaired FOX Comedy): 731 likes
Us and Them (unaired FOX Comedy): 0 likes - I don't believe a Facebook page exists.

Dramas
The Originals (CW Drama): 5,304,230 likes
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC Drama): 3,889,806 likes
Sleepy Hollow (FOX Drama): 1,502,482 likes
The Blacklist (NBC Drama): 1,226,668 likes
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC Drama): 1,139,105 likes
Dracula (NBC Drama): 865,459 likes 
Chicago PD (NBC Drama): 771,687 likes
The Tomorrow People (CW Drama): 696,126 likes
Reign (CW Drama): 681,041 likes
The Resurrection (ABC Drama): 537,134 likes
Believe (NBC Drama): 533,560 likes
Almost Human (FOX Drama): 472,236 likes
The 100 (CW Drama): 444,959 likes
Star-Crossed (CW Drama): 295,203 likes
Intelligence (CBS Drama): 230,012 likes
Betrayal (ABC Drama): 195,527 likes 
Gang Related (FOX Drama): 195,157 like
The Night Shift (NBC Drama): 121,866 likes
Hostages (CBS Drama): 111,322 likes
Crisis (NBC Drama): 102,275 likes
Ironside (NBC Drama): 81,121 likes 
Crossbones (NBC Drama): 54,503 likes 
Rake (FOX Drama): 37,806 likes
Killer Women (ABC Drama): 34,044 likes
Mind Games (ABC Drama): 31,732 likes
Reckless (CBS Drama): 11,580 likes (fate not yet officially announced)
Lucky 7 (ABC Drama): 9,074 likes

So, what does this all mean? There is a correlation for the most part, but you can't bet on these things just from Facebook Likes. The highest-liked comedy of the year was Super Fun Night by 30,000+ fans, but it wasn't renewed. Similarly, The Michael J. Fox Show and Dads had more Likes than FOUR of the six comedies that the networks renewed. That one is probably easy to explain, though: both had very likeable, famous people attached (Michael J. Fox and Seth MacFarland, respectively), so there was likely an initial rally behind the series, but fans just didn't bother to "unlike" the Pages when the shows tanked. Plus The Millers only had about half the Likes of the next-renewed comedy.

In dramas, the CW renewed its top four Liked programs. Over on NBC, The Night Shift has more than 300,000 fewer Likes than the next-closest renewed drama, but it didn't air during the peak season, so it had less competition. The most-Liked canceled FOX show (Almost Human) has 150,000+ more Likes than their only renewed comedy (Brooklyn Nine-Nine).  Actually, I was surprised by how many fewer Facebook fans of comedy there are than of dramas!

The bottom line? You can't make educated guesses across the board based on Facebook Like numbers, though there is still plenty of interesting information there! (Did you see how many Likes The Originals has?!?)

TV Highlights at Comic-Con 2013

Over the 4th of July weekend, SDCC released the schedule for the upcoming convention. Between comics, movies, video games, television shows, and countless other pop culture phenomena, hundreds of panels will take place between July 18th and 21st. Let's take a look at some of the television highlights. Check back this week for the schedule we will attempt to follow this year with two staffers at the event.

Thursday, July 18
Intelligence: 10 a.m. in Ballroom 20. It's the CBS thriller where a man has been implanted with a super-computer microchip so he can help the government by quickly hacking internet, telephone, and satellite data.

Star-Crossed: 11 a.m. in Ballroom 20. It's the CW drama where Aimee Teegarden is in love with an alien who is part of "The Orion 9," a group that has been in an internment camp since landing.

Beauty and the Beast: 12 p.m. in Ballroom 20. Back this year are Kristin Kreuk and Jay Ryan for CW's cult favorite.

Psych: 1 p.m. in Ballroom 20. Always a hit panel, James Roday, Dule Hill, and Maggie Lawson will be on the panel for this USA series.

The Blacklist: 3 p.m. in Room 6A. A new NBC drama, this police procedural will have a wanted criminal turning himself in, offering up all his colleagues, and then demanding to work with a rookie FBI agent.

The X-Files 20th Anniversary: 3:30 p.m. in Ballroom 20. The reunion of Mulder and Scully from the long-running FOX thriller. 

Dexter: 6:30 p.m. in Hall H. After several appearances at Comic-Con, it's time for this Showtime series to say goodbye with Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, David Zayas, and James Remar.

Hannibal: 6:45 p.m. in Room 6A. With one season in the books, this serial killer series makes its first appearance at SDCC.

Friday, July 19
The Big Bang Theory: 10 a.m. in Ballroom 20. What's interesting here is that the focus is not on the actors but on the writers for this CBS ultra-hit.

Adventure Time: 11 a.m. in the Indigo Ballroom at Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel. The Cartoon Network cult hit's creator Pendleton Ward and some cast members.

Veronica Mars: 11:15 a.m. in Hall H. With a highly-anticipated film in the works, creator Rob Thomas and several stars (including Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, and Chris Lowell) will be available to show exclusive footage and answer questions.

Nikita: 11:30 a.m. in Room 6BCF. It's the end of the line for this CW cult series starring Shane West. Catch it one last time

Bones: 12:30 p.m. in Ballroom 20. Rather than giving up new scenes, CBS's Bones will share never-before-seen footage, coupled with some teasers.

The 100: 12:45 p.m. in Room 6BCF. Another of the CW's new dramas, this dystopia is based on not-yet-published books set 97 years after nuclear war destroys civilization. Can you handle another futuristic apocalypse drama?

The Walking Dead: 1:35 p.m. in Hall H. The line will surely be long for this one! Stars Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, and others will be in the room alongside the creative team to discuss what's ahead in season four of this AMC series.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 1:45 pm. in Ballroom 20. Another highly anticipated panel will feature Joss Whedon and surprise guests to discuss the new ABC series.

Game of Thrones: 2:50 p.m. in Hall H. If you make it into the room, you're probably in for a treat. GoT has had hugely appreciated panels in the past, and with HBO's Emilia Clarke, Richard Madden, and Peter Dinklage around, it should be epic once more.

The Following: 3:15 p.m. in Ballroom 20. Last year, the pilot was shown to attendees, so be sure to see what's in store for Kevin Bacon during season two of the FOX serial killer thriller.

Sleepy Hollow: 3:30 p.m. in Room 6A. FOX is bringing out the pilot for a screening!

Almost Human: 4 p.m. in Ballroom 20. It's J.J. Abrams' new FOX futuristic police series, featuring robot assistants.

Bob's Burgers: 4 p.m. in Indigo Ballroom Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel. FOX's non-MacFarlane, non-Simpsons animated show will return to SDCC with more never-before-seen footage and a Q&A with the creator and several of the voice actors, including Dan Mintz and Kristen Schaal.

Falling Skies: 4:30 p.m. in Room 6BCF. Previous Comic-Con goers are likely after the killer swag from this panel, where TNT stars Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood, Will Patton, Drew Roy and more will tease the remainder of season three.

Archer: 5 p.m. in Indigo Ballroom Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel. A screening and Q&A from FX's covert operations cartoon, featuring voice actors H. Jon Benjamin (yes, it's poorly timed as he's also a voice for Bob's Burgers!), Aisha Tyler, and Judy Greer, among others.

TV Guide Magazine Fan Favorites: 5:15 p.m. in Ballroom 20. A real crowd-pleaser, this year's hot actors include Candice Accola, Joseph Morgan, Tyler Hoechlin, Henry Ian Cusick, Danai Gurira, Clark Gregg, and Blair Underwood.

Animination Domination High-Def: 6:45 p.m. in Room 6DE. FOX's anti-Adult Swim comedy block will preview two new series: Axe Cop and High School USA!.

Saturday, July 20
Bates Motel: 10 a.m. in Room 6A. Cast members Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, and others will participate in a Q&A as well as show some new footage from the A&E horror series.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland: 10:15 a.m. in Ballroom 20. Premiere screening of the ABC spinoff, need I say more?

Once Upon a Time: 11 a.m. in Ballroom 20: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jennifer Morrison, and others will be available to discuss the upcoming Neverland episodes.

Futurama: 12 p.m. in Ballroom 20. Futurama is another show at the end of its life, so as Comedy Central waves goodbye, join voice actors Billy West, John DiMaggio, Katey Sagal, and more as they perform from "Last Episode Ever." Plus, Matt Groening will be there to showcase some of his excellent cartooning!

How I Met Your Mother: 12 p.m. in Indigo Ballroom Hilton San Diego Bayfront. The CBS comedy has never been to Comic-Con before, but the whole cast Josh Radnor, Neil Patrick Harris, Jason Segel, Cobie Smulders, and Alyson Hannigan) will be in the house to promote their final season, as well as creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas!

The Simpsons: 12:45 p.m. in Ballroom 20. After 25 years on the air, the FOX animated family comedy is still going, here to show never-before-seen footage. Also, you can hear "We Put the Spring in Springfield" performed live.

The Originals: 1 p.m. in Indigo Ballroom Hilton San Diego Bayfront. Possibly the CW's most-promising pilot for fall and spun off from The Vampire Diaries, check out a preview and do a Q&A with the stars.

Family Guy: 1:45 p.m. in Ballroom 20: Fans can expect to see Seth Green, Alex Borstein and some surprise guests... if you can handle a twelfth season of this FOX feature.

True Blood: 3:30 p.m. in Ballroom 20. With a new showrunner Brian Buckner, the series returns to Comic-Con with a chunk of stars to preview what's next for the HBO vampire series. 

Revolution: 4:55 p.m. in Room 6BCF. Season two of the NBC post-apocalyptic drama will move to Wednesdays, but here you can see an exclusive first look, as well as take part in a Q&A with actors and producers.

The Tomorrow People: 5:55 p.m. in Room 6BCF. Watch the pilot for the CW's new drama, based on a UK series where people are evolving to possess the powers of teleportation and telepathy. Several actor will also be in attendance.

Sunday, July 21
Supernatural: 10 a.m. in Hall H. Another CW series, this panel will combine an exclusive video presentation with stars Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins, and Mark A. Sheppard answering fans' questions.

Doctor Who: 12:30 p.m. in Hall H. Why this panel is always on Sunday is beyond me, but BBC America is celebrating the show's 50th anniversary, so it's sure to be crowded in line!

Community: 1:50 p.m. in Hall H. NBC actors and showrunners will be around for this one, the show's first time in "the big room." Look for Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Ken Jeong and more.  

Under the Dome: 2:15 p.m. in Room 6BCF. The CBS summer hit series makes its debut with several actors and producers around, including Mike Vogel, Dean Norris, and Rachelle Lefevre. 

Sons of Anarchy: 3:50 p.m. in Hall H. The FX biker drama panel will include the full cast for a fun way to end Comic-Con.

Looking Ahead: FOX's Comedies and Dramas for 2013

During their presentation, the big thing FOX mentioned was the goal of year-round programming. This means that the 22-episode season that runs from September to May isn't their primary agenda anymore. Shorter seasons, year-round premieres, and some show-juggling will all occur to make this happen. On the one hand, it's innovative and will probably get people watching, especially couch potatoes who are always upset that nothing "good" runs in the summer. On the other hand, less episodes rarely satisfies fans, and not having a steady schedule can be confusing to those without DVR or Tivo.

Head's up - in a nutshell, I'm not huge on any of FOX's upcoming works... I might try one of the comedies, but none of the dramas or other works. And, honestly, that worries me!

COMEDY:
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (previously the untitled Dan Goor/Mike Schur comedy) may sound like a drama (or at least it does to me), but with Andy Samberg as part of the cast, it has to be a comedy. The series is based on a group of NY detectives in which there's a slacker who learns to mature and play by the rules. Not my cup of tea, but it could find an audience.

Dads is the Seth MacFarlane project that's keeping his reboot of The Flintstones off the air, or so it seems. Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi are BFFs whose respective fathers move in with them on short notice. I love Ribisi as much as the next person (or perhaps more), and that's the only thing that might convince me to tune in. MacFarlane is sure to sell at least a few episodes to viewers, though!

FOX

Enlisted is the new home for Geoff Stults. As you might imagine, it's a military show about three brothers who work together on an Army base in Florida. I was willing to check it out for the Floridian in me, but after taking a look at the trailer, I just have no interest in this comedy.

Murder Police is an animated comedy about am "inept" detective and his colleagues. Jane Lynch will do some voicework for the series. People who suck at their jobs are a pet peeve of mine, so I'll gladly be turning to something else. 

Surviving Jack (once known as I Suck at Girls) is based on a coming-of-age book where a boy becomes a man and a man becomes a father. I can't look away quickly enough on this one, and feel that FOX might not have been the best network for it.

Us and Them (previously Friends and Family) is yet another BBC ripoff, but with Jason Ritter and Alexis Bledel. The premise is basically that you can have all the friends and family in the world but still struggle with relationships. I'm not impressed.


DRAMA:
Almost Human (previously Human and The Untitled Bad Robot/J.H. Wyman project) is a futuristic police series with robot assistants. On the surface, it's not worth a second thought. The fact that there are no huge names in it, either, doesn't help.

Gang Related is pretty much like it sounds. A young member of the Gang Task Force in LA is teamed with a veteran to take down the three most dangerous gangs in the city. The catch is that rookie has ties to one of them. I'll pass due to lack of interest, but be aware that we're actually looking pretty far into the future here, as it isn't set to debut until next May.

Rake examines a criminal defense lawyer reminiscent of Dr. House, as he's "brilliant but self-destructive." The series is ripped off of an Australian show and we're looking at a January premiere. I absolutely believe that there is an audience for this one, and we might have a contributing author cover it here, but it's not for me. 

Sleepy Hollow is a modern version of the novel, with Ichabod Crane resurrected to find the apocalypse forthcoming. He will buddy-up with a female police officer to save humanity. Now, besides the fact that it's a really rather ridiculous idea, how does one make a series out of this??

OTHER:
24: Live Another Day is the much-anticipated miniseries sequel to the hit show of ten years ago. It'll run twelve episodes, each encompassing an hour like the original drama, but some hours will be skipped. While the idea behind 24 always fascinated me, I never got into the Jack Bauer stuff and will be passing this time around, too.

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is a 13-part docu-series that's basically just updating Carl Sagan's original. As much as I love documentaries, space isn't really my thing, so I'm out. 

Wayward Pines is the midseason miniseries from M. Night Shyamalan, focusing on the disappearance of some federal agents in Idaho. I'm not one for a lot of "thriller" stuff on television, and Idaho isn't the most exciting place to me, so I'll pass.

What do you think you'll try?

[quick links to the other networks: ABC, CBS/CW, NBC.]