Tag Archives: cancelled

Fox cancels ‘Almost Human’

J.J. Abrams and J.H. Wyman’s followup to Fringe is not coming back next season. The futuristic Almost Human, an action-packed sci-fi drama that paired a human cop with a humanoid android, has officially been cancelled by Fox. Low ratings and sluggish creativity are to blame.

The series premiered with great potential but it quickly turned into a by-the-books procedural without much forward-momentum in terms of character development. Some of the standalones were absolutely fantastic; one that comes to mind is “Simon Says” in which a cyber criminal gets a buzz off of strapping intricate bombs on people and forcing them to follow strict instructions or else die and all the while it’s being live-streamed across the Internet. It was like Saw in the future and it proved that the show could handle itself in a procedural matter. However, unfortunately, this was not enough to keep it fresh. John Larroquette’s Dr. Nigel Vaughn, who was introduced in episode 9 “Unbound,” finally started to unravel mysterious introduced in the pilot with the introduction of The Wall and we even started to get morsels about Dorian’s past (flashes hinted that he may have been human at some earlier point), but it was too little, too late. Of course I’m sure Wyman had plans to followup on these fun mysterious in a second season, but there simply wasn’t enough of a draw to come back in my opinion. A cool world indeed was set up, but I felt little emotional attachment to the main slate of characters (where was the strong female lead a la Olivia Dunham?) and I just wasn’t all that invested due to lack of a proper mythology arc.

In the end, Almost Human will be remembered for its kick-ass action sequences and the fun rapport between leads Karl Urban and Michael Ealy. For now, I cannot wait to see what Wyman has coming next because I’m positive that the man who carried us through the magnificent Fringe must have more engaging stories to tell.

FOX renews ‘New Girl,’ ‘The Mindy Project,’ ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ & ‘The Following’ [Update: ‘Raising Hope’ cancelled]

Great news for fans of FOX programming: on Friday the network renewed three of its popular sitcoms and one thrilling drama. The Zooey Deschanel half-hour New Girl will return next season for a fourth season; though it’s performing modestly in the ratings this season it still remains one of the network’s flagship comedies. Though they were considered “bubble shows” due to their low ratings this season, Mindy Kaling’s The Mindy Project and two-time Emmy winner Brooklyn Nine-Nine with Andy Samberg are both coming back for a third and second season, respectively. Additionally, Kevin Bacon’s Ryan Hardy will live to see another day to take down Kevin Purefoy’s serial killer Joe Carroll when The Following returns for a third season next fall. Again, despite a drop in ratings this season, FOX deemed it right to bring back the cult show. And I can see why; creatively all of these are hitting their marks.

“These shows are some of the best and acclaimed series on television, with influential, culture-driving stars, and some of the best, most creative talent behind the camera,” said FOX execs Kevin Reilly and Joe Earley in a press statement. “All four are core assets within our 2014-15 portfolio of content, and we’re really happy to bring them back to our FOX fans for another season.”

These four series join GleeBones, and Sleepy Hollow on the list to return on FOX’s 2014-15 slate.

Update (3/10): Here’s one sitcom that won’t be returning in the fall: the zany, often heartfelt Raising Hope. After four seasons fans will be checking out of Natesville and saying goodbye to the Chance family when the show airs its one hour finale (2 back-to-back episodes) on Friday, April 4th. Though the final episode has already been shot, EP Mike Mariano assures viewers that it will serve as an appropriate series with a satisfying sendoff. Jump after the break for quotes from Mariano and FOX exec Reilly. Continue reading FOX renews ‘New Girl,’ ‘The Mindy Project,’ ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ & ‘The Following’ [Update: ‘Raising Hope’ cancelled]

Fall TV updates: ABC gives ‘The Goldbergs’ & ‘Trophy Wife’ full season orders, cancels ‘Back in the Game’

ABC has given comedies The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife full season orders; with the back-nine each Tuesday night sitcom will air 22 episodes this season. Averaging 7.5 million viewers and a 2.7 rating in adults 18-49 and 5.7 million viewers and a 1.9 rating, respectively,  The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife will live on at least through May and creatively speaking they deserve it. Both shows are consistently funny and highly relatable family fare.

Super Fun Night isn’t going anywhere. Averaging 7.4 million viewers and a 2.8 rating, the Rebel Wilson sitcom received an additional script order for four more episodes.

One ABC sitcom that didn’t make the cut is Back in the Game. Though the show has admittedly been getting better creatively with each passing week, the ratings failed to make a mark (it’s averaging 7.3 million viewers and a 2.1 rating, landing right between Goldbergs and Wife) and the network is cutting it loose–but not before letting its 13 episodes run all the way through. Note that the cancellation news comes after the alphabet network ordered an additional two scripts for the Bad News Bears-esque comedy; that’s typically a show of confidence from a network but in this case it didn’t pan out.

Fall TV updates: ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’, ‘The Crazy Ones’, ‘The Millers’ & ‘Mom’ get full season orders, ‘Ironside’ & ‘Welcome to the Family’ cancelled

What does the FOX say? It says Brooklyn Nine-Nine is getting a full season order bringing its season 1 tally to 22 episodes. Though the Andy Samberg/Andre Braugher sitcom has been landing so-so-to-low ratings since debuting to 6 million viewers and a 2.5 demo rating, the network sees its potential to grow into a bonafide hit by not only granting it a full season but also giving it the plum post Super Bowl slot. When Super Bowl XLVIII ends on Sunday, February 2 it will lead into a “special one-hour comedy event” with new episodes of New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Ratings are guaranteed to spike and with any luck these FOX comedies will retain a chunk of its new viewers when things go back to normal after the Super Bowl.

B99 has had a string of fine half-hours since opening in September. Samberg’s wacky Jake Peralta and Braugher’s deadpan Captain Holt is a match made in comedy heaven, as is the supporting cast anchored by MVP Joe Lo Truglio.

Expect a season 2 renewal next; Fox entertainment head Kevin Reilly is a fan: “It’s exciting to see that both critics and fans love Brooklyn Nine-Nine as much as we do,” he said. “With Andy and Andre out in front of this incredible ensemble, it feels like this show is going to be around for a long time.”

CBS also made some major announcements this week. A trio of new comedies–The Crazy OnesThe Millers, and Mom–have all been picked up for full 22 episode seasons. The three shows, in that order, ranks as the top three freshman comedies on TV. David E. Kelley’s The Crazy Ones with Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar averages 13.71 million total viewers and a 3.6/10 in the adults 18-49 demo; Greg Garcia’s The Millers with Will Arnett and Margo Martindale averages 12.41 million viewers and a 3.2/09 rating; and Chuck Lorre’s Mom with Anna Faris and Allison Janney averages 7.98 million viewers and a 2.6/06 rating.

“We’re proud of CBS’s leadership position in comedy and excited to build on it with the back nine pick-ups of these three new comedies,” said Nina Tassler, CBS Entertainment President. “These series are creatively distinct, continue to improve each week and are led by strong showrunners, writing and production staffs, and feature amazingly talented casts.”

Unlike FOX and CBS this week, NBC was forced to clean off its axe and kill not one but two shows. Drama Ironside with Blair Underwood and comedy Welcome to the Family have been cancelled. Ironside will air its fourth and final episode this Wednesday and Welcome to the Family has been pulled from the schedule effective immediately. In their most recent airings, Ironside and Family produced meager 1.1 and 0.9 demo ratings in 18-49, respectively.

To fill in Ironside‘s Wednesdays at 10PM void NBC will air original episodes of Dateline and various specials until Dick Wolf’s Chicago Fire spinoff Chicago P.D. premieres January 8. Filling in Welcome to the Family‘s Thursdays at 8PM void are episodes of The VoiceSNLParks & RecSunday Night Football, the live telecast of The Sound of Music, and The Sing Off. Dan Harmon’s Community returns to NBC’s schedule Thursday, January 2 with two new back-to-back episodes. Click after the break to view the full breakdown of the network’s Wednesday & Thursday plans.

And lastly there’s ABC. Though the alphabet network didn’t make any major pickups or cancellations this week, they did show support for struggling in the ratings but widely buzzed about sitcoms The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife. Both freshman comedies have received an order for three additional scripts each, a sign of confidence from the network. These shows deserve a full season order, and hopefully this move brings them one step closer to that goal. In their most recent outings, The Goldbergs attracted 5.1 million total viewers and a 1.6 demo rating and Trophy Wife landed 4.1 million viewers and a 1.3 demo rating. Like FOX did with Brooklyn Nine-Nine, let’s pray ABC can see past the low ratings and embrace the relatable creativity these shows have been producing. Continue reading Fall TV updates: ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’, ‘The Crazy Ones’, ‘The Millers’ & ‘Mom’ get full season orders, ‘Ironside’ & ‘Welcome to the Family’ cancelled

Fall TV updates: ‘Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ picked up for full season, ‘We Are Men’ cancelled

After axing one Tuesday drama in Lucky 7, ABC has commissioned a full season order for their hugely successful superhero drama Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. In typical fashion, the alphabet network is tacking on “the back nine” increasing S.H.I.E.L.D.’s season one episode count from 13 to 22. Joss Whedon’s latest foray into television premiered to a whopping 12.1 million total viewers and a 4.7 rating in the 18-49 demo making the S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot TV’s highest-rated drama debut in almost four years. Though the show slipped in the ratings in week 2, numbers still remain solid and it sees significant DVR gains; in short, Whedon has finally concocted a TV show that will likely remain on the air for years to come (BuffyAngel join good company).

Over at CBS We Are Men, the comedy starring Jerry O’Connell, Tony Shalhoub, Christopher Nicholas Smith, and Kal Penn, has been cancelled after only two episodes aired. It premiered poorly to 6.4 million total viewers and a 2.0 18-49 demo rating; things went from bad to worse in week 2 when those numbers dropped majorly to 5.4 million and a 1.8, respectively. These ratings simply don’t live up to the Eye’s sitcom standards and so We Are Men is gone for good. Starting next week, Monday’s 2 Broke Girls moves from 9PM to take over Men‘s 8:30PM slot; repeats of The Big Bang Theory will air at 9PM for three weeks and then Mike & Molly comes off the bench to take over the vacant time slot.

FOX is showing support for its new sitcoms by ordering more scripts for a couple of them. As previously reported, the network ordered an undisclosed amount of additional scripts for Brooklyn Nine-Nine and now the same is being done for Seth MacFarlane’s Dads. FOX ordered 6 more scripts for the Seth Green/Giovanni Ribisi comedy, even as its most recent episode amounted to a paltry 1.3 demo rating and 3.1 million total viewers. Though to be fair, FOX’s Tuesday night comedy lineup isn’t performing so well ratings-wise in general. We’ll see where this goes.

In sum, ABC’s Lucky 7 and CBS’ We Are Men are the first two cancellations of the 2013-14 TV season; NBC’s The Blacklist and ABC‘s Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. are the first to get full season orders, and FOX’s Sleepy Hollow is the first to be renewed for a second season. The fate of FOX’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Dads hang in the balance leaning towards getting the back nine since additional scripts have been ordered for each.

Fall TV updates: Good news for ‘Sleepy Hollow’ & ‘The Blacklist,’ ‘Lucky 7’ not so lucky

We are more than a few weeks into the new fall season of television and this is the time when networks typically announce “back nine” pickups and cancellations. This year, however, marks a unique occasion. Instead of increasing Sleepy Hollow‘s 13-episode count by nine for a “full season pickup,” FOX is limiting its run to 13 installments and renewing it for a second season already. The supernatural drama scored big the ratings when its pilot aired days before official premiere week; 10.1 million tuned in and it landed a solid 3.5 rating in the adults 18-49 demo. And if you include DVR gains following the three days after the pilot aired, 13.6 million viewers ended up watching the series premiere and the 18-49 rating jumped to a 5.0. These impressive numbers make Sleepy Hollow FOX’s most successful fall drama premiere since the debut of 24 in November 2001. “The show has proven to be a risk well worth taking – it’s a conceptual blast unlike anything else on television and it all holds together with inventive writing and a fantastic cast,” said FOX head Kevin Reilly in a statement. “I can’t wait for fans to experience what else is in store for this fall and even more of this wild ride into Season Two.” Sleepy Hollow airs Mondays at 9PM on FOX.

This week FOX also renewed The Simpsons for a remarkable 26th season. “For more than a quarter of a century, The Simpsons has captured the hearts and minds of fans in a way that transcends ages, languages and cultures,” said Reilly. “This groundbreaking series is not only the longest-running scripted show in television history, it’s one of the greatest sitcoms of our time, and I’m looking forward to yet another landmark season.” The Simpsons airs Sundays at 8PM on FOX.

Though FOX’s critically-adored cop comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine isn’t faring so well in the ratings (it debuted to 6 million total viewers and a 2.5 demo rating before falling to 1.4 million viewers and a 1.4 in its most recent episode), TVLine reports that the network has ordered an undisclosed amount of additional scripts. A full-season pickup might be around the corner.

Elsewhere, NBC decided to go the traditional route with its breakout new drama The Blacklist by giving the James Spader vehicle a full season pickup increasing its season one episode count to 22. Across its first two episodes the series averages 12 million total viewers with a 3.6 demo rating in adults 18-49. It’s the fall’s most-watched new drama in terms of total viewers. “The many layers of Red Reddington and his mysterious reasons for getting into bed with the FBI seem to be fascinating to fans of this show,” said NBC exec Jennifer Salke said in a statement. “With great talent like James Spader and Megan Boone on board, as well our stellar executive producers and the whole cast and crew, we believe this outstanding series will continue to make NBC a big destination on Monday nights.” The Blacklist airs Mondays at 10PM on NBC.

I hope you didn’t invest too much into ABC’s lotto drama Lucky 7 because that show just became the first to get axed this fall. After airing only two episodes the alphabet net has cancelled Lucky 7 and pulled it from the schedule effective immediately (repeats of Scandal will fill the Tuesday at 10PM void for now). The show debuted to 4.4 million viewers and a 1.3 demo rating and dropped significantly in week two which stuck a 0.7 rating; oh, the irony. Who will join the not-so Lucky 7 in the cancellation bucket next? My money’s on another ABC drama Betrayal. Keep it here to find out.

‘Happy Endings’ officially cancelled, creator breaks silence on the oh-so-unfortunate news

It’s three seasons and out for ABC’s Happy Endings. After the network cancelled the critical darling and fan-favorite series, backing studio Sony TV made an effort to shop the the show elsewhere. Cable net USA passed on reviving it, and apparently so did the rest. On July 1 the cast’s options expired and now they are free to look elsewhere for work. But never again will they all team up as Jane, Alex, Dave, Max, Brad, and Penny and that’s the real shame here. (In a world where Arrested Development saw new life seven years after its premature cancellation, perhaps never say never?)

With my personal grieving out of the way, it’s time to hear from Happy Endings series creator David Caspe and executive producer Jonathan Groff. They recently broke their silence surrounding the show being axed and they shared their thoughts in an interview with TVLine.

On talks with bringing the show to USA: “It was as close as it could come without happening,” says Caspe. Darn!! Now it stings even more.

On potential season four storylines: “We knew we couldn’t do Dave and Penny until we got Dave and Alex sorted out,” Caspe shared. At the end of Season 3, they got the break-up that they really needed to have, which is one with an even playing field and nobody having left anyone at the altar. We wanted to have them break up in an amicable way so we could go back to telling Dave’s dating stories in a way that was more serious, or Alex dating and what that would mean for the group in a way that was more even-handed. Would Penny have been part of that? Maybe. I think we would have needed to regroup because Penny and Alex are so close and that relationship is so important and they’ve known each other their whole lives. [It’s similar to] the way it was tricky for Barney and Robin to hook up on How I Met Your Mother. It didn’t come without some degree of difficulty for Ted and Barney’s relationship. We would have had to handle that. And maybe we would have, I’m not sure.”

On the possibility of reviving the show in the future: “I would never say never to anything. We would always be open to talking about it. But the only way to move on is to move on. We have other stuff that we’ve gotta do. Who knows? I’m sure when they moved on from Arrested Development they never imagined that seven years later they would do it again. If you’re thinking that it’s gonna happen as a writer, you’re not focusing on the new stuff you have to work on. None of us would ever close the door, but I can’t really spend too much time hoping for that.”

For more words, read the full interview at TVLine.

Showrunner Josh Safran discusses what would have been ‘Smash’ season three

Smash took a dive in the ratings in its second season following a showrunner change from Broadway vet Theresa Rebeck to former Gossip Girl executive producer Josh Safran. It wasn’t long until NBC moved the creatively fickle musical dramedy to Saturday nights, effectively canceling the show without physically pulling it from the schedule. In an in-depth interview with Entertainment Weekly, Safran shares his vision for what would have been Smash season 3 and comments on how season 2 turned out. I’ve pulled some quotes here (they’re posted after the break), but I recommend you jump over to EW for the full read. Continue reading Showrunner Josh Safran discusses what would have been ‘Smash’ season three

USA decides not to pick up ‘Happy Endings’, sitcom stumbles into grave

This sucks. This is so sucky. Every now and then there’s a network series that is so incredibly raw and genuine and infectious that catches the attention of a small percentage of TV viewers and for that reason it gets the sharp axe. For some, life goes on; ABC’s Cougar Town and NBC’s Southland both found life after death in the cable arena on TBS and TNT, respectively. Even FOX’s Breaking In managed to come back from the dead and return to FOX, but that didn’t last long. And most recently there is Arrested Development, an irreverent show that got cancelled before its time telling stories up and seven years later it was resurrected on Netflix.

One causality to low ratings this season was the critically acclaimed Happy Endings, an ABC sitcom with an all-star cast and impeccable writing. Like Arrested before it, Endings comes out up with too many jokes to count and leaves it up to the viewer to sift through it all laughing all the while. It’s fast-paced, younger-skewing nature is probably what led to its demise; ABC president Paul Lee admitted it was “on brand” for the network but unfortunately wasn’t “broad” enough to warrant a fourth season. And so backing studio Sony TV began shopping it around to cable nets to find a new home for it. USA showed interest in possibly picking it up for another season, but Deadline reports those talks have shut down and the cable network ultimately decided to pass on it and invest in its own programs. Sony TV continues to shop it, but now it’s really starting to look like Happy Endings has come to the end of the road.

That’s such a shame, since its ensemble cast including Casey Wilson, Elisha Cuthbert, Eliza Coupe, Adam Pally, Zachary Knighton, and (who I considered to be the funniest man on TV this season) Damon Wayans Jr. make a wonderful, natural comedic team that are always in sync week after week. I guess all we can do now is be thankful that the show even managed to make it to three seasons despite bubble ratings along the way, just like we did with Arrested. Now hopefully it won’t take a network nearly a decade to realize just how funny and hip Happy Endings really is and produce at least another season.

ABC cancels ‘Zero Hour’ after 3 airings

And just like that, Zero Hour‘s time is up. The search for the Hank’s wife and the unravelling of the mystery involving the disciples’ secret clocks have come to a screeching halt as ABC decided to cancel the conspiracy thriller on Friday. Cancellation came because the show from Prison Break‘s Paul Scheuring couldn’t manage to find a sizable audience. In its February 14 series premiere, Zero Hour drew 6.3 million total viewers and a 1.3 in the 18-49 demo–ABC’s lowest rated in-season premiere of a scripted program in history. Things went from bad to worse as its third and most recent airing only attracted 5 million total viewers and a low 1.0 demo rating, prompting ABC to release the axe. But is it the show’s fault, really? An entertaining and intriguing thriller, Zero Hour‘s poor performance can certainly be chalked up to its placement on the schedule–you can say the series didn’t stand a chance as a midseason entry tossed in the challenging Thursdays at 8 timeslot. Previous ABC dramas like FlashFowardMissing, and most recently Last Resort suffered similar fate there.

So what happens to the 10 remaining unaired episodes of Zero Hour? Will viewers ever receive answers to the widespread mysteries the show has laid out thus far? At the TCAs Scheuring assured audiences that every season of the show would wrap up a major thread in the end and “reset” with the introduction of a new overarching mystery. ABC hasn’t confirmed anything, but there are whispers that like with 666 Park Avenue the Alphabet network may allow the series to run its single season course sometime this summer. One can hope.

NBC cancels ‘Do No Harm’ after two episodes, benches ‘1600 Penn’

After the extremely dismal ratings the Do No Harm pilot received, it is no surprise that the Jekyll and Hyde-esque medical drama was canned after its second airing. NBC’s midseason effort debuted to 3.1 million total viewers and a meager 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demo, making it the the lowest-rated in-season broadcast scripted series debut on any of the Big Four networks in history. Sealing its fate were its second week numbers: only 2.2 million viewers came back for more and its demo rating dropped 22% to a 0.7. This show had zero chance of survival from the get-go. Since the pilot wasn’t all that stimulating, here’s hoping that those who did tune in didn’t get too attached to this short-lived cast led by Steven Pasquale.

Not too long ago at the TCAs Do No Harm‘s executive producer David Schulner said, “I think ultimately you can only write the show that you want to watch, and this was a show that I wanted to see on TV. I wanted it to be fun. I wanted it to be thrilling. I wanted it to be a roller-coaster ride. And I wanted it to have stakes. I also wanted there to be a love story at the center of it. Hopefully those ingredients will make it different than what has come before.” Fail. And want to know the saddest part of all? All 13 episodes have been produced and the remaining 11 may never see the light of day.

Elsewhere on NBC, 1600 Penn is getting benched this week in favor of a double airing of departing comedy The Office. Now, Deadline reports that the move was made because the upcoming Valentine’s Day themed episode of The Office came in supersized and needed the extra schedule space to fit. However, you cannot shake the fact that the at-times uproariously funny, stuffed-with-heart White House sitcom is performing poorly in the ratings (most recently it scored a low 1.1 in the 18-49 demo); such a sudden pull from the schedule is certainly not a good sign.

FOX pulls ‘Ben And Kate’ and ABC yanks ‘Apt. 23’ from their schedules, effectively canceling them

Breathe, breathe. It’s tough news, I know. This week FOX and ABC pulled low-rated comedies Ben And Kate and Don’t Trust the B—- In Apartment 23 from their respective schedules. Ben And Kate, a freshman single-cam sitcom, managed to find its comedic groove early on but it never gained a foothold in the ratings. A dynamic cast led by the-one-and-only Nat Faxon delivered an absurd mixture of funny and heart week in and week out. In fact, FOX championed its creativity in October when the network expanded its original 13 episode order to 19. “Ben And Kate [has] everything we want to stand for in comedy: smart writing, hugely appealing casts and comedy that feels contemporary and real–which is why we’re confident [it] will continue to build on what is already an appointment comedy night for young, influential audiences on Tuesdays,” said FOX entertainment president Kevin Reilly. Though its numbers hovered in poor territory, FOX gave it time to find an audience and unfortunately it never quite found one broad enough to stay on the air. B&K averaged a 1.5 rating in the all-important 18-49 adult demographic, and that’s with 7-day DVR playback included; in so many words, not good enough. In a statement FOX says they plan to air the remaining six episodes at some point in the future. [Update: FOX has stopped production on the show so only 15 episodes will be produced meaning there are 2 unaired episodes that may or may not screen in the future.] And even though the net isn’t confirming cancellation, a sudden yank from the sked like this pretty much seals the deal.

The same goes for ABC’s wild comedy Apt. 23. But in this case you could really see the axe coming. Though the show certainly managed to grow creatively from its shortened first season, the viewers at large didn’t seem to notice and didn’t latch on. The way in which ABC aired the show was an ominous sign for fans. Many episodes that were originally produced for season one bled into season 2 and made storylines jump all around the place; this would introduce confusion for newcomers. After ABC pulled 666 Park Avenue from its Sunday lineup, the net decided to run Apt. 23 and Happy Endings twice a week, in the Sunday 10PM hour and on their regular Tuesday night. This experiment only lasted so long; Apt. 23 has been abandoned (its most recent ep drew a low 1.1 demo rating) and (thankfully) Happy Endings will continue its run on Tuesdays. No word on whether or not the remaining eight unaired episodes of Apt. 23 will see the light of day. For now, it’s goodbye peachy June, goodbye creepy Eli, goodbye obsessive Robin, goodbye hopeless Mark, goodbye infectious Luther, goodbye James Van Der Beek, and so long Chole. We’ll miss your bitchy ways.