Fall 2011 TV Shows: Cancellations and Renewals: The First Month
This article covers ratings, cancellations and renewals for Midseason 2011-2012. For new shows, ratings, cancellations and renewals for the entire 2012-2013 season, click here.
Starting October 25th, I'm not updating this hub anymore. It has become too cluttered and therefore I started a new one. Here are the Fall 2011 ratings, cancellations and renewals starting October 25th.
Update (10/16): NBC is promoting 'Grimm' by making the series premiere (due to be aired Oct 28th) available now. The catch here is that you need to follow the official 'Grimm' twitter feed to obtain the access code. Also, NBC starts a nationwide promotional tour, starting Tuesday in Los Angeles. Cast members and executive producers will be present to watch and discuss the series premiere with the public.
The First Casualties
The first show to be canceled was NBC’s ‘The Playboy Club’, on October 4th, the day after the airing of the third episode. The three aired episodes that aired averaged around 4 million viewers, thereby ending last in its Monday night timeslot. The sixth episode, which was still in production when the show was canceled, will be finished, reportedly in the hope of selling the series to another network. In the now vacant timeslot, the first three episodes of ‘Prime Suspect’ will be rerun.
On October 6th, the second and third cancellations were announced; both The CW’s reality show 'H8R' and NBC’s ‘Free Agents’ were canceled, respectively after airing four and three episodes. The cancellation of ‘Free Agents’ is quite disappointing for NBC, since the original British version was quite successful.
Update (10/8): If you're curious about the original version of 'Free Agents'; here's your chance. BBC America airs the first of six episodes tonight (Saturday) at 11/10c.
Update (10/16): TNT has canceled 'Memphis Beats', starring Jason Lee and Alfre Woodard, making the second season finale, aired on August 16th, the series finale.
The Simpsons
The popular FOX animation comedy series ‘The Simpsons’ may just come to an end after its 23rd season. Where Homer and his family amused over 20 million people every episode in 1991, ratings are currently down to about 7 million. According to FOX, the series is no longer profitable and there is no other choice than to cancel it. The only option left is if the voice actors hand in 45% of the 8 million dollars they earn each season. If this is actually going to happen remains to be seen.
Update (10/7): The voice actors have offered to cut their salary by 30% for next season, and they want a part of the revenue from the reruns and 'The Simpsons' merchandise. The producers have declined this offer, saying it is not enough. They are eager, however, to reach an agreement and to be able to renew 'The Simpsons' for more seasons.
Update (10/8): FOX and the voice actors from 'The Simpsons' have reached an agreement. A 24th and 25th season of the animation series were announced, but no details of the agreement were disclosed.
Simpsons executive producer Al Jean in an interview with Entertainment Weekly: "Believe me, we don’t look at this as these will definitely be the last two [seasons]. We just want to keep fighting and go as long as we can…. We really feel this isn’t an end but a beginning. It’s a cliché, but it’s the truth.”
Endangered Shows
Other shows that may have to watch out for cancellation are ABC’s ‘Charlie’s Angels’ and CBS’s ‘How to be a Gentleman’. While ‘Charlie’s Angels’ still has a workable audience with 7 million viewers, both series receive mostly negative reviews, averaging 30/100 and 45/100 on Metacritic, respectively.
Another show struggling to attract viewers is CBS’s ‘A Gifted Man’, but with generally neutral reviews, not all is lost yet for lead actor Patrick Wilson.
Update (10/8): While earlier announcing the move for 'How to be a Gentleman' to Saturday night 8:30/7:30c, CBS has now officially canceled the David Hornsby comedy. The remaining episodes (numbers 3 through 9) will be aired in the Saturday night timeslot. In the Thursday night timeslot, there will be a repeat of 'The Big Bang Theory' on October 13th, while starting October 20th, 'Rules of Engagement' will fill the gap.
Update (10/11): 'Pan Am' can now be added to the list of endangered shows, because even though it premiered with over 10 million viewers, the third episode is already down to just over 6 million. If these numbers keep falling, chances are 'Pan Am' will have to make an emergency landing in the near future.
'A Gifted Man' slowly keeps losing viewers; premiering with 9.3 million, the second episode drew 8.16 million people to their tv's, and the latest episode is down to 7.5 million. The most endangered show right now, though, is still 'Charlie's Angels', which is now down to 5.93 million for the latest episode.
Update (10/15): The latest casualty of the Fall 2011 season is 'Charlie's Angels'; production was shut down by ABC after airing only four episodes. Like CBS's 'How to be a Gentleman', the show is not yet officially canceled, meaning that, until further notice, the remaining episodes will air, but it wouldn't be surprising if ABC would move 'Angels' to another timeslot.
Update (10/16): 'A Gifted Man' has stopped falling in the ratings at between 7.5 and 8 million viewers. If the numbers stay on this level, it is likely that CBS will announce a full-season pick-up in the next couple of weeks.
Update (10/19): Tom Wopat and Aaron Dean Eisenberg are cast to play the husband and son of 'A Gifted Man's Rita (Margo Martindale). Both are expected to make their first appearance in November. Is this an indication that CBS is going to renew the show? I'm not sure. 'A Gifted Man' can still go either way. The ratings are (for Fridays) too good to cancel the show, but perhaps they are not good enough for CBS to renew it either. The first thirteen episodes will most likely be aired, and CBS will either renew it if the numbers remain steady or go up, or just silently replace it after these episodes if the execs aren't convinced of its potential.
Update (10/19): Last Sunday, 'Pan Am' went down in the ratings again. This time, only 5.9 million people watched the show, and with these dropping numbers, the only question is now when the show will be axed, rather than whether it will or will not be canceled.
On The Right Track
More success is there for ‘Person of Interest’, helping CBS win Thursday night in overall number of viewers. ‘The Secret Circle’ has become a solid asset for The CW, averaging at about 3 million viewers, and receiving average reviews.
FOX’s dinosaur drama co-produced by Steven Spielberg, ‘Terra Nova’, is doing good in the ratings with 9 million viewers. This is a great result, but it was necessary, since the production of each episode costs up tot 4 million dollars.
CBS’s ‘Unforgettable’ is doing ok with 11.5 million viewers, while The CW’s ‘Hart Of Dixie’ and ‘Ringer’ are getting moderate amounts of viewers. However, the most promising show right now is ‘Homeland’; with 1.08 million viewers in the original broadcast the highest rating Showtime drama premiere in eight years. Additional broadcasts bring the total to 2.78 million viewers, and ‘Homeland’ receives virtually only positive reviews, averaging 91/100 on Metacritic.
The mysterious ‘American Horror Story’ premiered on FX to 3.2 viewers in the original timeslot, and totalled in subsequent telecasts to 5 million. This is the second highest a drama series FX has ever premiered, but it remains to be seen whether the ratings will remain high.
Update (10/12): After Tuesday's episode spiked 15% in viewers and 33% in the 18-49 demographic, The CW decided to give 'Ringer' a full-season pick-up. The Sarah Michell Gellar show is thereby the first new Fall 2011 drama series to be picked up for a full season of 22 episodes. Since the ratings of supernatural drama 'The Secret Circle' are considerably better than 'Ringer's, one could expect that one to receive a pick-up sometime soon as well.
Update (10/13): Later in the same day, The CW announced the full-season pick-up of their other rookie dramas; 'Hart of Dixie' and 'The Secret Circle', while NBC ordered additional episodes for 'Prime Suspect' and 'Harry's Law'.
Update (10/17): The DVR ratings for the second week (Sept 26th - Oct 2nd) of the Fall 2011 TV season are in. 'Modern Family', 'Hawaii Five-0' and 'Two and a Half Men' add the most viewers (between 3.5 and 4.5 million) and the biggest winner of the shows that premiered that week is 'Terra Nova' adding over 3 million viewers, totaling to 12.2 million.The biggest relative addition went to 'Fringe', which grew with almost 53 percent from 3.05 million to 4.65 million.
Update (10/18): Fox's 'Terra Nova' is doing good, with last night's episode rising 14 percent in total viewers to 8 million. After starting moderately, the series is now showing its true potential. Because of the high production costs, FOX immediately ordered a first season without seeing a pilot. Only time can tell if these numbers are good enough to earn the show another season.
In the mean time, the dust around the killing off of Charlie Sheen has settled; 'Two and a Half Men' is down 10 million viewers from its season premiere, but with 14 million last night still a strong asset for CBS.
Update (10/19): While premiering to 14 million viewers, CBS' 'Unforgettable' was down to just under 12 million last week, falling behind 'Person of Interest', but still winning its timeslot. Last night's ratings aren't in yet, but the Poppy Montgomery show needs to at least stay on these levels, as CBS is known for quickly canceling new shows that are doing only moderately. Overall, though, the ratings for 'Unforgettable' aren't that bad.
Pick-Ups
The most successful new series of Fall 2011 is ‘New Girl’, pushing FOX in the Tuesday night top spot. With almost 9 million viewers ‘New Girl’ rates even higher than ‘Glee’, which airs right before the comedy. Therefore, FOX has announced that the series was picked up for a full season, thereby making ‘New Girl’ the first picked-up series of Fall 2011.
Other new comedy series that also got picked up are NBC’s ‘Whitney’ and ‘Up All Night’ and CBS’s ‘2 Broke Girls’.
In the midseason FOX comedy block, ‘Breaking In’ will be resurrected for a second time, thereby it joins ‘Family Guy’ to be the only two shows to ever be canceled and picked up again twice.
Another series that is doing good is ABC Family’s ‘The Lying Game’, which already premiered on August 15th. Exactly one month later, the 10 episode first season was extended to 22 episodes due to good ratings of just under 1.5 million.
Update (10/18): ABC has ordered additional episodes for 'Revenge', averaging 8.8 million viewers, and 'Suburgatory', averaging almost 10 million viewers. This nine back order brings both of them from 13 initial episodes to a 22 episode first season. Also, 'Happy Endings' was given six additional episodes by ABC.
What about you?
Are you happy that some show got canceled? Or are you hoping that your favorite show will be renewed? Tell me about it in the comments!