I’ve been warning y’all that Brooklyn Nine-Nine was in trouble, and now we know the threat was real.
Despite having its best season yet (in my opinion at least), the cop comedy was cancelled for a few reasons: the ratings weren’t great — in fact it tied with Last Man on Earth and The Mick, both of which were also cancelled, for Fox’s 13th most watched shows; it had passed the magic 100 episode mark, meaning it was syndicate-able and money could be made off of it without spending money on new episodes; it was produced by NBC Universal, not Fox; Fox recently picked up Thursday Night Football and they needed to make room on the schedule; and the fact that Disney recently bought Fox Studios means that Fox will be undergoing changes in the coming years, and they may have decided now was the time to start rethinking what kind of comedies they’ll be doing moving forward.
Still sucks, though. And you’re not the only one who thinks so.
Here’s a wonderful tribute to the show, explaining that the folks who didn’t give the show a chance because they thought it was a cliché, didn’t understand that the show was a subversion of all those tropes. And this twitter thread — just read this twitter thread.
However, the story may not be over for our Brooklyn squad — thanks in part to the outpouring of outrage over the cancelation, other outlets are looking at maybe picking up the series. Hulu is the obvious choice, Netflix is something of a long shot, and then there is also NBC — after all, the show is an NBCUniversal production. So stay tuned!
In some good news, Hiro Murai, the genius director behind most of the episodes of Atlanta and a little something called This is America, has signed a deal with FX to develop and produce projects for them. It’s been quite the week for this guy and Donald Glover (and Solo hasn’t even opened yet).
Here, Murai talks about last night’s finale of Atlanta (so don’t click if you haven’t watched — but do go watch it because Atlanta just closed out the best season of television this year) and This is America — which apparently was only filmed about two weeks ago while we were all flipping out about Beychella.
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST IS TOMORROW (see below) PREPARE YOURSELVES. And appreciate the fact that you can watch it; those assholes in China won’t get to after they censored a gay performance in the semifinals.
Young Sheldon dropped a bombshell last night.
Here’s how Benioff and Weiss sold HBO on dragons.
God dammit, the Tremors reboot that Syfy is not going forward with actually looks like a lot of fun. Why? WHY ARENT WE DOING THIS, SYFY?
J.J. Bittenbender is NOT HAPPY about Mulaney’s bit about him. And fun fact: he also inspired a character on Mr. Show with Bob and David.
David E. Kelley is threatening us with an Ally McBeal reboot. NO THANK YOU PLEASE.
Here is someone thinking waaaay to hard about SpongeBob and memes.
AT&T’s CEO thinks that making that deal with Michael Cohen was a “big mistake.” LOL, WHY?
Shut the fuck up, Tucker Carlson.
Renewals
- World of Dance has been renewed by NBC for a third season.
- Speechless has been renewed by ABC.
- The Voice was officially renewed by NBC. Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson will join Adam and Blake.
- The Detour has been renewed for a fourth season.
- The Joel McHale Show has been given more episodes, yay! 6 additional episodes will all drop on July 15.
Cancellations
- Taken has been canceled by NBC to the surprise of no one. It’s being shopped around but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
- Syfy has announced that this season of The Expanse will be the last.
- As I noted, in addition to Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Fox also canceled The Last Man on Earth and The Mick. ~siiiiiigh~
In Development
- In Between has been ordered by NBC.
- Rel has been ordered by Fox.
- The twitter accounts for Wayward Sisters, Charmed, Roswell New Mexico, In the Dark, and The End of the World As We Know it have all been updated, suggesting that The CW has maybe picked them all up?
- Like Family and No Way Back have not been picked up by NBC.
- FX has ordered the Australian dramedy Mr. Inbetween — which is going to become very confusing with NBC’s In Between out there.
- Netflix bought the animated film Next Gen.
- Freeform has ordered Everything’s Gonna Be Okay.
- HBO is working on a series based on the investigation into Muhammad Abu Khdeir’s murder.
- Bravo is giving The Imposters an after show — but it’s a digital series.
Casting News
- Annette O’Toole and Corbin Bernsen are joining The Punisher.
- Sakina Jaffrey is joining the cast of American Gods.
- Busy Philipps, Greg Kinnear, Bobby Moynihan and Aidy Bryant, Jon Hamm, Amy Sedaris, Mike Carlsen, Zosia Mamet and Derek Klena are all going to guest star on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Mark Your Calendar
- Drag Tots — a cartoon about baby drag queens from RuPaul and a bunch of Drag Race superstars — is coming to WOW Presents Plus Streaming on June 28.
- Wynonna Earp returns on Syfy on June 20.
- Sharknado 6 will premiere on Syfy on August 19.
- Killjoys returns on Syfy on July 20.
- Teachers returns on TV Land on June 5.
- Bill Maher: Triggered will air on HBO on July 7.
- Erik Griffin: Amerikan Warrior will premiere on Showtime on June 8.
- Living Biblically will return on CBS on May 28; Instinct on May 27.
R.I.P.
WATCH THIS
FRIDAY
Evil Genius: Remember that weird story where someone strapped a bomb around the neck of a pizza delivery guy and then forced him to rob a bank for them? The Duplass Brothers made a documentary series about it, and if it is as good as Wild Wild Country, it will be worth watching. Premiere. Netflix
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle: Yes, Moose and Squirrel are back. Series premiere. Amazon
All Night: A teen comedy about some high school seniors on “grad night.” This looks like typical teen comedy material, but I can’t help but think about John Mulaney’s bit about how so many song lyrics are about how “tonight is the night” and “we only have tonight” and what 19-year-old garbage that is because I am an old woman. Hulu
Dynasty: An unexpected guest at Sammy Jo and Steven’s wedding causes all hell to break loose in the season finale. 7 p.m., The CW
Blue Bloods: A group of six men is released from prison after being found innocent and things happen. Season finale. 9 p.m., CBS
SATURDAY
Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final: yaaaaaaaassssssssss 2 p.m., Logo
Patrick Melrose: Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this dramedy about a self-destructive man-child. 8 p.m., Showtime
Saturday Night Live: Amy Schumer & Kacey Musgraves. 10:30 p.m., NBC
Dunkirk: Christopher Nolan’s film about the evacuation of Dunkirk before the Nazis could arrive and kill everyone and hey, remember when we all agreed that Nazis were bad? 8 p.m., HBO
SUNDAY
Silicon Valley: Richard receives unsettling news in the season finale. 9:15 p.m., HBO
Barry: Barry vows to live the life of crime in the season finale. Yeah, we’ll see how that goes. 9:45 p.m., HBO
Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance: The big day is May 19, until then we will have to settle for this Lifetime pre-enactment. 7 p.m., Lifetime
The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale: Season finale. Netflix
Fear the Walking Dead: John Dorie rethinks his “ways.” 8 p.m., AMC
Timeless: All we know is that the two episodes that make up the finale are titled “The General” and “Chinatown.” So, you know, fuhgeddaboutit, Jake. 9 p.m., NBC
Late Night: Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Friday): Julie Bowen, Justin Hartley, Dov Davidoff The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: (Friday): Mayim Bialik, Melissa McCarthy, Leon Bridges Watch What Happens Live (Sunday): Gabrielle Union, Monique Samuels
| FRI. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | Once Upon a Time (new) |
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (new) |
20/20 (new) |
| CBS | Undercover Boss: Celebrity Edition (new) |
Hawaii Five-0 (new) |
Blue Bloods (new) |
| CW | Dynasty (new) |
Life Sentence (new) |
Local |
| FOX | Meghan Markle: An American Princess (new) |
Local |
| NBC | Blindspot (new) |
Dateline (new) |
—
| SAT. | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | 10:30 | 11:00 | 11:30 |
| ABC | American Idol (repeat) |
20/20 | News/Local |
| CBS | Ransom (new) |
48 Hours (repeat) |
48 Hours (new) |
News/Local |
| FOX | MasterChef Junior (repeat) |
News/Local |
| NBC | NHL Playoffs (live) |
News/Local | Saturday Night Live (Amy Schumer & Kacey Musgraves) |
—
| SUN. | 6:00 | 6:30 | 7:00 | 7:30 | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 |
| ABC | America’s Funniest Home Videos (new) |
American Idol (live) |
Deception (new) |
| CBS | 60 Minutes (new) |
Instinct (new) |
NCIS: Los Angeles (new) |
Madam Secretary (new) |
| FOX | Bob’s Burgers (repeat) |
Bob’s Burgers (new) |
The Simpsons (new) |
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (new) |
Family Guy (new) |
The Last Man on Earth (new) |
Local/News |
| NBC | Genius Junior (new) |
Genius Junior (new) |
Timeless (new) |
Actually, if you can STAN another correction, the Sunday 8:30 slot on Fox will be a new episode of Bob’s Burgers, Mother’s Day-themed.
Thanks, Stan!
I, with everyone else, was sad about the nine-nine and I’m glad it got picked up. I am still bummed about The Mick though. I loved that stupid little show. Alex, Inc. too. Not to mention The Exorcist (even though there was no question it would get cancelled) So many good shows getting axed this season.