Welcome to network TV’s Red Wedding. It’s a bloodbath in here. (Updated.)

by Therese Odell, posted in Uncategorized

You’re going to need this, because the TV news I’m about to share is grim:

Alright, cue up “The Rains of Castamere.”

Yesterday was a bleak day for a number of network TV shows. Ahead of next week’s Upfront events, where the networks will announce their fall schedules, CBS, NBC, and The CW began clearing their lineups to make room for new programs.

NBC announced that they are canceling the Ted Danson-led sitcom Mr. Mayor after two seasons. They also canceled Kenan after two seasons, so I suppose it’s good that Kenan Thompson kept his day job over at SNL.

NBC also canceled their heist drama, The Endgame, after one season.

CBS canceled B Positive after two seasons. This cancelation was something of a surprise, as many had thought B Positive‘s chances were improved when CBS canceled United States of Al yesterday.

How We Roll, the Pete Holmes bowling comedy, was canceled after one season.

Also canceled after only one season was Good Sam, the medical drama. It was CBS’ lowest-rated scripted series of the season, and the cancelation was not unexpected.

Finally, the reboot of Magnum P.I. was canceled after four seasons.

And then there are The CW cancelations. For years, The CW had almost uniformly renewed all of their series, no matter how abysmal their ratings. Those days are over.

The reboot of Charmed was canceled after four seasons.

Roswell, New Mexico was canceled after four seasons. The fourth season will air as planned, beginning next month.

The reboot of The 4400 has been canceled after one season.

The Dynasty reimagining has been canceled after six seasons.

In The Dark has been canceled after four seasons. The fourth season will air in June.

Naomi has been canceled after two seasons. It’s the third DC series to be canceled at The CW this season, along with Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow.

And finally, Legacies has been canceled after four seasons.

What’s behind all of these cuts at The CW is a little complicated. The CW was jointly owned by Warner Bros. and CBS Studios, and the network served to launch series that the studios could then sell for syndication or streaming. The network wasn’t the point: shows were renewed based on their value to the studios, not the network. Now, apparently, Nexstar, which owns most of The CW affiliates around the country, is in talks to purchase the network, and it looks like they are shedding a lot of dead weight ahead of that sale. While Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount will own minority shares in this new deal, the days of not worrying about actual ratings is probably behind us. As for what The CW will look like under new ownership, that’s anyone’s guess at this point.

It wasn’t all bad news! Some — a few — shows have been renewed!

UPDATE: ABC has just announced a bunch of renewals:

Big Sky; The Wonder Years; A Million Little Things; The Conners, and Home Economics have all been renewed. Additionally, The Bachelor; America’s Funniest Home Videos; Celebrity Wheel of Fortune; Shark Tank; and American Idol have also been renewed. Oh! and Jensen Ackles is joining the cast of Big Sky as a regular, so that’s good.

NBC has renewed Young Rock and Grand Crew, and they renewed American Auto yesterday.

Over at The CW, they renewed All American: Homecoming.

As for new series:

The Winchesters, the Supernatural prequel series, has been ordered to series at The CW. Walker: Independence, the Walker origin story has also been picked up, along with Gotham Knights, in which Bruce Wayne’s rebellious adopted son forges an unlikely alliance with the children of Batman’s enemies.

What is interesting about the Gotham Knights pick-up is that I’ve been hearing unofficially that one of Warner Bros. Discovery’s plans is to build their own DC universe, to rival Marvel’s. This has been part of the explanation for why they’ve canceled so many DC shows on The CW, to clear the decks for a reimagining of the entire franchise. Except — the order of Gotham Knights seems to undermine this plan, unless it’s some sort of building block.

At CBS, East New York, a crime drama set in Brooklyn, has been ordered to series. Also ordered: Fire Country, a firefighting drama, and So Help Me Todd, an hour-long drama which follows a private detective who works for his lawyer mother.

UPDATE: CBS has also just ordered the True Lies reboot to series.

Pilots that are not moving forward include NBC’s Hungry, a comedy about a group of friends in a food-issues support group. Also not ordered to series is the reboot of Early Edition at CBS. CBS also passed on every comedy pilot: The Hug Machine; Rust Belt News; Sober Companion; and Unplanned in Akron.

Is this the beginning of the death of the half-hour comedy? The business model for making comedies has shifted, making it less profitable for studios to invest in sitcoms. Additionally, hour-long dramas are considered more attractive for streamers for binging purposes. All that said, comedies like Abbott Elementary continue to prove that the appetite for half-hour comedies exists, so I expect that the business models themselves will adapt over time.

AS for what shows haven’t learned their fates as of yet:

On Fox:

  • Pivoting
  • 9-1-1
  • 9-1-1: Lone Star

On ABC:

  • The Conners (which is reportedly very close to being renewed)
  • Home Economics
  • The Wonder Years
  • A Million Little Things
  • Big Sky

Pary to the TV Gods, because this has been a bloody season.

All Other TV News

The only other TV news that matters is that Kendall Jenner has no idea how to cut a cucumber.

@michelleeandrews

I am screaming 💀 #thekardashians

♬ original sound – Michelle Andrews

Y’all, Kendall Jenner knows it’s tragic:

Please keep her in your thoughts at this difficult time.

Renewals

Cancellations

  • 9 Months has been canceled by Facebook Watch after three seasons.

In Development

Casting News

Mark Your Calendar

  • The Orville: New Horizons premieres on Hulu on June 2.
  • Luck will debut on Apple TV+ on August 5.
  • A Message From Brianna is now streaming on BET+.
  • My Little Pony: Make Your Mark will premiere on Netflix on May 26.

R.I.P.

Fred Ward, Actor who starred in Tremors, The Right Stuff, True Detective, and many, many others

Bruce MacVittie, Character actor who had roles in Barney Miller, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Law & Order, and others

WATCH THIS

FRIDAY

Firestarter: Zac Efron stars in this possibly unnecessary remake of the Stephen King classic. Premiere. Peacock

The Lincoln Lawyer: Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Neve Campbell, and Becki Newton star in David E. Kelley’s series adaptation of the novel and 2011 Matthew McConaughey film. Series premiere. Netflix

Children Ruin Everything: A young couple struggles to hold on to their identities while raising small children in this new comedy from one of the Schitt’s Creek writers. Premiere. Roku

Sneakerella: Cinderella but with sneakers. Premiere. Disney+

Bling Empire: Season two. Netflix

Couples Therapy: Third season premiere. 7 p.m., Showtime

SATURDAY

Saturday Night Live: Selena Gomez & Post Malone10:30 p.m., NBC

The Matrix Resurrections: Listen, this is a controversial sequel to be sure. I for one genuinely loved it. I thought it was funny, self-examining and did something important: it took the typical male superhero narrative and made it … more, bigger, lovelier. That said, I understand why some fans felt it was unnecessary and totally get why straight guys in particular might be angry about it. Oh well! Sorry! 7 p.m., HBO

SUNDAY

The Time Traveler’s Wife: Rose Leslie and Theo James star in Steven Moffat’s adaptation of the best-selling novel. Series premiere. 8 p.m., HBO

2022 Billboard Music Awards: Sean “Diddy” Combs hosts this year. 7 p.m., NBC

The Equalizer: McCall’s determination to catch Quinn becomes an obsession in the season finale. 7 p.m., CBS

The Rookie: Season finale. But hold up: the listing says that Pete Davidson is guest-starring? That Pete Davidson? For real though? According to IMDB: yep.  9 p.m., ABC

Late Night:

  • Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Friday): Millie Bobby Brown, Maury Povich, Snail Mail
  • The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: (Friday): Billy Crystal, Regina Spektor
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live!: (Friday): Jerrod Carmichael, James Hong, the Black Keys
  • Watch What Happens Live (Sunday): TBA

FRI. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Shark Tank
(repeat)		 20/20
CBS Come Dance With Me
(new)		 Magnum P.I.
(repeat)		 Blue Bloods
(repeat)
CW Charmed
(new)		 Dynasty
(new)		 Local
FOX Friday Night Smackdown Local
NBC The Blacklist
(new)		 Dateline

—

SAT. 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30
ABC Finding Dory Judge Steve Harvey
(repeat)		 News/Local
CBS Top Gun Bob (Hearts) Abishola
(repeat)		 News/Local
CW Whose Line Is It Anyway?
(repeat)		 Would I Lie to You?
(new)		 Masters of Illusion
(new)		 Masters of Illusion
(repeat)		 Local
FOX The Masked Singer
(repeat)		 Domino Masters
(repeat)		 News/Local
NBC Dateline
(new)		 Dateline
(new)		 Saturday Night Live
(repeat)		 News/
Local		 Saturday Night Live
(Selena Gomez & Post Malone)

—

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
(new)		 The Rookie
(new)
CBS 60 Minutes The Equalizer
(new)		 NCIS: Los Angeles
(new)		 SWAT
(new)
The CW Local Riverdale
(new)		 Whose Line Is It Anyway?
(repeat)		 Would I Lie to You?
(repeat)		 Local
FOX The Simp-sons
(repeat)		 Duncanville
(new)		 The Simp-sons
(new)		 The Great North
(new)		 Bob’s Burgers
(new)		 Family Guy
(new)		 Local/News
NBC Weakest Link
(new)
2022 Billboard Music Awards
(live)

3 thoughts on “Welcome to network TV’s Red Wedding. It’s a bloodbath in here. (Updated.)”

  1. Yes, that Pete Davidson! 🙂 He’s been on a couple of times before and plays the half-brother (also named Pete) of Nathan Fillion’s character. It’s really silly.

    Reply

  2. Not Mr. Mayor!!! Yeesh. Bloodbath is right! Surprised by B Positive for sure. I have the Pete Holmes show on the DVR. Maybe I’ll just clear out some space but I love him so much.
    A couple seasons ago I would have probably been more bummed about the Charmed reboot getting the ax. They have done a decent job this season of trying to keep the story line going but it really fell apart a little after Macy’s character was killed off.

    Reply

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