Written on November 10, 2009 at 4:42 pm by admin

What’s Next To Be Cancelled #5: Three Rivers, Hank, The Middle, Eastwick, Fringe, Ugly Betty, Dollhouse, Heroes, Brothers?

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So, it’s Tuesday again and time to look at what’s transpired in the world of television renewals and cancellations.

In an update from last week, Eastwick has been canceled, The Forgotten has been extended by 5 episodes (?) and ABC show Let’s Dance has been pulled from the schedule before it was even aired. There was also some news on CBS where #1 (A18-49) network comedy The Big Bang Theory and #1 scripted show (in viewers) NCIS have been extended to 24 eps, as has How I Met Your Mother, NCIS: LA, CSI: Miami and Two and a Half Men with Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, The Good Wife, CSI, and The Mentalist, all having 1 extra ep ordered and Numb3rs has had its episode order reduced to 16.

This week I’m going to start with Fringe - Ruh-roh, a 1.7 rating and under 5 million viewers? Indeed. Fringe has its worst week of its relatively short life last Thursday which is a problem for them and for FOX. Last year the show was doing so well (even before Idol started airing) averaging and solid late 2’s/early 3’s and since then the show has gotten better. Now this is one of the rare incidences where I believe that most of this is caused by the timeslot and not the show itself. FOX needs to find a slot where this works or it will be gone by the end of the year. The problem is that FOX’s schedule is full of solid shows this year (both creatively and in the ratings). I think the 1.7 rating though can be attributed to not many people knowing it was on due to the World Series being cut short.

Ugly Betty – Ugly Betty posted series lows again last Friday and unless something drastic happens this show might not even make it until the end of the season. The dramedy, now in its 4th season posted just a 1.2 rating in the finals and just over 4 million viewers. Oops….spoke too soon. Apparently ABC are moving it to Wednesday nights. This could be in place of either Eastwick, which was canceled earlier today or a replacement for Hank/ The Middle. My bet – it replaces Eastwick.
My Prediction: Still gone by the end of the season. Renewed (geddit?) interest will lead to better ratings though.

Three Rivers – I really don’t know what’s going on over at CBS. The only reason that I can see as to why this is still on the air is because the shows advertising was pre-sold at a nice rate. Either that or it’s Julie Chen’s favorite new show and Les Moonves, the CBS president, doesn’t want to piss off his new wife! The show averaged just a 1.8 rating last week which was up but is still not good enough (even for NBC!) but it lived to see another day.
My Prediction: As soon as the prepaid ad money runs out, so does its luck.

Cold Case – Just a short one today on this. What I can’t understand is why Numb3rs’ episode order was cut short but not this show? The former is a better performer and is on Friday to boot. It pulled a 1.6 rating this week, up slightly from last week but still nothing to write home about and is still CBS’ worst performing scripted show. Yes, worse than Three Rivers even.
My Prediction: I can’t see how but it’ll make it to 22 and finish

The Others -

- Smallville – Posted series highs last week and isn’t going anywhere, even if Zod gains the powers of the yellow sun. Will be picked up for next year.

- The Forgotten - Will end its 18 episode run and be gone.

- Hank - Fell to a series low 1.2 rating this week. Hasn’t got a chance of a back 9 pickup & lucky to finish its limited run.

- The Middle – I don’t know. If paired with Modern Family it would probably do much better. Wait and See…..

- Trauma - 13 Episodes. NBC has pulled the plug.

- Dollhouse – Replaced by a Bones rerun which outrated it by 50%. 13 and out.

- Brothers - Didn’t air due to a House rerun which also outrated it by 50%. Possibly run until the end of the season.

- Law and Order – Posted its season best numbers on Friday (1.7/1.8) Was I wrong to count it out so early? Nope. 18 and Out.

- Gary Unmarried/ New Adventures of Old Christine – A 2.0 rating last week. Nothing special. Similar to last season. Possible 2010 pickup.

- Heroes - Now that House is back on FOX, Heroes dropped to a 2.3 rating last night which definitely isn’t enough to save this expensive show. Gone after 18.