The fall TV season started awhile ago, but we can’t blame you if you haven’t started watching any of the new fall broadcast shows. Why risk it? The networks have little patience for low ratings, so it’s smart not to get too attached to a series that will soon be canceled.
Now, about six weeks in, we have a much clearer picture of which shows will live or die beyond their initial 13-episode order. Below, here’s a complete rundown of the current status for all the freshman series on each broadcast network, including whether they have been picked up for a full season order of 22 episodes.
Also, an interesting twist this fall: Instead of just pulling underperforming new shows off the schedule, networks have this euphemism called “reducing an episode order.” So when you see that a show has been cut from 13 to 10 episodes, read between the lines.
—
NBC:
– “Blindspot”
Starring: Jaimie Alexander, Sullivan Stapleton
Gist: A naked woman covered in tattoos wakes up in the middle of Times Square with no memory about who she is, but the FBI realizes each tattoo represents a crime.
Status: Picked up for a full season.
Should you get attached? Yes. The drama started off strong in the coveted 18-to-49 demographic, so NBC picked it up after just a few episodes. The show is also heavily recorded, the last episode going from about 8 million viewers to 14 million after you factor in DVR viewing.
– “Heroes Reborn”
Starring: Zachary Levi, Masi Oka, Jack Coleman
Gist: A reboot of the former sci-fi show that aired from 2006 through 2010.
Status: Still a 13-episode miniseries.
Should you get attached? Sure, why not? Just be warned: It’s a miniseries. Seeing the amount of hype NBC gave the return of its former hit, there’s no way the network would cut it down, even if it dropped below 4 million viewers last week.
– “Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris”
Starring: NPH and any other celebrity with a project to promote.
Gist: A live variety hour, a la “Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway” from the U.K. Status: Still going.
Should you get attached? Um … maybe not. Given that it’s a variety show, it’s not quite on the same timetable as a scripted show. But with just 4 million people tuning in a week, you have to wonder how much longer NBC will keep this going.
– “Truth Be Told”
Starring: Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tone Bell, Vanessa Lachey, Bresha Webb
Gist: A pair of couples who are neighbors and best friends have a lot of real talk about “edgy” topics.
Status: Cut to 10 episodes from 13.
Should you get attached? No way. Red flags went up when the name changed from “People Are Talking” to something even more vague. Variety reports that it’s the lowest-rated series on the major broadcast networks so far this season, clocking in at 2.4 million people last Friday.
– “The Player”
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Philip Winchester, Charity Wakefield
Gist: A Las Vegas thriller about a security expert who is drawn into a creepy world where people gamble on his ability to stop crimes.
Status: Cut to nine episodes from 13.
Should you get attached? Sorry, no. Averaging about 4 million people a week, and only a couple million more with DVR viewing, this Wesley Snipes drama just wasn’t gaining traction quickly enough for the network.
—
Fox:
– “Scream Queens”
Starring: Emma Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis, Lea Michele, Abigail Breslin
Gist: A serial killer targets a sorority house, and chaos ensues on the college campus.
Status: Still a 15-episode anthology series.
Should you get attached? Sure, but be warned that it’s ridiculous. This is a Ryan Murphy series on Fox; it’s not going anywhere. Plus, Fox is very excited that it doubles its audience after DVR viewing, even if it just goes from 2 million to 4 million people.
– “Rosewood”
Starring: Morris Chestnut, Jaina Lee Ortiz
Gist: A brilliant pathologist/medical examiner uses his unique skills to help out the Miami police department.
Status: Picked up for a full season.
Should you get attached? Yes, for at least one season. Fox had high expectations for this procedural that airs right before its monster hit “Empire” – and the show met them, holding steady at about 5 million viewers a week.
– “The Grinder”
Starring: Rob Lowe, Fred Savage, Mary Elizabeth Ellis
Gist: An actor who played a lawyer on a hit TV show moves home to Boise when his series is canceled, and he decides to join his brother and father in their small-town family law practice.
Status: Picked up for a full season.
Should you get attached? Sure. The ratings might seem low, but 3 million isn’t bad these days for a Fox comedy – and the network really loves this cast.
– “Grandfathered”
Starring: John Stamos, Josh Peck, Paget Brewster
Gist: An eternal bachelor discovers one day that he’s a father and a grandfather.
Status: Picked up for a full season.
Should you get attached? Yes, but maybe less slightly so. Sort of a package deal with “The Grinder” (and with similar ratings), Fox renewed this comedy a day later.
– “Minority Report”
Starring: Stark Sands, Meagan Good, Nick Zano
Gist: Based on the Tom Cruise movie, it’s set in the future with technology that can detect crimes before they happen.
Status: Cut to 10 episodes from 13.
Should you get attached? Probably not. The ratings are rough for this one – even with DVR viewing, total viewers have dropped every week and are only around 3 million.
—
ABC:
– “Quantico”
Starring: Priyanka Chopra, Josh Hopkins, Jake McLaughlin
Gist: A rookie FBI agent is accused of orchestrating a terrorist bombing and has to figure out which one of her colleagues framed her for the attack.
Status: Picked up for a full season.
Should you get attached? Definitely. One of ABC’s most highly hyped new series, it’s also one of the most DVR-ed shows of the fall, evening out around 10 million viewers.
– “Dr. Ken”
Starring: Ken Jeong, Suzy Nakamura
Gist: A brilliant doctor has a terrible bedside manner and is similarly dysfunctional as a husband and dad.
Status: Picked up for a full season. Should you get attached? Apparently. Despite being raked over the coals by critics, ABC was pleased with its ratings in the low-pressure Friday night time slot.
– “The Muppets”
Starring: The Muppets
Gist: A mockumentary style show about the personal lives of the famous puppets.
Status: Picked up for a full season (16 episodes).
Should you get attached? For now. The buzz has died down on this one, but Deadline reports the plan was always a shorter series.
– “Blood & Oil”
Starring: Chace Crawford, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Don Johnson
Gist: A young married couple moves to North Dakota around the oil boom, but they are soon caught up in a tangled web with a mysterious oil tycoon.
Status: Cut to 10 episodes from 13. Should you get attached? No way. Critics really didn’t love this drama, and ratings are steadily sliding lower every Sunday night.
– “Wicked City”
Starring: Ed Westwick, Jeremy Sisto, Taissa Farmiga
Gist: Follows the race to catch a serial killer on the Sunset Strip in the 1980s.
Status: Premiered on Oct. 27, too soon to tell.
Should you get attached? We wouldn’t. No word yet, but with only 3 million people tuning into the launch, it doesn’t look good.
—
CBS:
– “Limitless”
Starring: Jake McDorman, Jennifer Carpenter, Hill Harper
Gist: Based on the Bradley Cooper movie, a man discovers a pill that makes him … well, limitless.
Status: Picked up for a full season.
Should you get attached? It’s a safe move. Solid DVR ratings (12 million people), Cooper as a recurring guest star and producer – CBS is in.
– “Life in Pieces”
Starring: Colin Hanks, James Brolin, Dianne Wiest
Gist: A multi-generational family comedy with many awkward moments between parents and kids.
Status: Picked up for a full season.
Should you get attached? Yes, get comfortable. Padded with a “Big Bang Theory” lead-in, this comedy has opened fairly solid, although it will switch to a new Thursday night time slot this week.
– “Supergirl”
Starring: Melissa Benoist, Calista Flockhart, Mehcad Brooks
Gist: Clark Kent’s cousin decides to shed her “normal” persona and start using her superpowers.
Status: Premiered Oct. 26, so no word yet.
Should you get attached? Oh yes. The show is adored by critics, and it opened as the highest-rated new show of the season with 13 million viewers, so a pickup appears imminent.
– “Code Black”
Starring: Marcia Gay Harden, Raza Jaffrey, Bonnie Somerville
Gist: A medical drama set in a Los Angeles emergency room.
Status: No word yet, but the network ordered six more scripts.
Should you get attached? Maybe? Scripts are usually the step before a season pickup, but with middling ratings (about 6 million for the latest episode), the network isn’t rushing.
—
CW:
– “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”
Starring: Rachel Bloom, Vincent Rodriguez III, Santino Fontana
Gist: A stressed-out New York City lawyer abruptly quits her job and moves to West Covina, California, where her high school boyfriend happens to live.
Status: No word yet.
Should you get attached? Quite possibly, just be cautious. Critics love this quirky musical comedy, and CW is notoriously very patient with its low-rated shows … even those with less than a million viewers.