After The TV Bloodbath: What TV Shows Are Renewed, Cancelled, & Which Are MIA – May 2022 Edition
Welcome to “After The TV Bloodbath 2022”, our annual tradition of rounding up the renewed and cancelled tv series from the big five US networks before their annual “Upfronts” next week, where they present their new season of shows. Beyond few casualties throughout the last 12 months, the skirmishes really began in April, with a former pacifist network picking up the axe of cancellation to a couple of surprising series… Then we hit Thursday the 12th of May, and that same network went on one of the bloodiest rampages we’ve seen in years, joined by all the other US networks… presumably because they thought doing it on Friday the 13th was a little too “on the nose!” Here is how the battles played out…
The Cancellations
We begin my mourning our fallen, as we run through the various shows which failed to make it off the battlefield of the 2021-22 tv season. Overall, the violence was handed out pretty much as expected, although one network rose like the long-thought dead killer in a horror film, and went on a major killing spree…
We mean, of course, The CW… Once a “safe space” where shows could be guaranteed a renewal, or at the very least, a final goodbye season, but no longer… With the current owners looking to sell the underperforming service, the once “fluffiest” of US networks transformed like a Mogwai fed after midnight, turning on its former beloved Arrowverse, cancelling both ‘Batwoman‘ and ‘DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow‘. Neither show gets a final send-off and are left to bleed out on the battlefield… But little did we know, they weren’t done… oh no… not by a long shot…
In a night which ‘The Vampire Diaries’ Julie Plec described as The CW’s “Red Wedding”, they brutally murdered their way through freshman DC series ‘Naomi‘ after one season, the reboot of ‘Charmed‘ after four seasons, ‘Roswell, New Mexico‘ after four seasons, ‘4400‘ after one season, and ‘Dynasty‘ after five seasons. Drama ‘In the Dark‘ also failed to avoid the axe, getting canned after four seasons, and lastly, Plec’s own series, ‘Legacies‘ after four seasons, which brings ‘The Vampire Diaries’ universe to an end after thirteen years across three shows. That’s nine series in total, nearly half of all the dramas on the network, taking The CW from the “most passive” to “most bloodthirsty” network in one night.
NBC, on the other hand, seemed to have been taking lessons from Thanos for “bloodbath” night, and was “Perfectly balanced, as all things should be,” cancelling 3 shows, but also renewing 3 shows. Those not returning from the battlefield are the Ted Danson comedy ‘Mr. Mayor‘ from the team behind ’30 Rock’, drama ‘The Endgame‘ which starred Morena Baccarin, and sitcom ‘Kenan‘ starring Kenan Thompson. The UK came through relatively unscathed in this battle as only ‘Mr. Mayor’ airs over here. They had previously announced ‘Ordinary Joe‘ was cancelled after one season, and ‘New Amsterdam‘ would be ending with its upcoming 5th Season.
UK viewers also did reasonably well avoiding cancelled shows from CBS, although one series cancellation did cause the most uproar on both sides of the pond – ‘Magnum PI‘. The Hawai’i based drama had been seen as a very safe bet for renewal, so the news that it wouldn’t be returning sent shockwaves around the internet. The problem seems to be that Universal, who make the show, and CBS, who air and pay for it, couldn’t come to a deal on the licensing this year. That is always a danger when a show is made by an outside studio, but this really came as a nasty surprise. Other series cancelled at CBS included the medical drama ‘Good Sam‘ starring Sophia Bush and Jason Isaacs, alongside comedies ‘How We Roll’, ‘B Positive‘, and ‘United States of Al‘. ‘Magnum’ was the only newly cancelled CBS show to air in the UK. That joins ‘Bull‘, which had been previously announced as ending on its current 6th Season.
Over at ABC, it feels like the network has had something of a brain swap with The CW. Disney’s murder mouse has traditionally been rather bloodthirsty, but this year only brought down the cancellation axe on two shows – Musical drama ‘Queens‘, and Latino soap ‘Promised Land’. Both freshmen series were not doing well in the ratings, so those cancellations were expected.
FOX has been rather slower on their cancellations and renewals, with a few key dramas still in limbo. However, they have cancelled the comedy ‘Pivoting’ and the drama ‘Our Kind of People‘, both of which only lasted one season. They join the musical comedy-drama ‘The Big Leap‘, which was canned earlier in the year.
The Renewals
After the bloodshed, we move on to the happier news of the series that get the ticker-tape parade of renewal and ride back victorious.
Whilst The CW was the bloodiest of bloodbaths, they had already renewed ‘All American‘, ‘The Flash‘, ‘Superman & Lois‘, ‘Riverdale‘, ‘Walker‘, ‘Kung Fu‘, and ‘Nancy Drew‘ back in February. Those were joined this week by the spin-off series ‘All American: Homecoming’ which landed a second season.
NBC gave out three new renewals this week, with ‘Young Rock‘ returning for Season 3, alongside ‘American Auto‘ and ‘Grand Crew‘, both of which get a second season. The network had previously renewed all three ‘Chicago’ series, ‘The Blacklist‘ for Season 10, and the drama ‘La Brea‘ for Season 2. They were joined earlier in the week by ‘Law & Order‘ for Season 22, ‘Law & Order: SVU‘ for Season 24, and ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime‘ for Season 3.
Over at CBS, they handed out double season renewals to the entire ‘FBI’ franchise (‘FBI‘, ‘FBI: Most Wanted‘ and ‘FBI: International‘), along with a double season renewal for ‘The Equalizer’ taking it up to Season 4. All of the current ‘NCIS’ will be back with the main ‘NCIS‘ landing Season 20, ‘NCIS: Los Angeles‘ getting Season 14, and ‘NCIS: Hawai’i‘ returning for Season 2. There was also good news for many of the other procedurals on the network with ‘CSI: Vegas‘ getting a 2nd Season, ‘S.W.A.T.‘ landing a 6th Season, and ‘Blue Bloods‘ renewed for Season 13. On the comedy side, ‘The Neighborhood‘ landed Season 5, the US version of ‘Ghosts‘ got renewed for Season 2, and ‘Bob Hearts Abishola‘ picked up a 4th Season. ‘Young Sheldon‘ picked up a multi-season renewal last year taking it to Season 7.
Gunning to take over CW’s title as the “fluffy” network, it was renewals for nearly everything at ABC. ‘The Rookie‘ and ‘A Million Little Things‘ are renewed for 5th Seasons, ‘Big Sky‘ and ‘Home Economics’ land 3rd Seasons, freshman shows ‘The Wonder Years‘ and ‘Abbott Elementary’ both get 2nd Seasons, and ‘The Goldbergs‘ returns for Season 10. ‘The Good Doctor‘ is also back in for Season 6, alongside ‘Grey’s Anatomy‘ for Season 19 and ‘Station 19‘ for Season 6.
Over on FOX, we’re still awaiting news on some of their big dramas, however, on the animation side they renewed ‘Bob’s Burgers‘ (Season 13), ‘The Great North‘ (Season 3), and ‘The Simpsons‘ (previously renewed up Season 34), alongside ‘Family Guy‘ and ‘American Dad‘ (both previously renewed up to Season 21). In live-action, they handed a 2nd Season to drama ‘The Cleaning Lady‘.
UPDATE (16/05/22): FOX has now renewed ‘9-1-1: Lone Star‘, ‘Call Me Kat‘ and ‘Welcome to Flatch’ (a US remake of ‘This Country’).
Still Missing In Action
For most of the networks, there are not many shows left outstanding. FOX has the biggest selection at the time of writing, with ‘9-1-1‘ & ‘The Resident‘ still outstanding. Both ‘9-1-1’ shows are the highest-rated dramas on the network, so barring anything going drastically wrong in the negotiations with Disney (who produces both series) they will return. ‘The Resident’, also a Disney-made show, is in a slightly less favourable position, but hopefully will get another season. A number of their other shows (‘Housebroken’, ‘Krapopolis’, ‘Fantasy Island’, and ‘Duncanville’) either haven’t started airing or are early in their latest seasons, so its way too early to tell what their future holds.
NBC and ABC have renewed or cancelled everything. CBS technically still has ‘Blood & Treasure‘, which is still waiting to air Season 2, and ‘Clarice‘ on its books. ‘Clarice’ is pretty much “unofficially cancelled” at this point, and a 3rd Season for ‘Blood & Treasure’ seems very unlikely. Despite their murder spree, The CW does have two shows still cowering in a corner waiting to present their latest seasons before a decision is made. ‘Stargirl‘ which is back later this year for Season 3, and ‘Tom Swift’ which premieres at the end of May.
There will still be a lot more news about the various new shows (check the home page!) and some more renewals & cancellations over the next week as the US networks get all their ducks (or mice and peacocks) in a row. You can also check the premiere dates for these shows on our UK TV Air Dates page, and our USA TV Premiere Dates pages.
