US TV Bubble Watch 2023 – Which Shows May Get Cancelled Or Renewed?
It’s that time of year again when the main US tv networks begin sharpening their axes for the inevitable “TV Bloodbath” that comes before the “Upfronts” presentations at the beginning of May. So before we get to that, we thought it might be useful to take a look at the status of those shows right now and see which tv shows are “on the bubble” of being cancelled or renewed.
It’s been an… interesting… year for US network TV… With takeovers, mergers, and cutbacks across the board, companies are looking to save costs all around. Add to that a possible writers strike in the near future, and things are a bit of a mess. However, they do also need to have some content to air, leading to some tricky decisions when it comes to those shows which are very much in the 50/50 categories of whether they will be renewed or cancelled. Here is where things stand at the moment.
ABC
We begin with the house of the mouse, and ABC. They have already renewed two shows – the critically acclaimed ‘Abbott Elementary‘, which returns for Season 3, and the long-running medical drama ‘Grey’s Anatomy‘. They also have two shows on final seasons in ‘The Goldbergs‘ and ‘A Million Little Things‘, leaving quite a lot on the table to sift through.
Likely Renewed
In previous years, ‘Station 19‘ has been renewed alongside its parent show, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’. This year it wasn’t, but don’t worry, it is still likely to come. There are apparently some discussions going on behind the scenes over the number of episodes for the new season which is causing the holdup, but it is expected to return. The cast are also all still under contract for the next few seasons, meaning no complex cast negotiations… Unlike ‘The Conners‘…
‘Rosanne’ continuation series ‘The Conners’ is likely to come back, however, due to the way the show came into being (i.e. the network not being sure it would work without the original star) all the cast are on year-by-year renegotiable contracts. Talks are ongoing with the various stars, but it is expected to return.
Back to ABC’s procedural slate, ‘The Rookie‘ look safe and is pulling decent ratings. Spin-off ‘The Rookie: Feds‘ is also likely safe, despite not pulling in the numbers of its parent show. ‘The Good Doctor‘ is not the hit it once was, but remains a stable performer. They also have a possible spinoff, ‘The Good Lawyer‘, which aired this season as a backdoor pilot episode, as a potential pick-up to run alongside it, meaning it is likely safe for another season.
‘Will Trent‘ seems to be going well and is the best performer out of their new midseason shows, so is probably okay.
UPDATE 17/04/23 – ‘The Rookie‘ has been renewed for Season 6.
UPDATE 18/04/23 – ‘Will Trent‘ has been renewed for Season 2.
UPDATE 20/04/23 – ‘Station 19‘ has been renewed for Season 7.
“On The Bubble”
There are two other midseason shows – ‘The Company You Keep‘ starring Milo Ventimiglia (‘This Is Us’), and ‘Not Dead Yet‘ starring Gina Rodriguez (‘Jane The Virgin’). Neither show has quite found its footing yet, but they both only launched in February this year. They might be okay, but it’s a bit too early to say.
Comedy ‘Home Economics‘ is in its 3rd Season, and has performed… okay. Just maybe not as well as ABC hoped. Very much 50/50 as to which way they decide to go with this depending on whether they think one of the pilots they have in the wings would be a better (and cheaper) bet.
Be Concerned About…
‘Big Sky‘, which was a darling of the channel when it launched has taken quite a nosedive in the ratings. It was already expensive, and it is now 3 Seasons into its run, only pushing up the cost. One saving grace may be that creator David E. Kelley has agreed to be more “hands-on” if it does get a 4th Season, but it is on shaky ground.
‘Alaska Daily‘, which stars Hilary Swank, really has not set the world alight in the way ABC had hoped. Seems unlikely it will land a 2nd Season.
‘The Wonder Years‘ has been dumped into the Summer schedule, which is never a good sign for renewal. It’ll be back for Season 2 later this year, but might not make a 3rd Season.
CBS
CBS has been pretty generous already with their renewals, bringing back ‘CSI: Vegas‘, ‘Equalizer‘, ‘Ghosts (US)‘, ‘FBI‘, ‘FBI: International‘, ‘FBI: Most Wanted‘, ‘Fire Country‘, ‘NCIS‘, ‘NCIS: Hawaii‘, ‘So Help Me Todd‘, ‘The Neighborhood‘, and ‘Young Sheldon‘. They have also recently renewed ‘Blue Bloods‘, albeit with the cast and crew taking a pay cut to secure the new season on the ageing show. With ‘NCIS:LA‘ ending this season, that leaves only three shows, two of which sit…
“On The Bubble”
For people in the UK, the show you’ll be concerned about is ‘SWAT‘… The basic issue is not ratings, which have been extremely solid for CBS, but cost. The drama is six seasons in, meaning the price has increased in production and wages. It is a co-production between Sony Pictures TV and CBS Studios, with Sony as the lead studio. It’s down to a discussion between the two studios as to how big a piece of the pie they get to keep. If they can work that out in a way that is financially viable for CBS, it’ll return. If they can’t, it won’t, so it could go either way.
The next show lingering in no man’s land is ‘East New York‘, which doesn’t air (at the moment) in the UK. The series is produced by Warner Bros, but CBS parent company, Paramount, would like the rights to put it on Paramount+ globally as part of the renewal agreement. Warner Bros aren’t happy with that idea… So, again, depending on the outcome, could go either way.
UPDATE 05/05/23: ‘SWAT‘ has been cancelled after 6 Seasons.UPDATE 08/05/23: ‘SWAT‘ un-cancelled and renewed for 7th & final season!
UPDATE 08/05/23: ‘True Lies‘ cancelled after 1 Season.
UPDATE 08/05/23: ‘East New York‘ cancelled after 1 Season.
Be Concerned About…
The last series is ‘True Lies‘. The tv show, based on the popular Arnold Schwarzenegger/Jamie Lee Curtis movie, just has not found an audience and is sitting at the bottom of the ratings for scripted series on CBS. Seems very unlikely to get a second season… Or rather, it won’t be saying “I’ll be back” (sorry).
NBC
Currently, NBC has renewed 4 shows (well, sort of…) ‘Magnum, PI‘ was picked up for 2 Seasons of 10 episodes each when it moved from CBS, so will return. They have also renewed the ‘Quantum Leap‘ reboot for Season 2, and the revival of the sitcom ‘Night Court‘ for Season 2.
The fourth show is the wonderfully fun ‘La Brea‘, which returns for Season 3… However, it is only a six-episode order, due to them being concerned about ordering more because of the possible strike action by the writers and directors. The problem is, the cast contracts said they had to be paid for 10 episodes, regardless of how many were shot, so the producers asked the cast for a deal. If they only took payment for only 6 episodes, they would release them from their contracts to pursue other work. The actors took the deal, which means even if they do bring it back, it would likely have an entirely new cast. So it’s most likely that the 3rd Season will be the last.
In addition to the renewals, NBC had ‘New Amsterdam‘ and ‘The Blacklist‘ air (or are still airing) their final seasons this year. Here is the status of what’s left.
Likely Renewed
‘Chicago PD‘, ‘Chicago Fire‘, and ‘Chicago Med‘ are all up for renewal following their massive three-season renewal in 2020. All likely to return, and likely to be for multi-season renewals again.
Moving to the other big franchise, ‘Law & Order: SVU‘ is likely to get a multi-season renewal, whilst ‘Law & Order‘ and ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime‘ are likely to get one-season renewals. Either way, something would have to go very wrong for NBC to let any of their two biggest franchises drop.
UPDATE 11/04/23: All of the One Chicago series and Law & Orders are now renewed for new seasons.
The comedies are where things get tricky for NBC. The new comedy ‘Lopez vs. Lopez’ has probably has done enough to get a renewal. Plus, interestingly, NBC doesn’t often cancel comedies in their first season, regardless of the ratings, so is likely to be okay. The other three, however, are…
“On The Bubble”
Beginning with ‘Young Rock‘, which is three seasons in, it’s really hard to say which way it’ll go. Its numbers are not great, but not terrible, but you have Dwayne Johnson involved, which is a potential bonus for the network. Plus, if you decide to cancel it, you have to draw straws to see who is the unlucky exec who has to give Dwayne the news…
‘American Auto‘ and ‘Grand Crew‘ are both pretty much in the same boat. Both in second season, and neither performing particularly well. NBC do tend to be a little kinder in giving comedies time to find their feet, but its really hard to say at this point whether either have done enough to land a third season.
FOX
FOX has handed out a number of renewals already, which includes most of their animation slate who were already given multi-season renewals. ‘The Simpsons‘, ‘Family Guy‘ and ‘Bob’s Burgers‘ were all renewed in January for 2 more seasons each. New animated series ‘Krapopolis’ and ‘Grimsburg’ are also returning for new seasons, and ‘The Great North‘ is renewed up to Season 4.
On the live-action side, ‘The Cleaning Lady‘ is back for Season 3, and new shows ‘Accused‘ and ‘Alert: Missing Persons Unit‘ both recently were handed 2nd Seasons.
There is only one cancellation so far, which is ‘Monarch‘, the multi-generational country music drama which failed to find an audience. That leaves us with several big procedurals, some of which have fared better than others.
Likely Renewed
‘9-1-1‘ is FOX’s number one drama, so the network is likely keen to keep it on air. However, things aren’t all that straightforward… It’s six seasons in, and has a lot of visual effects (because LA tends not to like you blowing up and setting fire to their city in real life), making it expensive. It also isn’t owned by FOX, but Disney.
Side note – if you’re confused about that, yes, Disney bought FOX’s assets and production companies, but not the actual channel itself. That is still owned by the Murdoch family. So now, shows that they previously produced “in-house”, such as ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘9-1-1’ are owned by Disney but air on FOX.
Due to it now not being a FOX-owned show, means they have to negotiate a deal for it from Disney. On the plus side, the actors are still all under contract for one more season, meaning there aren’t any complex cast negotiations to add to the mix. Assuming they can get all the numbers to balance, it should return.
There are similar ownership issues with ‘9-1-1: Lone Star‘, however, its numbers are good, and it is only in Season 4, meaning it’s cheaper. Again, no cast contract problems, so should definitely be back.
UPDATE 01/05/23: ‘9-1-1’ moves from FOX to ABC for Season 7. ‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ renewed for Season 5 on FOX.
The ‘Fantasy Island‘ remake series also is not owned by FOX, but this time comes from Sony. Whilst it’s ratings are quite low, the series works on a lower-cost production model, so doesn’t need to bring in the same level of audience as some of the bigger dramas. It’s likely to come back, although might get moved to be a Summer show.
‘Animal Control’, which is a new sitcom starring Joel McHale is pulling in good numbers and is the first live-action comedy produced “in-house” by the new (post Disney buyout) FOX, meaning they fully own it. Certain to return.
“On The Bubble”
The Mayim Bialik fronted ‘Call Me Kat‘ does not have great ratings, and is three seasons in. It also lost one of its leading cast, with the wonderful Leslie Jordan recently passing away. It’s a bit of a toss-up.
‘Welcome to Flatch’, which is the US remake of British comedy ‘This Country’, also has terrible ratings, but was saved last year for season two, in part due to Lionsgate TV, who makes it, giving FOX a cheap deal. Whether that saves it again remains to be seen.
‘Housebroken‘ is an animated show, which the network likes, but it’s hard to say at this point if they will pick it up again. That leaves us with one show, which has a strong UK following…
UPDATE 05/05/23: ‘Call Me Kat‘ has been cancelled after 3 Seasons.
Be (Very) Concerned About…
‘The Resident‘. Whilst not officially renewed or cancelled yet, the sets have been taken down, and the props are being sold off… Soo… yeah… Couple that with the fact FOX has announced they have picked up a new medical drama today, I think it’s pretty safe to say the series will not be coming back.
UPDATE 07/04/23: The Resident Officially cancelled By FOX
The CW
What was once the home of superheroes and YA drama is now a very different beast. The network was sold off last year by Paramount and WB (who co-owned it) to Nexstar Media Group, and is now stacked with reality tv and golf… They were obligated, under the sale, to keep airing the WB/Paramount content until this year, however, whether they decide to continue that is anyone’s guess.
They have renewed ‘All American‘ for a new season, but that has been their only renewal so far. Shows we know are not returning are ‘Nancy Drew‘, ‘The Flash‘, and ‘Riverdale‘, all of which air final seasons, and ‘Stargirl‘ which was cancelled. Everything else is…
“On The Bubble”
So, that leaves ‘All American: Homecoming‘, ‘Gotham Knights‘, ‘Kung Fu‘, ‘Superman & Lois‘, ‘The Winchesters‘, ‘Walker‘, and ‘Walker Independence‘ in limbo at the moment.
‘All American’ is the highest-rated show in the 18-49 age demographic on the network, followed by ‘Superman & Lois’, ‘All American: Homecoming’ and ‘Walker’. However, it depends on what The CW wants to be moving forward. Does it still want superhero shows? Does it want to target a specific demographic? We know it wants to cut costs, so will it ditch a bunch of drama for more sport and reality tv? It’s really impossible to say right now.
UPDATE 10/05/23: ‘Walker‘ renewed for Season 4.
UPDATE 10/05/23: ‘Walker Independence‘ cancelled after 1 Season.
UPDATE 11/05/23: ‘Kung Fu‘ cancelled after 3 Seasons.
UPDATE 11/05/23: ‘The Winchesters‘ cancelled after 1 Season.
“Buy-In” Shows
There are a number of shows on The CW which are “buy-ins” from other sources, so The CW themselves can’t cancel them. ‘Family Law‘ and ‘Coroner‘ are shows from Canadian broadcasters, however, Serinda Swan left ‘Coroner’ after the last season, so it’s unclear if it will return with a new lead, or not at all. ‘Professionals‘ starring Tom Welling and Brendan Fraser was also a buy-in (from Viaplay), so could still return (although getting Fraser back post-Oscar win could be a challenge!) It’s possible The CW might not pick these shows up again, but they would still exist for audiences elsewhere in the world and could technically move to a new US network.
Conclusion
So that’s where we stand with the “Big 5” US networks at the moment. We will likely get some more renewals and cancellations over the rest of April, with the carnage that is the TV Bloodbath happening towards the end of the month, when mass cancellations come in over a few days. We then will see what new shows emerge to take up arms during the “Upfront” presentations which begin at the start of May.
In the meantime, if you want more information about what tv shows are returning soon, you can check our UK TV Premiere Dates page here, or our US TV Premiere Dates page here.
