The Renew or Cancel Index is updated on a weekly basis, if you’re reading this after December 16, 2008 click here to see the latest list.
With the news that NBC will give 5 hours of weekday primetime to Jay Leno coupled with the fact they air 4 hours of NFL Football on Sundays and 3 hours of reruns on Saturday, they’ll only have 10 hours of airtime to program with other shows next fall. That will make the Renew / Cancel decisions for 2009-10 quite unique and now you can play along!
NBC has 11 hours of surviving shows from Fall 2008 (minus ER which is in its final season). Let’s assume they want to try 2 hours of new shows (wild guess, I know, our mileage may vary). That means as an NBC programmer you’ve got to cut 3 hours of their existing shows. Have at it!
Program NBC Primetime, Which 3 Hours of Shows Do You Cut?
- Kath & Kim (0.5 hours) (52%, 5,671 Votes)
- Knight Rider (1 hour) (47%, 5,151 Votes)
- Biggest Loser (2 hours) (43%, 4,711 Votes)
- Life (1 hour) (35%, 3,806 Votes)
- My Name is Earl (0.5 hours) (34%, 3,742 Votes)
- Deal or No Deal (1 hour) (33%, 3,636 Votes)
- Law & Order (1 hour) (15%, 1,672 Votes)
- Law & Order: SVU (1 hour) (13%, 1,399 Votes)
- Heroes (1 hour) (12%, 1,350 Votes)
- 30 Rock (0.5 hours) (12%, 1,292 Votes)
- Chuck (1 hour) (12%, 1,289 Votes)
- Office (0.5 hours) (-208%, 633 Votes)
Total Voters: 10,882
Loading ...Note: You can choose up to five shows, but you’ll have to make them add up to 3 hours yourself.
As I wrote earlier, I’m going to begin taking into account the 18-49 ratings trends for the shows near last season’s Renew / Cancel line of 0.92 in projecting their fate at the end of this season. For example, while Cold Case and Without a Trace have Indexes below 0.92, their trends are positive and I think, on that basis, renewal is likely for both. If you see shows now indicating green that have Indexes below 0.92, it’s because their 18-49 trend has been positive. And even though Privileged currently seems to be “safe” the fact that it’s being taken out of the schedule in March with no word on its future puts it in doubt.
While the Renew / Cancel index is most geared toward predicting potential renewal for *next* season, my color coding of the shows are guesses on what might happen this season: Cancelled/Not Returning, Not Likely To Be Renewed, or Renewal Likely for 2009-10.
| PROGRAM | Net | STD 18-49 (LIVE+SD) (000) | Network Avg. STD 18-49 | Renew/ Cancel index | Status |
| EASY MONEY (1) | CW | 288 | 1,260 | 0.23 | cancelled |
| VALENTINE (1) | CW | 345 | 1,260 | 0.27 | cancelled |
| CRUSOE | NBC | 1,428 | 3,620 | 0.39 | now Sat |
| DO NOT DISTURB | FOX | 2,097 | 3,740 | 0.56 | cancelled |
| LIPSTICK JUNGLE (2) | NBC | 2,051 | 3,620 | 0.57 | cancelled |
| PUSHING DAISIES | ABC | 2,419 | 4,040 | 0.60 | cancelled |
| THE EX-LIST (2) | CBS | 2,443 | 4,020 | 0.61 | cancelled |
| ELI STONE | ABC | 2,462 | 4,040 | 0.61 | cancelled |
| TIL DEATH | FOX | 2,364 | 3,740 | 0.63 | cancelled |
| DIRTY SEXY MONEY | ABC | 2,610 | 4,040 | 0.65 | cancelled |
| BOSTON LEGAL | ABC | 2,805 | 4,040 | 0.69 | finished |
| THE NEW ADVS OF OLD CHRISTINE (3) | CBS | 2,838 | 4,020 | 0.71 | |
| EVERYBODY HATES CHRIS (2) | CW | 890 | 1,260 | 0.71 | |
| LIFE – WED (4) | NBC | 2,627 | 3,620 | 0.73 | |
| TERMINATOR: SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES | FOX | 2,765 | 3,740 | 0.74 | |
| KNIGHT RIDER | NBC | 2,696 | 3,620 | 0.74 | |
| NUMB3RS (2) | CBS | 3,012 | 4,020 | 0.75 | |
| GARY UNMARRIED | CBS | 3,060 | 4,020 | 0.76 | |
| MY OWN WORST ENEMY | NBC | 2,780 | 3,620 | 0.77 | cancelled |
| THE GAME (2) | CW | 987 | 1,260 | 0.78 | |
| PRISON BREAK | FOX | 3,050 | 3,740 | 0.82 | |
| LAW AND ORDER | NBC | 2,982 | 3,620 | 0.82 | |
| THE UNIT | CBS | 3,352 | 4,020 | 0.83 | |
| GHOST WHISPERER (2) | CBS | 3,449 | 4,020 | 0.86 | |
| WITHOUT A TRACE | CBS | 3,532 | 4,020 | 0.88 | |
| UGLY BETTY | ABC | 3,563 | 4,040 | 0.88 | |
| KATH & KIM | NBC | 3,203 | 3,620 | 0.88 | |
| SAMANTHA WHO? | ABC | 3,583 | 4,040 | 0.89 | |
| PRIVATE PRACTICE | ABC | 3,610 | 4,040 | 0.89 | |
| LIFE ON MARS | ABC | 3,626 | 4,040 | 0.90 | |
| PRIVILEGED | CW | 1,138 | 1,260 | 0.90 | |
| COLD CASE | CBS | 3,648 | 4,020 | 0.91 | |
| Shows below this line were typically renewed last season | |||||
| CHUCK | NBC | 3,333 | 3,620 | 0.92 | |
| MY NAME IS EARL | NBC | 3,510 | 3,620 | 0.97 | |
| ELEVENTH HOUR | CBS | 3,961 | 4,020 | 0.99 | |
| WORST WEEK | CBS | 3,973 | 4,020 | 0.99 | |
| AMERICAN DAD | FOX | 4,118 | 3,740 | 1.10 | |
| BONES | FOX | 4,200 | 3,740 | 1.12 | |
| THE BIG BANG THEORY | CBS | 4,612 | 4,020 | 1.15 | |
| CSI: NY | CBS | 4,804 | 4,020 | 1.20 | |
| THE MENTALIST | CBS | 4,808 | 4,020 | 1.20 | |
| KING OF THE HILL | FOX | 4,475 | 3,740 | 1.20 | not renewed |
| NCIS | CBS | 4,819 | 4,020 | 1.20 | |
| BROTHERS & SISTERS | ABC | 4,851 | 4,040 | 1.20 | |
| E.R. | NBC | 4,547 | 3,620 | 1.26 | final season |
| HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER | CBS | 5,097 | 4,020 | 1.27 | |
| CSI: MIAMI | CBS | 5,149 | 4,020 | 1.28 | |
| CRIMINAL MINDS | CBS | 5,199 | 4,020 | 1.29 | |
| LAW AND ORDER:SVU | NBC | 4,774 | 3,620 | 1.32 | |
| FRINGE | FOX | 4,975 | 3,740 | 1.33 | |
| 30 ROCK | NBC | 4,908 | 3,620 | 1.36 | |
| SUPERNATURAL | CW | 1,768 | 1,260 | 1.40 | |
| FAMILY GUY | FOX | 5,487 | 3,740 | 1.47 | |
| SIMPSONS | FOX | 5,537 | 3,740 | 1.48 | |
| HEROES | NBC | 5,427 | 3,620 | 1.50 | |
| TWO AND A HALF MEN | CBS | 6,422 | 4,020 | 1.60 | |
| 90210 | CW | 2,025 | 1,260 | 1.61 | |
| GOSSIP GIRL | CW | 2,057 | 1,260 | 1.63 | |
| OFFICE | NBC | 5,941 | 3,620 | 1.64 | |
| SMALLVILLE | CW | 2,128 | 1,260 | 1.69 | |
| ONE TREE HILL | CW | 2,136 | 1,260 | 1.70 | |
| CSI | CBS | 7,032 | 4,020 | 1.75 | |
| HOUSE | FOX | 6,780 | 3,740 | 1.81 | |
| DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES | ABC | 7,912 | 4,040 | 1.96 | |
| GREY’S ANATOMY | ABC | 8,099 | 4,040 | 2.00 | |
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The Renew/Cancel Index is a show’s Season To Date adults 18-49 viewership divided by its networks Season to Date average 18-49 viewership.
(1) CW MRC Sunday – The CW leased its entire Sunday night to Media Rights Capital (MRC). 11/20 Update: That experiment is now at an end, the MRC shows will air for the final time on 11/23/08 and the CW will begin airing repeats and movies starting on 11/30/08.
(2) Friday night – Friday is quickly becoming an 18-49 wasteland, so these shows may be allowed a lower threshold for success than shows on other nights.
(3) New Adventures of Old Christine: Perhaps CBS is willing to accept low numbers in its new timeslot indefinitely to build a new “comedy block”. Perhaps CBS will return Christine to the warmth and safety of Monday night and cut Worst Week or Gary Unmarried loose. And perhaps not.
(4) Life moved to Wednesday beginning November 5. This is its Wednesday only STD 18-49 average as calculated by me. For past reference, the 4 Life episodes that aired on Fridays averaged 2.043 million adults 18-49.
How did we come up with our Index? We found that last season, the future of a show was nearly directly related to its adults 18-49 average viewers divided by its networks 18-49 average viewers. Many other factors may matter, but they all seemed to boil down to that one number. Because American Idol so skewed Fox’s 18-49 average, and would make nearly all Fox shows fall into the “cancel” range, for Fox, I used the last STD 18-49 average *before* Idol. Last season, if a show had better than 92% of its network’s average 18-49 viewership (0.92 in our index) it was pretty safe, below that level it was in danger.
Remember that plenty can change before the end of the season, particularly for the shows with indexes between 0.80 and last season’s renewal line of 0.92. The list is presented in a (and has to be, since I cannot predict future ratings) “what would happen if the season ended today” mode. Could the renewal line be 0.86 this season? Possibly. It might also be 0.95. Might it be 0.70? No chance.
And for folks thinking “No way would the networks cancel all of those shows”, there were 25 scripted shows cancelled in the 2007-8 season. That is, shows that ran during 2007-8 that did not come back for 2008-9. These same networks cancelled at least 30 scripted shows that aired during 2006-7, although that’s just from a quick look at that season to date list that could suffer from a number of possible errors on my part, but the magnitude of shows cancelled was similar.
—————————————————————-
For unscripted shows, the results from last season were far less cut and dried. A similar relationship did seem to hold between 18-49 averages, but some unscripted shows survived with very low numbers. My conclusion was that some unscripted shows must be so cheap that they are expected to do little more than fill air time and produce little in the way of viewership. However the closer a show is to the top of the list the more danger it’s in of being cancelled or not returning when it’s run is completed. Other shows can be judged by their relative position on our list ranked from most likely to be cancelled to least likely to be cancelled.
| PROGRAM | Net | STD 18-49 (LIVE+SD) (000) | Network Avg. STD 18-49 | Renew/ Cancel index | Status |
| IN HARM’S WAY | CW | 355 | 1,260 | 0.28 | cancelled |
| AMERICA’S TOUGHEST JOBS | NBC | 1,453 | 3,620 | 0.40 | |
| DATELINE FRI | NBC | 1,493 | 3,620 | 0.41 | |
| DEAL OR NO DEAL-FRI | NBC | 1,700 | 3,620 | 0.47 | |
| WIFE SWAP | ABC | 1,932 | 4,040 | 0.48 | |
| SMARTER THAN 5TH GRADER | FOX | 1,804 | 3,740 | 0.48 | |
| SAT NIGHT FTBL PRE-GAME | ABC | 2,029 | 4,040 | 0.50 | |
| SUPERNANNY | ABC | 2,163 | 4,040 | 0.54 | |
| DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS | FOX | 2,008 | 3,740 | 0.54 | |
| OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS | ABC | 2,175 | 4,040 | 0.54 | cancelled |
| 48 HOURS MYSTERY | CBS | 2,171 | 4,020 | 0.54 | |
| HOLE IN WALL THU-8P | FOX | 2,184 | 3,740 | 0.58 | |
| COPS | FOX | 2,193 | 3,740 | 0.59 | |
| 20/20-FRI | ABC | 2,609 | 4,040 | 0.65 | |
| AMW: AMERICA FIGHTS BACK | FOX | 2,448 | 3,740 | 0.65 | |
| FOOTBALL NT AMERICA PT 2 | NBC | 2,441 | 3,620 | 0.67 | |
| COPS 2 | FOX | 2,564 | 3,740 | 0.69 | |
| DEAL OR NO DEAL-WED | NBC | 2,607 | 3,620 | 0.72 | |
| AMER FUNN HOME VIDEOS | ABC | 2,920 | 4,040 | 0.72 | |
| KITCHEN NIGHTMARES | FOX | 2,854 | 3,740 | 0.76 | |
| STYLISTA | CW | 1,049 | 1,260 | 0.83 | |
| SAT NIGHT FOOTBALL | ABC | 3,572 | 4,040 | 0.88 | |
| AMAZING RACE 13 | CBS | 4,179 | 4,020 | 1.04 | |
| 60 MINUTES | CBS | 4,383 | 4,020 | 1.09 | |
| BIGGEST LOSER 6 | NBC | 4,119 | 3,620 | 1.14 | |
| FOOTBALL NT AMERICA PT 3 | NBC | 4,273 | 3,620 | 1.18 | |
| EXTREME MAKEOVER:HM ED-8P | ABC | 4,855 | 4,040 | 1.20 | |
| DANCING W/STARS RESULTS | ABC | 5,366 | 4,040 | 1.33 | |
| SURVIVOR: GABON | CBS | 5,563 | 4,020 | 1.38 | |
| DANCING WITH THE STARS | ABC | 5,788 | 4,040 | 1.43 | |
| SUNDAY NIGHT NFL PRE-KICK | NBC | 5,520 | 3,620 | 1.52 | |
| THE OT | FOX | 6,306 | 3,740 | 1.69 | |
| AMERICA’S TOP MODEL | CW | 2,564 | 1,260 | 2.03 | |
| NBC SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL | NBC | 8,359 | 3,620 | 2.31 |
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Nielsen TV Ratings Data: ©2008 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved. All viewership numbers are Live+SD.
Cut Biggest Loser and Apprentice to an hour, get rid of Knight Rider, take out Dateline on Fridays, and move a couple of shows to Sundays after football and you’re done. Chuck and Heroes keep Mondays, Biggest Loser and SVU keep Tuesdays, Life and Law And Order keep Wednesdays (possibly cut Life for a new show if the ratings don’t pick up), the comedies keep Thursdays (cut Kath & Kim for something new), Fridays are open for Deal or no Deal and another reality show, and Sundays are open for Medium, The Apprentice, and two other new shows for after football.
If i am going to be objective about fall 2009:
Monday
8 Chuck
9 Heroes
Tuesday
Biggest Loser
Wedensday
8 The Philantropist
9 L&O: SVU
Thursday
4 comedies which includes My Name is Earl 30 Rock and The Office
Friday
8 Deal or No Deal
9 Merlin
Sunday
Sunday Night Football
I really doubt that Chuck will survive this. Deal or No Deal might move to Summer programing as well, but I don’t see that show going anytime soon. NBC is just trying to give the scripted programing a fighting chance and DoND got the short end of the stick because of this. Heroes could move into the 7/8 hour but with House (should it stay on Mondays this fall) and DWTS that might not work either.
Heroes is between a rock and a hard place. Its too bad cause I never caried for Mr. “Joy to the World I’m Getting Laid.” Yet its the most popular sitcom right now.
This whole idea of NBC’s is going to fail. That being said, if NBC is looking to cut costs, then IMO it is safe to say that the reality and game shows will end up staying. I hate those shows with a passion, but they are the cheapest thing to produce on TV.
I don’t care what NBC does with their programming as long as Chuck stays. It is the only NBC show that I watch.
ABC is already doing away with the only show that I watch on that network, Pushing Daisies.
America’a Top Model…in the “TOP 2″ … that show should go just because of it’s combined IQ …
I voted for Life (which I really like), Knight Rider, Kath & Kim, and My Name Is Earl.
Life just isn’t catching on with viewers, Knight Rider is Knight Rider, and K&K and MNIE have been creatively disappointing as well as ratings challenged.
The reality shows probably won’t get cancelled. So Life, Knight Rider and Chuck are probably goners by next fall. That sucks.
I abstain because I refuse to vote off the cable-quality “Life”, which really should be getting a boatload of Golden Globes.
I would bet that DoND won’t be on the fall schedule. They’ll use it as filler, but with the superior daily version around, the nighttime version’s ratings have (deservedly) plummeted.
This is what I can imagine NBC doing for their schedule:
Mon: Deal or No Deal, Heroes, Jay Leno
Tues: Biggest Loser, Jay Leno, Law & Order SVU.
Wed: Biggest Loser, New Drama, Jay Leno
Thurs: My Name Is Earl, The Office, 30 Rock, New Comedy/Dateline NBC Special 30 Minute Thursday Edition, Jay Leno
Fri: Dateline NBC Friday Special 2 Hour Edition, Jay Leno
Sat: Biggest Loser repeat, Jay Leno High-lights, Dateline NBC Saturday Edition
Sun: Football
M-Office/30 Rock/Kings
T-Chuck/Heroes
W-Law & Order SVU/Law & Order
Th-Biggest Loser
F-The Philanthropist/Deal or no Deal
they probably won’t change this much, but its a guess
it’ll also be difficult with shows like L&O that sometimes have to be after 10 due to content…
Sam, I don’t think Deal Or No Deal leading into Heroes would make sense at all. Something tells me Heroes wouldn’t retain much of what Deal brings in, seeing as how they’re completely different shows.
Worst case scenario, Chuck will air on Sundays after the NFL season is over. Hopefully, the Super-Bowl-fueled 3D episode will beef up its ratings.
Knight Rider, Life, Kath & Kim will be canned. My Name is Earl is a wild-card. NBC may keep if they can find another comedy to pair it up with…..Amy Phoeler project/Office spin-off. If they don’t, I can really see Chuck airing on Thursday right before the Office.
Jesse, I agree with you to some extent. However, none of these shows are going to be great lead ins to Leno. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be shocked if Sam’s schedule or something similar to it was put into place, given that game shows and reality shows are so cheap to produce. They don’t have to have huge ratings in order for NBC to make a profit off of them.
Milf Island. First, a disclaimer: I LOVE CHUCK! It may be my favorite “fun” show at this point. It’s just plain fun. That said, worst case means WORST case! The worst-case scenario is “no Chuck at all”.
Though like you I do hope the Super Bowl promotion for the 3D episode will beef it up and that some of the new viewers will stick around.
Kath and Kim is gone. So its the Amy Poelher show/MNIE. Chuck, Knight Rider and Life canned and replaced by Kings, Philanthropist and Merlin(?). Is Merlin a mini series or a full blown tv show?
Bill or Robert
Just curious. Are the numbers used to calculate your index based on the broadcast finals for each show?
Joseph R, yes, I use the season to date Live+SD averages for all the shows. They are by definition “final”.
The networks excs are all a bunch of dummies. They are cancelling shows because viewership is down. Did the networks forget about how THEY prolonged the writers strike last spring? That is why TV viewership is down. It’s a wonder anyone came back to watch TV after that disaster. Appartently the TV viwers spoke!!
Mon:
8 – New Drama
9 – Heroes
Tues:
8-10 – Biggest Loser
Wed:
8 – New Drama
9 – Law & Order: SVU
Thurs:
8 – MNIE/New Comedy
8:30 – New Comedy
9 – The Office
9:30 – 30 Rock
Fri:
8 – Deal or No Deal
9 – Dateline/Reality Show
Sat:
8-11 – Reruns
Sun:
Fall 2009 – SNF
Winter 2010 – 4 hours free (Chuck, Medium, Apprentice, Law & Order, Dateline)
Canceled: Knight Rider, Life, Kath & Kim, MNIE (maybe), and one show listed in the Sunday 2010 slot
I’m really hoping Chuck gets renewed for a 3rd season – Chuck/Sarah relationship is just so ADORABLE.
To Bill or Robert:
If Chuck does not get renewed, is there any chance CW picks it up? Chuck is produced by Warner Bros. Television and Warner Bros. owns half of the CW network. In addition, CW already has Josh Schwartz’s other show: Gossip Girl.
I highly doubt that NBC will cancel Chuck or Heroes due to the fact that these are almost the only shows that I hear about and that Chuck is getting the 3D push, why bother if they want it canned. My votes where for Knight Rider, Law and Order, and Life due to the ratings index and that they will not want to part with the cheap reality shows. Also, I believe Kath and Kim are cooked.
Fulcrum, If Dawn Ostroff’s still calling the shots Chuck has *zero* chance of going to the CW. While it’s gender demo split was a lot closer than I expected, it’s not even close to “CW land” under Dawn.
From the week of 10/19-26, which I happened to have already visible responding to another comment:
Chuck: 760,000 Men 18-34 (#28 in that demo), 640,000 Women 18-34 (#47 in that demo).
Gossip Girl: 420,000 Men 18-34 (#60 in that demo), 1.19 million Women 18-34 (#21 in that demo).
If Dawn’s gone, I guess there may be a tiny chance, but it’s always a crazy long shot when that happens.
Everything except for “Lipstick Jungle.” They can’t get rid of that. If you include DVR viewing, it’s like the number one show on TV or something.
But seriously, you can kiss “Medium” goodbye. (Maybe CBS will pick it up, since it is their show. Although they’d have to retool it to make as bland and uninteresting as the rest of their lineup.) Then “Life.” Next “Kings” (who greenlit that?) And “Friday Night Lights.” Oh, and of course “Knight Rider,” which is already pretty much cancelled.
As for the comedies, if NBC is looking to own all of them, it certainly doesn’t bode well for the continuing existence of “My Name Is Earl,” which has lost audience with every season. It smells to me like they’re gearing up to have the Amy Poehler project take its place.
Fulcrum, Bill is correct about Chuck having ZERO chance at the CW if Dawn is calling the shots (unless perhaps if Smallville doesn’t come back next year and they can’t find ANYTHING else for Thursday), but we see gender data every week, though it’s not “ranked”. Last week, Gossip Girl outperformed Chuck by 71+% among women 18-34 (3.6 rating vs. 2.1 in the W18-34 demo).
Thanks for the reply, Bill Gorman, even though that’s not the news I wanted to hear.
I don’t Medium is going to get canceled. These are the ratings in millions for the first 4 seasons of Medium (13.9, 11.2, 8.5, 10.4). These type of numbers for NBC is good enough even though I don’t really know what the demos are.
KR and Life are canned for sure. The third show is probably L&O or Chuck.
If Chuck could regain it numbers from season one with the aid of the Super-Bowl-fueled 3D episode (7-8 million, 3.0 in 18-49 demo) Chuck has a chance of seeing a season 3 (probably on Sundays).
Bill, knowing Josh and Dawn’s relationship if CHUCK was canned by NBC it would land on the CW. Dawn loves Josh and if Josh asked she’d deliver especially if she gets her GOSSIP GIRL spin off. She’d want to keep Josh happy. Plus it could take the place of REAPER which she doesn’t really want around. A CHUCK/SUPER NATURAL Thursday wouldn’t hurt her too badly.
As you mentioned the show does decently with her demo. It might do better on the CW anyway.
Fulcrum, you’re striking me more “Lester” than Fulcrum agent! I think it more likely that BOTH L&O and Life don’t make the cut, but if they have to pick one I don’t think it’s a gimme that L&O survives.
Also KR is already pretty much toast.
Nick C. I used to value what you said, but now…you’re just the guy who had Sam Zell giving a rat’s ass about what aired at 7pm on Sundays on the CW while the Tribune company files for bankruptcy.
You have a definite ax to grind with the CW, you won’t disclose what it is, you ranted about Jericho revival and despite your knowledge of the industry, when it comes to prognosticating re: the CW, you don’t have much credibility.
[edit] based on Chuck alone, I am sure Josh is a pretty great guy and I don’t doubt Dawn (and everyone else he does business with) likes him. But I see Sunday going back to the affiliates next year and if Dawn sticks around, I think she’d like one more shot at Mon-Wed exclusively for W18-34. That leaves Thursday and Friday. I’d personally be fine w/either, but there’s the issue of Chuck doing in the 3mm range on the CW and whether everyone involved would be willing to take the commenserate paycuts. Even though it’s a WB show, it seems a better fit for USA where it would get better ratings (high three millions to low four millions) than it would on the CW.
So Robert’s 3 hrs of shows to cut are Knight Rider, Life, and Law & Order. How about yours, Bill?
The better question is what will nBC keep? They have nothing but garbage anyways.
@ Robert Seidman
i ve been coming on this site for several months n i ve never seen u call any out before. LMFAO
anyone*
Alec, you haven’t been reading too closely, then.
Fulcrum, you thought wrong. A CBS Paramount show over an NBC Universal one? Yeah, no.
Dick Wolf has worked hard to cut costs on the original “Law & Order.” Glenn Gordon Caron hasn’t — and “Medium” costs big bucks. They may both go, but there’s NO way “Medium” stays over it. (Not really sure why that show isn’t one of the options here when it’s a lot more on the bubble now than something from Ben Silverman’s old production company. You know, that old production company he sold to one of his friends and clearly still sees profits from.)
And if “Law & Order” has more performances like it did last Wednesday, I’m not going to predict that it goes. A milestone 20th season of the show is a good selling point for a franchise that rakes in a lot of moolah off-network.
They better not cancel chuck for big chin.I use to like leno but this idea makes as much sense as keeping terminator around for hopes of t4 is going to bring in viewers.What could the chuck fan base do to keep there show aorund Bill or Robert? Just wondering your opinion
Is there any chance that NBC moves life to the USA network I think it would fit in well on that network and could be placed with Psych or Burn Notice
Okay, I see. It’s Fall 2008 we’re doing. Well, we don’t have to cut 3 hours of shows from Fall 2008, because trust me, NBC’s going to be cutting a lot more hours from the midseason roster.
Yikes, Life is #4?
If you haven’t watched Life, you really need to check it out. It’s miles above most of those other shows.
Frank, the voting is not based on quality, but based on ratings. At least that’s how I voted and I assume most did the same.
I admit, I voted on the “die with dignity” concept for Heroes. In reality, the show still holds decent demos and it looks pretty safe in current circumstances. But IMHO, Heroes has fallen fast, and the people in charge have insulted the audience by essentially saying we just don’t “get it.”
Now that I’m thinking about it, Heroes may not have much dignity left anyway
. Here’s hoping they can turn it around somehow! In the meantime, I’ll pretend I changed my vote to Life.
Although I don’t care for Biggest Loser at all, it’s one of those NBC shows that gets some tiny bit of Nielsen consistency. I’d bet it stays based on cost and ratings combined.
The 3 hours I’d get rid of from Fall 2008?
Knight Rider
Kath & Kim
My Name is Earl
Life
While Deal or No Deal’s Friday numbers are much worse, my guess is that the show is so cheap as to make those numbers tolerable.
this blows NBC is my favorite network they push the envelope and do different things beside dramas yes you (CBS FOX) i agree knight rider was a bad idea but i think kath and kim could of really worked or still work its good give it a chance and i use to LOVE heroes but its lost its charm somehow i will continue in season 4 but come on give some NBC shows a chance dont turn away because the ratings are bad who cares just watch the shows you want to watch and enjoy them GO CHRISTINE!!! PLEASE RENEW CBS
Julia, I hope you vote that same someday when you run a network, but it appears that many (most?) did not vote that way or The Biggest Loser would not be cut before Life!
@Alec, I call people out more frequently than I should. Just today I told someone (in the overnight post) to take a “timeout” from commenting on the blog. I actually value Nick’s contributions very much, but I have a character flaw where if you have the words “if” “Jericho” and “comeback” within the same paragraph the rest starts sounding like “waaaah waaaah waaah waaaah waaah wah” and it sets off an alarm. It’s my flaw because you could cure cancer *and* win the Nobel prize but if you used “Moonlight” and “revival” within 50 words of each other, I’d still discount your thinking!
Bill Gorman, fanboy! On this very page, Kath & Kim and My Name is Earl are both AHEAD of Law & Order. Fascinating.
But I understand, if you had a nineteen year old family pet you wouldn’t put it down just because it was incontinent and didn’t play fetch anymore.
Of course the real question is, will NBC *only* cut three hours? If the over/under is “3″, I’ll take the over.
“SaveLawandOrder.com” is probably available…
I don’t really think they’ll get rid of DoND, even though they should, because it’s got to be cheaper to produce than an hour of scripted drama.
Suggestions:
Move Chuck and Heroes to the Sci-Fi network. Move Life to, what, Bravo maybe, or leave it on but somewhere it has a real chance of being seen. Use The Biggest Loser to fill Saturday night where it may even actually do some good. Follow that with the first run of SVU, which really can’t air at nine on broadcast, or else Dateline.
Get rid of Kath & Kim, and probably Earl, unless they can find the mojo they lost the season they abandoned the list. If they keep Earl, they can fill the last half hour slot on Thursdays with SNL clip shows. It worked well recently.
This leaves Monday, Tuesday, half of Wednesday, and half of Thursday open to new shows.
NBC does all the news things very well. It has a major cable presence. Why not bring some of those shows over to the broadcast world? They’ve already got the material, and it would be new to the broadcast viewers.
I voted to cut Life, Deal or No Deal (it may be cheap, but there are shows just as cheap that might have a chance of seeing some halfway decent numbers) and Knight Rider. If it were really up to me, L&O and MNIE would be gone as well, and probably Kath & Kim, though it has an incrementally better chance of sticking around than MNIE on my NBC, simply because there’s a chance to breathe life into it. Heroes fate is still in the balance depending on its performance this spring. Chuck only gets to stick around if the midseason shows tank.
Pick up: 1 new hour of comedy, or 1.5 if both MNIE and Kath & Kim are canned (0.5 of this will probably be the Office non-spin off.)
3 new hours of drama, 4 if Heroes goes.
4 new hours of unscripted
This will give them a full schedule with a few hours on the back burner for when things fail.
Guilty as charged!
I cannot turn my back on the franchise. Although this season’s SVU is testing my patience with its repeated visits to Elliot Stabler’s screwed up life.
It’s sad, really. NBC does have a couple good shows that no one watches. To see them cost-cutting by getting rid of shows is disheartening.
IMO, the key to which shows will stay or go will depend on: 1) the pilot season, which starts soon, I think? and 2) viewership across the board starting in February. Honestly, I think they only have a few scripted shows that are really safe.
I bet Zucker and Silverman are keeping their beady little eyes on every show’s numbers to figure out which one to send to the grave. Those little…..
Any shot at Kath and Kim staying? The Office and 30 Rock started with poor ratings……….
I bet Zucker and Silverman are keeping their beady little eyes on every show’s numbers to figure out which one to send to the grave. Those little…..
You mean they are doing their job? Just like every other network exec? The bastards.
Julia,
I think what he meant was that Zucker and Silverman are going to keep an even closer look on shows to see which one can go to make room for Leno. So it’s not ‘just like every other network’ exactly.
Because let’s face it, probably no other network is going to do more reshuffling and retooling than NBC. I am afraid what NBC’s fall 2009 lineup will look like.
Here’s hoping they save Chuck.
2 more episodes of Heroes and if it doesn’t get any better than the atrocity of the last 2 episodes, that’s it for me. They can’t cancel My Name Is Earl, he still has heaps of list items to do…..I guess a quick montage would take care of that.
When did Til Death get cancelled, i tough itwas just on halts?
The scary thing is not if this idea (moving Jay to 10pm) fails and leaves NBC with a gaping hole at 10. The scary idea is if this succeeds and ABC and CBS decide to do something similar and OTA scripted programming goes the way of vaudeville.
They can’t cancel My Name Is Earl, he still has heaps of list items to do…..
A-ha, the secret to staying on the schedule has been determined. I’m off to pitch a reality show where I have a list of 10,000 Hollywood starlets I *must* sleep with.
You’re givinig L&O a harder time than it deserve.
NBC original plan was to put it on sundays 10/9 starting January, against The Unit and Brothers and Sisters, where it could get 10 million with 3.0 18-49. They could still do it in 2010.
You’re also ignoring the fact that NBC would want to keep shows who have a chanse to increase or at least keep their viewers. Heroes is losing viewers, not gaining them. And if it’ll drop below 3.0 demo all the cuts in the world won’t help them.
And if it’ll drop below 3.0 demo all the cuts in the world won’t help them.
Definitely. I don’t think you’ll find anyone arguing against that. But L&O is a very old show which doesn’t really have a chance to increase its viewers to its former glory. It’s time to put it out of its misery.
I was just wondering why everyone seems to have forgotten NBC also has Friday Night Lights? Are we starting with the assumption that it wont survive the new upcoming season? Why isnt anyone considering that in the schedules they are drawing up? I think its one of the best shows on TV and it would be really sad if it gone canned.
RJ, there has been no official cancellation announcement for ‘Til Death, and I would wager there never will be. The reality is that it’s cancelled.
I think that Chuck will be getting cancelled seeing as it is NBC’s only scripted show that is slowly improving in the ratings. Heroes could be having its last renewal seeing as the ratings are fading fast and its charm has gone away
[EDIT] Chuck won’t be getting cancelled
There’s no way NBC will cancel only three hours and have no new shows next fall aside from Leno. Biggest Loser will probably drop to only one hour. They’ll keep the Thursday comedy block, though not all of the current comedies. Both MNIE and K&K are in danger. I think they’ll hold Medium and maybe L&O until mid-season to fill in holes made by failing shows. Knight Rider and Life are definitely gone. I think Chuck has a chance, depending on how this year’s mid-season shows perform and what NBC has in development. SVU’s survival depends on negotiations with Hartigay and Meloni. I’m sure NBC wants to keep it, but not if they are going to ask for too much money, and the show will fail without them. If negotiations tank on SVU, I think L&O’s chances for survival go up.
Julia, and what are ratings based on? Viewership!
Watch Life. You won’t be disappointed.
Could Silverman’s salary be used to develop a program someone might actually watch?
-I think Chuck will survive this. I don’t think it will be on Mondays at 8 but I think it will stay. Perhaps Sunday’s after the football season (when there will be 3 hours of shows to fill) or a whole on Fri or Wed nights.
- I think Knight Rider, Kath and Kim and an hour of The Biggest Loser are gone. I believe NBC feels very strongly about the two hour (must see tv) comedy block that they’ve had since the early 80’s. I don’t think they will ever get rid of that. I expect the new Amy Pohler comedy to join My Name is Earl, The Office and 30 Rock.
-I think NBC will keep Heroes at 9 but really try to give it a good, new sci fi lead in. Something new obviously. I’m not sure what is in development but the demo numbers are too high to end it now. Maybe after next year, yes but not for 09/10.
-I’ve heard great things about Kings and I know NBC is really behind it. If it’s ratings are even moderate they will stick with it for next year. I can see this being one of the three hours on Sunday nights next winter.
All shows I’d like to watch gets canceled and the cheap reality, sitcom & talkshow crap I absolutely can’t stand watching go on forever. Typical, money makes the wrong decisions all the time, it has ruined the world economy and it has ruined the enjoyment from television. I wonder when it will ruin internet too…
Ok, I LOVE Chuck and I never ever watch The Biggest Loser, but based on the current ratings, anyone who thinks an hour of The Biggest Loser would be cut to save Chuck is hitting the crack pipe.
The lesser of the two hours of The Biggest Loser outperforms Chuck by more than 25% among 18-49 year olds and by more than 33% among 18-34 year olds, and it’s much, much cheaper to make than any scripted show. Why on earth would you take an hour of it away??
MEDIUM needs a spinoff called LARGE.
CHUCK could have a spinoff called ROAST
Sure Cancellations: Knight Rider, Life, Kath & Kim
On the Fence: Chuck, L&O, Deal or No Deal
As much as I adore Chuck, it really needs to drastically improve its ratings to see a light of day (needs to beef up its demos to at least 3.5). The special 3D episode will help but maybe not enough. However, NBC loves the show and I can see being aired mid-season.
Also on the fence: My Name is Earl
Joe Cool could have a spin-off called Joe the Plumber
The should replace KNIGHT RIDER with a new version of AIRWOLF – using the original cast. Just dont shake Ernest Borgnine’s hand. Ewww! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEhKZNQlJrY
Jan Micheal Vincent is still kicking too. And if he falls off the wagon he could be on next seasons Celebrity Rehab with Garey Busey giving him tips on staying sober.
Awesome! I demand $1 million per episode. Plumbers arent cheap!
Joe Cool could also have a spin-off called Joe Six-Pack.
The biggest loser is just that i dont care about its numbers.Ooo we watch people loose what not and see who wins.Nbc better really think of this or there is going to be alot of backlash from fans of the shows there canceling.
Travis, any time any show is canceled people start talking about backlash. There never is any that actually affects the network.
You think that Samantha Who, Ugly Betty and the New Adventures of Old Christine will all be cancelled by May?? Am I reading this right? Are you CRAZY??????
alan, you’re right that is misleading and not what I intended, I’m changing “Cancellation by May” to “Not Likely to Be Renewed”.
I would have
MONDAY
new show
Heroes
TUESDAY
Biggest looser
L&O SVU
WEDNESDAY
Biggets looser
Medium
THURSDAY
Comedy
FRIDAY
deal or no deal
Law and Order
SUNDAY (after football)
Chuck (on its last chance)
New show
New show
No way that they’ll cancel The Biggest Loser. It’s cheap, earns the numbers, and takes up a whole two hours. It’s staying. Knight Rider & Life will be the ones to go. Law & Order will return a little later into the season as backup ammunition. Kath & Kim ends up being outperformed by the new Amy Poehler sitcom and thus isn’t even a topic of discussion before the fall unveiling in May.
Is there any possibility that the Law & Orders could all just get moved to cable. I know the CI was moved to USA last fall and it did pretty well. Does anyone see the same scenario hapenning with at least one of the other shows.
Al, I’d say that’s a “move to cable” that’s reasonably probable simply because it’s been done so recently with L&O:CI.
L&O is doing horrible this season (minus last week strong performance). We will have to see how L&O does this week to gauge if last week’s strong performance was a fluke or not. Otherwise, L&O will be a mid-season show or go to USA network.
I really have a bad feeling about Chuck. Chuck is an excellent show but may be one of the few left out in the cold.
Hopefully, Chuck will come back fully recharged in Feb with its 3D episode.
So I picked Kath & Kim, Knight Rider, Life and My Name is Earl. I did it based on the numbers, not really what I thought of the show. Anyone who picked Biggest Loser, hasn’t seen the numbers.
Okay, so NBC is bringing in Merlin and Kings midseason so, here’s what I hope to see next fall.
Sunday
Football (Duh)
Law and Order SVU
Monday
Kings
Heroes
Tuesday
Biggest Loser (2 Hour)
Wednesday
Chuck
Merlin
Thursday
Office Spin-Off
Amy Poehler Show
The Office
30 Rock
Bring in Medium mid-season and a new hour of programming for Sunday.
instead of new hour sunday, insert Apprentice.
Mon:
8 – New Drama
9 – Heroes
Tue:
8-10 – Biggest Losers
Wed:
8 – New Drama
9 – L&O: SVU
Thurs:
8 – New Comedies (Amy Poehler/Office Spin-off)
9 – The Office
9:30 – 30 Rock
Fri:
8 – Deal or No Deal
9 – Reality Show/Dateline
Sat:
Reruns
Sun: after football season
7 – Chuck
8 – The Apprentice
9 – Medium
10 – L&O
Silverman emphasized that the move will not result in a cutback in development. In fact, Silverman said he will put more scripted programming on Friday and Sunday nights as a result of filling 10 p.m. with Leno.
“We’re going to be able to program Friday more aggressively, we’re going to have more scripted on Sunday, we’re going to about to open up more nights,” Silverman said. “This is going to strengthen our entire primetime lineup.”
Chuck may very well have a chance of surviving—but maybe that’s just wishful thinking. Keeping my fingers cross that Chuck gets a rating bump from the Super-Bowl-fueled 3D episode and all the new drama and some of the current ones bomb horribly.
I love two shows at NBC and I would hate to see them canceled: CHUCK and LIFE. Do you think they will be cut? I hope not. What’s your opinion?
Both Bill and Robert shared their picks in previous posts above
Bill Gorman: Knight Rider, Life, My Name is Earl, and Kath & Kim
Robert Seidman: Knight Rider, Life, Law & Order
The execs said they may now stick with more original fare on Fridays and Saturdays, nights that had previously been given up for dead.
The new NBC schedule also may mean smaller episodic orders of series, Silverman added, and more timeslot sharing. That also means fewer repeats of scripted skeins.
“This is, in part, a response to advertisers clamoring for more original programming,” Silverman said. “We’re not in the rerun game anymore.”
Even if Chuck’s ratings stays the same after the Super Bowl, there is a good chance Chuck returns. NBC loves the show (gave it a full renewal even before a single season 2 episode aired).
They need to give Chuck a chance to grow. How I Met Your Mother was on the bubble for the past three seasons on CBS. The producers were even preparing to reveal who the mother was last season. Look at it now, HIMYM is the top 10 in the 18-49 demos and does even better than Two and a Half Men in the 18-34 demos.
As some of you are remembering, NBC will have to air three hours of shows on Sunday come Winter, which will alter things a bit.
My guess?
KR, K&K, MNIE, & Life have all ceilinged, and none will return. There’s 3 hours.
Outside of that:
If NBC comes up with a solid pilot match for Heroes, then Chuck comes back midseason. Otherwise it stays put at Mon 8pm.
Heroes returns for year four under Fuller with a reduced budget; Fuller (who is on the show for the tail end of this season) permanently kills off some characters at the end of this season to accomplish this.
The Biggest Losers & Deal (possibly the second dumbest show, ever (after Hole In The Wall)) stay put.
L&O (original), if it costs this season’s rate and gets last season’s viewership, stays put; otherwise it’s shuffled to cable/killed.
SVU, as NBC’s top rated drama, returns for one more season; anything beyond that is dicey. Expect parent groups to throw a fit about it airing at 9pm though.
As for the current midseason shows – who knows. FNL depends on both the NBC numbers (which I think will be abysmal) and what DirectTV will be paying for first air rights. Kings has some definite buzz, but who knows if the concept will catch on with the public. Merlin is summer filler. Who knows if Poehler’s show will even make it on the air before fall (The Philanthropist won’t). Medium will be too costly to keep.
Add in the NBC will have to purchase at least one or two pilots, just to justify their “We’ll be able to spend more money on new series” talking points with the Leno move, and even “sure things” might get shuffled to midseason.
Life is the best cop show on TV so of course they will cancel it.
So Life will probably go? It’s a pity. I really like the show.
While I am conditioned to regard any public quote from Silverman as PR BS, those quotes seem designed to just get him out of the conversation with as little personal embarrassment as possible.
I’d bet anyone that the % of reruns on the remaining 17 hours of NBC’s primetime schedule is the same as it is now or higher. And “We’re going to be able to program Friday more aggressively…we’re going to open up more nights” has no meaning
“we’re going to have more scripted on Sunday” does have meaning, and I think it’s the only thing he said that has any chance of being reality, however slight. NBC has 3 scripted hours plus Dateline scheduled for Sunday after football ends. They could increase that to 4 scripted hours, but I don’t think it will happen.
How are the 3D glasses handed out for the Chuck episode next year? I’m assuming they will be free.
Life would fit in great on USA. I guess how it’s ratings do in the next few weeks will be life or death for it.
NBC isn’t going to cut Biggest Loser because it’s cheap to produce and they make money off of their Biggest Loser Club you have to pay to join.
Crazy NBC, who knows how this will all shake out, I am curious about whether they might keep a few extra shows (at least give them half season renewals) that would otherwise have been cancelled until they know this whole Leno thing is going to perform well enough. Plus even if Leno does well enough, it would allow them to air less repeats and keep more fans happy even if some shows would have shorter seasons. I would think they would want to keep the schedule as repeat free to lead in to Leno as that would be mostly new all the time I’m assuming.
Hard to say what would be cut and not sure if it will only be 3 hours, but I get the logic at coming to that number. Hard to say what the fall schedule would be like with new midseason shows not even airing yet, but out of the list from above, I’d say Knight Rider, Life, and Kath&Kim won’t be around next season – Life could be saved as it seems to be liked by NBC but the numbers just aren’t close enough right now to justify renewal, IMO. Earl, L&O, and Chuck are the “bubble” shows on the list. For Earl, it may come down to what new comedies NBC has in development, L&O I could see coming back for at least half a season so NBC can bill it as the Final Season as they are doing for “ER”, Chuck has borderline ratings but if they hold since NBC seems to be behind the show, it probably will get at least a half season, not sure if in fall or in January. Biggest Loser, DoND, Heroes, SVU, Office, and 30 Rock should all be back in some capacity next season. Although Deal might be held for Sunday after football and only show up in the fall in a slot that opens up from any failed new shows.
As for the Biggest Loser debate I saw in some other posts, I think there might be a little confusion in that it might be getting so many votes because they don’t believe it will be 2 hours, not necessarily that the show will be cancelled completely. I realize that it does well in the ratings, but I still think NBC will scale it back to an hour or 90 minutes and put a new comedy in at 9:30 as ABC does with Samantha Who, or slide SVU to 9pm next season. I realize it is more cost effective for NBC to keep it at 2 hours, but then why not air reality all the time? There must be some benefit to scripted programming and with Loser an ok buffer against Idol at 8, they have an opportunity to try something else out. Idol is usually an hour on Tuesdays so it can give a ratings bump to the show after it, similar situation with DWTS. I don’t know if it’s possible but if NBC could make Loser a two night a week show, then they could still get 2 hours and have the benefit of it on two nights a week while having something scripted after. Just my two cents!!
Okay after a little thought I’ve noticed you assume a couple of things:
#1, that Midseason shows Merlin, Kings and Medium won’t be back in fall. This is probably true, whether they’re successful or not, they’ll probably hold off on new episodes till midseason 2010, but you never know.
#2. Only two hours of new programming. This one you admitted to being a wild guess, so I guess your right there.
After a second look, I’ve decided that if I were them, I’d cancel Kath & Kim, Knight Rider, Life and Law and Order. That would leave 2 1/2 hours for new programming, and I think that’s what they’ll do.
Johnthemon, It’s not that I assumed the new spring shows would be cancelled, just that I wanted to focus on next fall where NBC has 10 hours to program (minus Jay, NFL and Sat reruns). It’s a big simplification, sure, but we aren’t *actually* programming the network
And the only 2008-9 results we have at this point are for fall shows, so there’s also no way of evaluating those spring shows.
Everyone is forgetting Friday Night Lights. It has not even begun its 3rd season on NBC yet. I expect it to outperform everything NBC has had on Friday nights so far this season.
Jay Leno news is worse news for Law & Order than Chuck. At least Chuck is a clear 8 pm show. Law and Order has only succeeded at 10 pm.
Actually, I think Jay Leno in Prime-time is worse news for Chuck than L&O. L&O is produced by NBC while Chuck is produced by Warner Bros. Television.
If NBC cannot find a suitable time-slot for L&O, it can just move it to USA network – similar to what it did with L&O: Criminal Intent. Chuck, on the other hand, does not have that option. Bill and Robert both said that if NBC does not renew Chuck, there no chance CW (which WB owns half of) picks it up.
Good news is NBC loves Chuck and may hold it until mid-season if Chuck’s ratings (specifically the key demos) does not increase after the after the Super-Bowl.
All I can hope is that there is some finality to the shows that go. I mean I want to see Life with an ending if it indeed gets axed for some goofy Merlin deal. 30 rock used to be the best show no on watched. Now you all came around. Life is a builder, that’s a given, bu tin this day and age of technology, get online and catch up in about 15 minutes. I don’t even turn a tv on until wednesday night anymore.
THURDAYS
8 Amy Poehler Project
30 ROCK
the Office
the Office spin off/(if there is no spin off then) MNIE
Im only concerned over thursdays
never get rid of law and order(s) or i’ll goto cable to watch the reruns, its the best legal series out there, but i hope they dont tone it down with a 9pm time slot. Life is a great show and I really hope they let it develop. Chuck is their best comedy and Thursdays have become awful (except Chuck and ER), my 8-9 slot on that day is commited to Smallville anyways. Heroes is cool but Im sure it would benefit from money the Leno move saves. I hate reality tv shows, Rosie and Donald, or any other game show, give them some morning/ afternoon slots, Im sure they’d whip every other network that shows court tv or grimy talk shows. NBC is my favorite network, here are some suggestions to keep it that way: I miss ER already, but who needs another hospital drama, lets watch people getting injured with a fight/ wrestling/ boxing series on T/W/or Th. Maybe add a fantasy/ mystery series, hey what about filling the void in between Star Wars 3/4 or pre 1 post 6, probably too expensive. Give me more chances to laugh, there are some good comedies out there waiting to be filmed, find them. Take note from the CW and put more classic funnies on after Daly instead of late night reruns. Do this and you will return to the ratings kings like days of old.
Why cancel Chuck? Just move it to USA. It’d be a good fit along side Psych, Monk and Burn Notice.
It’s funny Heroes got more votes then Chuck… I gues Heroes fans aren’t intrested in ratings as much as Chuck fans… But it’s still funny thou…
Just wanted to point out to a few people that THERE IS NO OFFICE SPINOFF. The Amy Poehler show is being done by producers/writers of The Office. That’s the “spinoff”…it’s the same show. It will certainly be of a higher quality than Kath & Kim and should work as either a good Office lead-in or lead-out. I think it will definitely be on the fall schedule. NBC will bring back Earl partially because they already have 3/4 of the lineup but also because it should be approaching 100 episodes in its fifth season, so it makes sense. They could always recoup some of the costs airing it on CMT or TBS or whatever.
Cut Biggest Loser to 1 hour, and cut Knight Rider, Life and Kath & Kim. Giving 2.5 hours of new time on the schedule. I also predict an end date for Heroes to be announced, similar to what happened with Lost announcing it would end 3 years down the road.
Monday:
Chuck
Heroes
Tuesday:
Something new
Something new
Note: Although L&O should stay together, they would likely move one to Tuesday and then have a new show on each Tuesday and Wednesday.
Wednesday:
L&O
L&O:SVU
Thursday:
Earl
30 Rock
The Office
Something new
Friday:
Biggest Loser
Deal Or No Deal
Saturday:
Reruns
Sunday:
Football
In January: Apprentice, Medium, possible other new shows, Friday Night Lights (I can dream)
NBC will not cut Biggest Loser to only one hour or move it to another night. It is doing too good – it gets better numbers than Heroes.
NBC has 6 drama pilots in the works:
1. Blue Blood – Harvard-educated rookie NYPD cop
2. LAPD – name speaks for itself
3. Legally Mad – Chicago law firm from creator of The Practice & Boston Legal
4. Lost & Found – quirky, offbeat female lapd detective
5. Lost in the 80s – 80s version of “the wonder years”
6. Played or Be Played – New York law firm
NBC has 4 comedy pilots in the works:
1. Man of Your Dreams – produced by Conan O’Brien
2. Off Duty – cops who can’t leave their job at the station
3. Untitled Jon Pollack Project – powerful woman in the high-stakes world of hedge funds
4. Zip – family man who is a con man
You know there aren’t many shows on TV anymore (prime-time that is) that I can watch with my child (he’s 8). He loves Chuck and Nightrider. And I love Life, it’s a different take on the police procedural genre.
Life on mars is growing on me, even though I don’t believe it can be dragged out too long without looking silly. (and it needs to be grittier, it’s a bit to nostalgic and idealistic about the 70’s now)
And don’t even get me started on game shows. Pure drivel, and a waste of time, IMHO.
This is a terrible blow to television fans. Life will surely be toast and Chuck could bite the dust too. Two of my favorite shows on television. My viewing schedule gets lighter and lighter each fall.
Ive never liked Jay Leno and this is just another strike against him in my book. Congratulations ABC or CBS…one of you get my viewership at 10/9c next fall every night by default.
Biggest Loser is terribly produced. Most of the show is a waste of time, and the weigh-ins are just overwrought. It should only be an hour long.
Chuck would stand a better chance of survival if NBC would simply move it from Monday at 8. It’s airing against HIMYM and Big Bang Theory, and that’s hurting it. The one night that those shows didn’t air, Chuck hit a ratings high (for the season) and when Chuck didn’t air, those two show saw slight increases in overall numbers, if not very much boost in demos. Chuck just needs to move; then it will stand a chance.
I absolutely love Ghost Whisperer!! I think that it is a great show and should be renewed!!! Fantastic show!!!
I absolutely LOVE Chuck. NBC has to bring it back. Chuck and Sarah are SO CUTE together. Absolutely the most adorable couple on television. Meredith + Derek = yawn
finally…wich tv is gonna be cancel¿?
NBC definitely has to move Chuck out of the Monday 8pm time-slot. Too many shows at the hour are appealing to the same demos. The Office in its first and a half seasons aired on Tuesday at 9:30pm and was getting horrible ratings (5 or so million viewers). It wasn’t until they move it to Thurs where it began to attract an audience (some thanks to 40 Old Virgin).
Chuck needs to move to Weds 8pm or Thursday 8pm. Chuck is just too good of a show to let it go. HIMYM was on the fence of cancellation its first three seasons and has finally become a hit (maybe some thanks to Forgetting Sarah Marshall).
NBC needs to stick with Chuck and let it find its audience.
So far the votes make sense:
Knight Rider: Too expensive and too poor; and Ford isn’t in any position to sponsor anything.
Kath & Kim & My Name is Earl: I love their casts, but MNIE is running out of steam and K&K never had any to begin with.
Mystery shows not L&O and not on CBS always suffer, such as the charming “Pushing Daisies” on ABC. Life will most likely get the axe for that reason. The L&O franchise will probably get their own network, either on MYN of Cable (where it was once known as TNT), or be filler in case NBC runs out of money to produce new shows.
Shows like Biggest Loser and Deal or No Deal will always have a place somewhere in the year on NBC.
30 Rock & the Office are NBC’s darling award-winners; low cost, in-house, and the Golden Globes are coming up
Heroes & Chuck are the risky fishes. They have lots of special effects, have a dwindling audience, and (honestly) appeal to a niche crowd. Granted, I am a RABID member of said crowd , I really WANT them to stay, but they might be replaced by DoND or TRUMP GIVES US MONEY or some other budget-drivel.
I can’t forsee how many more seasons NBC will keep MEDIUM, or how far their two new action shows will pan.
If I had to guess, this is one way NBC could break down (shows nor airing in said order):
Monday:
Chuck/Heroes & something new (a reality show)
Tuesday:
Heroes/Chuck & something new (a reality show)
Wednesday:
New scripted drama/L&O & reality show
Thursday:
Comedy house & reality show
Friday:
L&O/returning programing (FNL, Medium, etc.)… and reality show (such as HOWIE DO IT — I DUNNO!)
Saturday:
Anything NBC wants to burn off, reruns, more reality.
Sunday:
After football, Dateline followed by L&O/returning programming (FNL, Medium, etc.) and then a new show to end the night
I shared this with my 11 year old Grand daughter last night. I thought she was going to start crying when she learned that Chuck might not be arround long. “Grampa, I just love that show and watching it with you and Gramma”.
So, OK, there you have it. Chuck stays. Jay Leno can just go play in his garage with all of his cars. He got boring years ago anyway.
Do not cancel Knight Night or Biggest Loser. They should cancel Kath & Kim, Law & Order, Law & Order:SVU. I am a big fan of Knight Night and Biggest Loser.
Chuck is gonna get renewed. NBC loves the show too much and Silverman is staying put. Chuck is a perfect show at 8pm —the dramas at 9 and 10 are more in limbo. Heroes has one more chance to pick up its quality while L&O is freefalling. L&O: SVU may be a highly rated show but what about its profit margins. The two stars of that show are ones of the highest paid actors/actresses on TV. KR and Life are dead in the water. Deal or No Deal is so played out and needs to stay just on syndication. Besides the comedies and Biggest Losers, Chuck is the only show that fits in at 8pm.
Heroes is ridiculous and horrible. It has the next volume to improve its quality or throw it away. Heroes will not gain any new viewers because it is too serialized of a show and there’s a bad stigma attached to the show (thank you EW!).
Chuck, on the other hand, needs to move away from its cluttered time-slot. Way too many shows competing for the demos: BBT, HIMYM, MNF, Gossip Girl, Terminator.
-Knight Rider and Kath & Kim are gone.
-Life either get canceled or moves to USA.
-L&O comes back mid-season or moves to USA.
-Deal or No Deal stays in syndication and may air special shows on NBC.
-MNIE gets a shorten season to get episode count to 100 for syndication.
-The Office, 30 Rock, L&O:SVU, Biggest Loser, and Chuck comes back for full seasons.
SOMEBODY CALL JAY MOHR
TELL HIM TO GET HIS BUDDY SATAN TO SWAP HIS TIMESLOT [GARY UNMARRIED] WITH WORST WEEK!
Worst week SUCKS.
Gary Unmarried is funny as HELL.
NBC couldn’t care less if MNIE gets to 100 episodes. Its produced by FOX, who would reap the benefits of a syndication deal…
Yeah, they should axe Chuck. Stupid show anyway.
has anyone seemed to care about what happens if the jay leno show tanks? what happens to its replacement? If you ask me, it just another CW MRC thing all over again.
ryan, obviously the worst case scenario for Leno at 10 is “CW MRC”-like for NBC, but I don’t think it will be that bad. My guess is that it will be more like a low grade version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” was for ABC, but without the big upside at first.
Danny,
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but you’re in the minority regarding Chuck.
Chuck gets good reviews across the boards from the critics. Time magazine named Chuck one the top 10 best TV shows of 2008.
Chuck may not be the most sophisticated show on TV, but it is not meant to be. Chuck is just a fun show. Chuck is “Get Smart” for a “24″ world.
“An effervescent mix of high action, slapstick comedy and winning performances.” -Matt Roush, TV Guide
Bill, FOX will make one some time, even if it’s not untill may. But there are 2 episodes that are about to be filmed, and they are like 10 episodes that have not aired yet, so it should come back sometime.
DallasDavid: I doubt Satan associates with Jay Mohr. Jay’s too much of a douche.
All I care about is Chuck! I LOVE THAT SHOW! It’s the ONLY NBC show I watch!! They better keep it!!
YEAH!! Chuck absolutely ROCKS!!!!
Is it remotely possible with a show like my name is earl that if NBC cancels it, Fox would pick it up **only** because it is so close to 100 episode syndication deal, then finish it up after one more season/100th episode?
RJ, if you’re referring to ‘Til Death, it could have episodes burned off during trash time at some point this season, but that’s about it. It’s gone.
Probably more wishful thinking on my part but:
Mon
New Drama
Heroes
Tues Fall Tues Spring
Biggest loser New drama/ Medium
Wed
Chuck
Life
Thur
MNIE/ New comedy
30 Rock
Office
New Comedy
Fri
Deal or no Deal
L&O
Sun
Football
Dateline/ New Drama
L&O SVU
^ There is no way L&O:SVU goes to mid-season. L&O:SVU either goes to 9pm on Tues (if Biggest Loser goes to one hour) or 9pm on Weds.
The original L&O goes to mid-season or goes to USA network.
Life is pretty much doomed (unless a miracle happens). The only way it stays alive is on USA network.
Chuck stays but in new time-slot. Chuck is a favorite among the critics and most importantly NBC.
If L&O ever makes a move to cable TNT seems much more likely, since their the channel that airs all the repeats. Wasn’t there talk of a possible TNT move for the show a couple of years ago when it looked like NBC might not renew it?
to say enything about chuck renewal we have to wait until 3-d episode in february… and even more importent how many viewers it will get afterwards against hause… i think(hope) it won’t drop below 6 milions mark…
It’s kinda dumb on NBC’s part to take Chuck off the air for ~6weeks and expect it to gain a load of viewers. I don’t think airing Chuck a day after the Super Bowl would even help it that much. The spot right after the Super Bowl is the most beneficial to the show, but it’s been preserve for The Office (which I think The Office doesn’t need the extra exposure, as it is already a popular show). Well, all fingers crossed and hope for the best.
The olympics exposure obviously hasn’t helped NBC’s show much, so hopefully they do a better job at exposing their shows during the Superbowl.
NBC should have placed Chuck in the post-Super-Bowl time-slot. That way, Chuck could have a two night event.
I guess NBC is hoping The Office becomes the next “Seinfeld” or “Friends” with the Super-Bowl boost.
Get rid of The blasted “Office” and Knight Rider and then you all might actually have a perfect line up…
The Office is NBC’s worst show ever. I don’t understand why people think it’s funny?
Izzette, that’s like telling FOX to get rid of American Idol. Not going to happen soon.
The Office is hilarious. You are too stupid to realize it’s genius.
Okay that was a bit harsh, but really. Cancelling the office is the last thing that’s going to happen.
The Office is the funniest show on TV right now. Although some may not like it because it can be offensive at times.
“You don’t call retarded people retards. It’s bad taste. You call your friends retards when they’re acting retarded”. -Michael Scott
“Did you know that gay used to mean ‘happy?’ When I was growing up, it meant ‘lame.’ And now, it means a man who makes love to other men. We’re all homos. Homo sapiens”. -Michael Scott
Looks like people on this site perfer Chuck over Heroes.
When I took part of the poll, I chose the shows that are weak in the lineup.
I did vote for Chuck not because I hated the show but becuase of its ratings. Who know it might make it.
I do agree that Biggest Loser could be reduced to an hour and I did not vote for the show because of that.
I did vote for KR based on the ratings and people are losing intrest in this show. Sad it did have pontincal but the writers threw it away almost from the start.
^ Chuck may not be doing as well as Heroes in the demos, but what NBC will look at is their profit margins. Heroes walloping production costs is putting a dent in NBC pockets (although that will go down from Heroes’ restructuring).
Another thing to look at is which show has a potential to grow. Heroes will not gain any new audience due to serialized nature of the show and a bad stigma attached to the show (thank you EW!).
Chuck, on the other hand, is an accessible show and is a fav among the critics. It just need a new time-slot. Hopefully, the Super-Bowl-fueled 3D episode will give Chuck a boost.
I love Chuck as much as the critics, and though it’s on the bubble, barring disaster, I think NBC will stick with it another season. But all the lamenting about “needs a new timeslot” that’s the rallying cry of losers everywhere, akin to “just wait until next year!”
Next fall, minus Sunday Night Football and Jay Leno, NBC will only have eight hour long slots unless you would prefer to see the show on Fridays or Saturdays. There are only seven other slots it could be put in.
Edit: six really, NBC won’t be screwing with Thursdays at 9pm.
^ I agree with you about “needs a new time slot” is the rallying cry of losers just as “they don’t advertised enough for the show” is.
But I honestly think that the 8pm time-slot on Monday is just too crowded. Too many show appeal to the same demos. College crowd: BBT, HIMYM, Gossip Girl while T:SSC and MNF: male audience. Maybe I’m wrong.
Anything Reality or Game show….Biggest Loser and Deal or No Deal.
I am hoping and praying that Chuck will make it…especially since it’s the only NBC show I watch anymore and I just read in Time magazine that it was listed in the Best 10 TV shows of 2008. This is great for the show! It certainly can’t hurt it’s chances for renewal. GO CHUCK!!
Robert, don’t forget 4 hours on Sundays after SNF is over. Although two of the hours will probably be reserved for Dateline and a reality show. I also see Chuck coming back next Fall—if not, midseason for sure. Chuck is just too ENTERTAINING!!
@I Shot, touche’, how could I forget “if only they’d promoted ABC as much as XYZ!!!!!”.
@Throw a Shoe, I didn’t forget, I said “minus Sunday Night Football” and that’s only three hours unless you’re suggesting you would like to see Chuck at 7pm Sundays. I would prefer not to see Chuck air on Sundays or as a mid-season show as it would likely mean only 13ish episodes a year.
If Chuck does come back on Sundays or mid-season, couldn’t it get a more than the usual 13 episodes order like 24 and Lost. NBC don’t air Chuck reruns anyways and there are 20 or so weeks from Jan-May.
Keep Kath & Kim. But maybe have as a mid season show
dammit they r goin to cancel knight rider. fuck nbc its so gay now. and other goods shows bein cancelled thats sux. i must be the econamy.
Why does everyone bashing on Knight Rider. I was a HUGE Knight Rider Fan in the 80’s and I am still one today. I love the Knight Rider, I have not missed a night it comes. I think it has a good story. It shows how the politics and stuff work at Washington.
Keep Knight Rider all the other shows on NBC can kiss my hairy white ass
I am a fan of knight rider. It is something different and fun !!!
Keep knight on AIR !!!
I have seen the pilot here in in the netherlands .(EU) Its great.. SO NBC !!!
Let Kitt LIVE !!!!
Im so sick of good shows getting canceled for reality shows….sick of them…i live reality every day…nice to see something not so real…something to follow each week…i dont care who can sing…or who can lose the most weight..or who is dateing who…give me a break…leave tscc alone..leave life alone..take off the reality crap…