Written Regurgitating a Muddied Alphabet Rating by Bridger Cunningham
Resting on laurels too soon can end a promising new era as ABC learned this season. After a monumental 2014-15 season which TGIT became an unstoppable beast, ABC's good fortunes faded as these Shondaland franchises downgraded from phenomenal to ordinary. Left in the wake of their fade in the drama department remained a slew of failed dramas such as Castle, Nashville, Blood and Oil and too many forgettable dramas to name. FOX's scripted average paled next to ABC's, but sports saved their tenuous lineup. Add NBC taking the Olympics and CBS and FOX also airing sports, ABC slid into 4th place after a decline in early 2016.
Trending Hot -- TGIT ratings paled compared to the previous season and managed to perform above average this season. ABC Comedy Wednesdays remained strong as the only successful comedy block free of failures. Superheroes continued to jettison the networks with moderate to phenomenal results. Empire remained FOX's most successful entry, and anything with "Chicago" paraded larger crowds than a St. Patrick's Day parade. Sports, sports and more sports performed above average. Massive renewals despite ratings performance became CW's latest experiment, allowing viewers to get to know series at their own pace.
Trending Tepid -- Reality TV showed signs continued age as only The Voice cracked the top 10. American Idol experienced a glorious swan song, and the other franchises scattered throughout the lineup with mixed results. CBS sitcoms suffered more damage than antique furniture as they were moved around the lineup like a fickle occupant. Save for Empire, shows with soapy roots washed down the drain.
Trending Cold -- ABC dramas outside of Shondaland tanked. NBC sitcoms failed to generate two survivors, with Superstore bargaining a discount renewal. Freshman pilots in general performed poorly for sitcoms, particularly on FOX. A move to eradicate sitcoms from longstanding CBS Mondays delivered mediocre results as they discarded Supergirl to an appropriate CW. A brief foray into sitcoms after a lengthy hiatus backfired on CW as Significant Mother landed in last place for the entire season.Movie Nights became a critically endangered staple only suitable for oddly scheduled weeks. Scripted programming on ABC Sundays went abysmal, and the Tuesday 10pm timeslot continued a trend of endless failure.
Source - http://deadline.com/2016/05/tv-season-2015-2016-series-rankings-shows-full-list-1201763189/