Tomorrow (Thursday March 3), ABC will premiere new Shondaland drama The Family after Grey's Anatomy, not to be confused with fellow upcoming Shondaland drama The Catch, nor the Shondaland comedy in development, nor the Shondaland shows that make up the entirety of ABC's Thursday prime time schedule. Point is, Shonda Rhimes' production company is almost certainly at its peak with ABC, and if the ratings are at least modest, will The Family get the benefit of the doubt in order to keep a growing relationship?
It should be a different week for ABC considering some of their top shows (The Middle, Scandal, and Blackish) are off for the series premieres of The Real O'Neals and The Family. How do you think they will fare for the rest of the season? Will the squeak out a renewal? Let us know in the comment section below, but first, here are my predictions.
The Real O'Neals
PREDICTION: The Real O'Neals won't be a Fresh Off The Boat, which arguably over-performed by itself on Tuesday, but it won't be a huge flop either. Starts in the mid to high 1s tonight, and declines on Tuesdays. Doesn't go fractional, but settles around a 1.0-1.1, some of the 1.0s will be rounded up. ABC decides that they don't need it. Cancelled.
The Family
I think The Family will pull a Resurrection, just to a smaller scale due to league average declines since 2013. This season, the league average is a 1.54 A18-49 average, compared to the 1.88 two seasons ago.
PREDICTION: Premieres high to a 3.1, declines throughout the season, ends at a 1.7, renewed, collapses. I could be way overestimating though; based on the ad rate ABC may be valuing this one in the low 1s. Still good enough for renewal? Possible.