In this table, The Originals enters as a "Likely Cancelation".
The Originals premiered to a 0.3 A18-49 rating. Last season, it was renewed for a fourth season after three full seasons (66 episodes). Despite low ratings, the power of the Syndication Gods saved it. However, they are not going to save it for a fifth. It only will have 13 episodes this season, and this will bring the episode total to 79 episodes.
There happens to be a pattern for CW shows that were canceled after four seasons. Nikita had 73 episodes, Hart of Dixie had 76, Beauty and the Beast had 70, and Reign will have 78. All of these shows had started out with at least two full seasons. An important note: The 100 was renewed for a fifth season and is a limited series because it always had seasons with less than 22 episodes.
The Originals is also filmed in Atlanta. And with that, higher production costs. That is another negative factor in its fate. It's already proven that filming in Canada is a lot cheaper than filming stateside. The Originals is so expensive to produce that it had to cut costs by getting rid of cast members. This is an unsustainable practice. With pilot season underway, and the network likely to pick up more shows than usual, I expect that the network will cancel at least one more show in addition to The Vampire Diaries, Reign, and (certainly) the two newbie duds.
What do you think about this installment's predictions? Let me know in the comments below!
