A sparse 9 entries of original sitcoms aired this week, as a majority were wise to go home for the holidays in previous weeks. Among the MVP's were Mom and Life in Pieces, who belted out another stable performance against a week of adjacent series lows.
Monday, December 18 delivered unanimous drops, starting with Kevin Can Wait shedding a tenth after a two-week hiatus (1.1). The night remains delivered fractional series lows as Man With a Plan delivered its first ever sub-1 rating (0.9), Superior Donuts shed a tenth and tied its series low (0.8) and 9JKL remained steadily poor (0.7).
Flash forward to Thursday, December 21, rinse and repeat. Young Sheldon dropped threetenths and registered a now low (1.7) with Big Bang Lite (a common TBBT repeat used as a Nielsen fluffer) as its lead-in. The drops stopped here on CBS, as Mom (1.4) and Life in Pieces (1.1) performed phenomenally against a lousy scheduled week. And sadly, NBC's Great News was handed two lumps of coal as back-to-back showings registered new NBC lows (0.5, 0.4). That is a new low for NBC, but not the lowest-rated sitcom to air on broadcast television. That notorious status is held by CW with 2016's Significant Mother (0.2).
What Is Your Sitcom Number?
Before delving into the "Who to Can First" game, two statuses changed on the roster. Kevin Can Wait dropped out of the "Leading the Pack" classification after dropping to 11th place. And Great News' appalling deliveries earned it a downgrade to 45% (On the Bubble, Leans Cancellation). And Bob's Burgers now rests in 10th place among the 28 entries, the highest it has ever reached during thr Sitcom Scorecard's 11-month history. The classifications will be up for evaluation for dropping the minimal numbers to 1.25 for "Leading the Pack" and 1.00 for The Middle of the Pack in January.
So how is Great News not a 20% Renewal Odds (Likely Cancellation)? Although it would be the first to go if NBC needs space, audiences have not seen AP Bio or Champions perform. For the time being, it is On the Bubble, Leans Cancellation as NBC has smaller episode orders for most of its sitcoms and needs shows on its schedule. Every network has a number for which shows would be cut first, and here is the breakdown:
ABC: At the moment, The Mayor has a 5% chance of survival. It rates the poorest of the 8 remaining sitcoms, and three sitcoms remain on the bench to be showcased. The Middle has already bowed out declaring its last season, and The Goldbergs and Modern Family have already been renewed. IF ABC must cancel sitcoms, this is the pecking order they will do it: 1. The Mayor. 2. Speechless. 3. Fresh Off The Boat. 4. Blackish. 5. American Housewife. The logic -- The Mayor is obvious, and Speechless has weighed down a plum timeslot. Fresh Off the Boat has already gone fractional, Blackish is at the syndication line, and American Housewife has the strongest performance among the pack.
CBS: First to be foreclosed is 9JKL, which has a 16-episode order this season and regularly registers series lows. The Big Bang is already renewed, so here is the order CBS would ax its sitcoms if space is needed: 1. 9JKL. 2. Superior Donuts. 3. Man With a plan. 4. Mom. 5. Life in Pieces. 6. Young Sheldon. The logic -- 9JKL is likely where Living Biblicaly will be scheduled in the spring. Superior Donuts has the smallest episode count and is a hair under Man With a Plan, whose ratings are also tepid this season. Although Mom is sturdy, it has 5 seasons and is outsourced. Life in Pieces needs one more season for syndication, and CBS would be foolish to cut its most recent success with Young Sheldon.
FOX: Brooklyn 99 is the obvious choice to cut if space is needed. LA>Vegas debuts in January, New Girls is in its final season and The Simpsons is already renewed. If FOX needs t ax sitcoms, here is the order they (may) do it: 1. Brooklyn 99. 2. Ghosted. 3. The Mick. 4. Last Man On Earth. 5. Bob's Burgers. 6. Family Guy. The logic: After B99, Ghosted has underwhelmed in its prime development timeslot. The Mick is rating poorly on Tuesdays, and Last Man on Earth's premise has a limited shelf life. Bob's Burgers is durable and has an upcoming motion picture, but Family Guy has more visibility.
NBC: Great News would go black first if NBC needs the space. Will and Grace and The Good Place are already renewed, and NBC is not so stupid to dump its only 22-episode card-carrying sitcom player, which delivers modest ratings. NBC's employees would run ABC if they played the game that way.
So who will be the next to go? The Scorecard's money is on The Mayor and 9JKLetsChangeTheChannel.