Jess’s Take: An Impassioned Rant on Prediction Records and Ratings

Hello, one and all! Welcome to a long overdue installment of Jess's Take. Based on what happened the last few days, especially on a day like "Bloody Thursday", I thought I would take a stroll down memory lane and remind everyone on a day like this that sometimes you win some, and you lose some. 

Part of the reasoning behind you win some and lose some is it humbles us to be better people at the end of this. At the end of the day, this is still the TV Ratings Guide, our home of ratings, reviews, original series, and of course, Off Topic. No renewal or cancelation prediction record can change the site's core mission of bringing you the latest variety of entertainment news and television ratings. For a few seasons, we have basically competed against other sites to see which one has the best prediction record. And because this upfronts season has clearly shown how unpredictable situations in the television business can be, let us take a moment to reflect on our mission. 

At the end of the day, we are still first and foremost, a ratings site with a lively community. Let no arbitrary prediction record distract us or cause us to lose sight of our mission statement. The cancelations of The Last Man on Earth, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Mick on FOX were extremely unfortunate and heartbreaking, just like the Last Man Standing on ABC and 2 Broke Girls on CBS cancelations were last season, and the Limitless on CBS cancelation was the year before. Networks often pull stunts to anger us during upfronts, but at the end of the day, the cycle begins anew. That is the most painstakingly troubling thing about upfronts for ratings watchers.

Yet, we learn something new which takes us into the next season with fresh eyes. We learned about profits versus ratings, and how profits, both syndication and streaming, can get a show renewed even if it is pulling cancelation worthy ratings. This conundrum has saved shows such as Taken, Great News, Elementary, and even Dynasty. This is great news for networks making money, but it messes with the minds of our prediction records and ratings reports. 

For the sake of our mental health, can we please stop trying to compete for the best prediction records and start working on improving our best selves? We need to return to doing predictions just for the fun of it and I feel like we are losing sight of it. So, let's get back to square one and remember who we are as a site. That's not too much to ask. 

And in case I want to rant on the state of network television, I'll save it for another installment of Jess's Take. 

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