Two midseason series debuted this past week and four series on the list moved since our last update. It's a busy week for CBS Renew/Cancel, so here's where things stand today .
Certain to be Cancelled
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Likely to be Cancelled
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Toss-Up for Renewal
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Likely to be Renewed
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Certain to be Renewed
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Carol’s
Second Act
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All Rise
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Broke
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Bob <3 Abishola
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God Friended Me
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Tommy
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Bull
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Blue Bloods
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Man with a Plan
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FBI
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Magnum P.I.
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FBI: Most Wanted
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SEAL Team
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MacGyver
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SWAT
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NCIS
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The Unicorn
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NCIS: LA
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NCIS: NO
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The Neighborhood
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It certainly is a very busy week for our update. Last week, freshman comedy Broke debuted, along with the season premiere of Man with a Plan. I have made official decisions for the shows that had their spots filled by the two aforementioned comedies: Carol's Second Act and The Unicorn. We have also seen a lot of development of the COVID-19 virus over the time since our last update, and that may ultimately throw a wrench in many of these predictions. Anyway, let's get started!
Perhaps the most impressive story for CBS was the series premiere of Broke, airing Thursdays at 930. It started out of the gate with 7.07 million viewers and 0.91 A18-49, retaining 93% of Mom's audience and 88% of the A18-49 demo. In fact, Broke easily out-rated every episode of Carol's Second Act that aired in the same timeslot. All of those metrics are a great sign for a series debut, and enough to let the show begin as Likely to be Renewed. We will have to see where things settle in the next few weeks, especially surrounded by repeats, but this is a good start.
Fellow Thursday night comedy Man with a Plan debuted its fourth season in the Thursday 830 timeslot. Its premiere was slightly less impressive than Broke, but it was a solid start with 7.01 million viewers and 0.87 A18-49. For a comparison to Broke, retention for Man with a Plan was 70% in total viewers and 69% of the A18-49 demo from Young Sheldon. All in all, this is a CBS owned comedy that is close to possibly being sold in syndication. The market has no doubt cooled in recent years, but multi-camera comedies still play well in local syndication (see The Big Bang Theory and Last Man Standing). Right now, Man with a Plan starts as Likely to be Renewed. It seems doubtful its performance could get ugly enough to not return for a fifth season.
Thursday night drama Tommy shifts to positive territory in its first update. In the last edition of Renew/Cancel, Tommy debuted as a Likely to be Cancelled - and was even discussed as Certain to be Cancelled in that post. Now, things have looked slightly better with a really positive trend over the course of its run: .44 -> .40 -> .43 -> .48 -> .53 -> .51 -> .60. L+7 numbers have followed suite with growth in each of the episodes. Do not get me wrong, a .6 is still not a great performance. CBS could potentially nurture this into something a bit more with more time. I would not blame CBS for cancelling it, but I think it has a better chance than it did a few weeks ago. Tommy moves up to Toss-Up this week. Let's see where it is in a few weeks from now.
I wanted to make a final call on the Thursday comedies that finished their runs. Carol's Second Act remains as Likely to be Cancelled and single-camera comedy The Unicorn moves up to Likely to be Renewed. Both could be cancelled and it would make sense from a ratings standpoint. With COVID-19, I also would not be surprised if both returned. Wanting a final decision, I chose one over the other. It kind of looks like CBS could renew one over the other, and the favoritism appears to lean toward The Unicorn right now.
Another bright spot on the schedule for CBS is freshman Tuesday night drama FBI: Most Wanted. The series has been Likely to be Renewed from the beginning and moves up to Certain to be Renewed in this update. Resilient since its premiere, Most Wanted exploded to a .97 A18-49 in its crossover with mothership FBI and held at a .90 A18-49 in the following week. CBS was always going to be high on getting this franchise going, and these data points are more than enough to give CBS the evidence to keep the Tuesday lineup intact next season.
Andddd finally (whew!) freshman drama All Rise moves to Toss-Up after spending a lot of time as Likely to be Cancelled for much of the season. Amid all of the production shutdowns due to COVID-19, CBS surprised many this past week by announcing All Rise would get a special episode filmed entirely through various online filming apps (think Zoom). Thus far, it is the only scripted broadcast series to get this special treatment. It seems odd CBS would go through this trouble for a show they do not want back next season. On the number side of things, All Rise ticked up to a series high .73 A18-49 for its most recent episode. The lead in was larger, but bigger is certainly better right now. A few more weeks to see what happens should help solidify its standing.
What do you think this week? Are there any surprises? Sound off in the comments below!
Officially Cancelled/Ended
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Officially Renewed
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Criminal Minds
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Evil
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Hawaii Five-0
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Mom
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Madam Secretary
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Young Sheldon
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