ABC Renew/Cancel Week 12: The Goldbergs No Longer Looks Golden

This week on the ABC Renew/Cancel, I address the declining ratings of one of TV's longest-running and most prominent comedy blocks. Keep reading to see which shows are on the move!


Certain Cancellation:
N/A

Likely Cancellation:
Call Your Mother (0.4, 0.3-0.5)

Leans Cancellation:
For Life (0.4, 0.3-0.5)

Leans Renewal:
American Housewife (0.6, 0.4-0.6)

Likely Renewal:
Big Sky (0.6, 0.6-0.7)
The Conners (0.7, 0.6-0.9)
The Goldbergs (0.7, 0.6-0.8)
The Good Doctor (0.6, 0.6-0.7)
Grey's Anatomy (1.2, 1.2-1.3)
A Million Little Things (0.6, 0.5-0.7)
Mixed-ish (0.5, 0.5-0.6)
The Rookie (0.5, 0.4-0.5)

Certain Renewal:
Blackish (0.5, 0.4-0.6)
Station 19 (1.0, 0.8-1.2)

Coming Soon:
Home Economics
Rebel
Women of the Movement 

The Goldbergs: The Goldbergs has long been one of ABC's most reliable shows, typically rating as one of the network's top shows. That doesn't mean it hasn't been declining, though. It's consistently been down 15-25% since its move to 8 PM, and this season, those declines have made it clear that the show is nearing its end. All shows are dropping, but The Goldbergs is dropping at a very alarming rate, consistently hitting new lows. Ratings tend to be stronger in the winter, and The Goldbergs is instead hitting new lows. It returned from its month-long winter hiatus steady with a 0.69, and then took a sharp drop the week after, hitting a 0.5 in preliminary ratings. It was later able to adjust up to a 0.6 (or a 0.57 to be more precise) and it stayed completely steady at that low the next week. While 0.57 is better than a 0.5, it still paints a clear picture: ABC is going to be leaving 1980-something sooner rather than later. These ratings aren't sustainable for The Goldbergs long-term. It's not owned by ABC (it's produced by Sony) and it's old and, thus, more expensive than a newer show. I don't think ABC will cancel the show, considering how important it's been to them for so long, and considering how Sony is able to consistently secure renewals for shows that are important to them, but the end is nearing. With ratings this low, I can no longer saw I'm certain it'll be back. Especially in the age of COVID, plans can fall through, and a renewal for a show such as this one isn't a total guarantee. It's now a LIKELY RENEWAL. 

Call Your Mother: Also looking worse this week is Call Your Mother. Despite a soft start, I was being less aggressive with this show due to the situation it was in. It wasn't exactly being given a strong lead-in, and while things looked bleak for it, a renewal didn't look entirely out of the question. Its retention from The Conners wasn't too terrible, and the ratings it was drawing weren't different from what fellow x:30 comedies Blackish and American Housewife were hitting before. Given that ABC was seemingly giving it priority treatment over American Housewife (ending Housewife early instead of pulling Mother), it's possible that the show is an internal favorite, which could lead to a surprise renewal if they could work out financials. However, the show just hit a 0.37 last week, lower than any other ABC comedy has gone so far. It's only in season one, and ratings won't exactly get better as time goes on. There's not much of a future for this one, it's a LIKELY CANCELLATION.

The Conners: I'm not downgrading it, but The Conners is also looking pretty rough. It's one of the most expensive comedies on television, owing to massive cast salaries, and it's drawing ratings that aren't much higher than the average ABC comedy. It's the #2 ABC comedy this season, and just two weeks ago was the #4 ABC comedy (it rose to #2 again the week after as the Ish duo slipped). Its 0.56 is below the league average and a far cry from the 0.89 that it kicked off the season with. That decline is worrying, and suggests that the end is nigh. Like The Goldbergs, it's unowned by ABC, meaning that the network doesn't make an additional profit off the show like it would for lower-rated owned shows (see: Blackish). I doubt that they'll cancel the show, seeing how important it's been to them these past few years, but the ratings decline can't be ignored. I don't consider it a bubble show, so I'm not downgrading it, but I'll keep an eye on it. It remains a LIKELY RENEWAL.

What do you think of my predictions? What are your predictions? Let me know in the comments and vote in the poll of the week!

Where would you place The Goldbergs?
Certain Renewal
Likely Renewal
Leans Renewal
Leans Cancellation
Likely Cancellation
Certain Cancellation

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