This week on the Summer Renew/Cancel, NBC's reality shows take center stage. Keep reading for my thoughts on the recently-wrapped Making It and the freshman Family Game Fight!
Certain to be Canceled:
House Calls with Dr. Phil (0.3)
Likely to be Canceled:
Card Sharks (0.4*)
Emergency Call (0.4*)
Mental Samurai (0.3)
Small Fortune (0.3)
Superstar (0.3)
The Ultimate Surfer (0.3)
When Nature Calls with Helen Mirren (0.3)
Leans Cancellation:
Capital One College Bowl (0.4)
The Celebrity Dating Game (0.4)
Dead Pixels (0.0)
Fantasy Island (0.3)
Secret Celebrity Renovation (0.3)
Wellington Paranormal (0.0)
Likely to be Renewed:
Certain to be Renewed:
Fate Determined:
The Bachelorette (Renewed)
Making It: Last week, Making It limped to the finish line for its third season finale. Ratings for the finale were... not good, but at least it rose a bit from the terrible 0.2 it got the prior week. So why do I still think it'll be renewed despite the terrible ratings? Well, this is far from the first time that this show has rated so poorly. It's been a well-below-average performer since it premiered back in 2018, and NBC has continued to renew it. Those renewals came under different management, so perhaps new network president Susan Rovner isn't quite as willing to forgive the weak ratings. However, the fact that Peacock has ordered a Making It spinoff under her watch gives me enough reason to assume that this franchise is profitable for NBC, somehow, some way. I wouldn't be shocked if they canceled the show after its truly poor performance this season, but I'm willing to bet that it'll get another season. It LEANS RENEWAL.
Family Game Fight!: This show is starting to look a bit iffy. After a solid start, it's slipping little by little each week. At 0.39 this week (behind a 0.65 from AGT), it's not noticeably much stronger than College Bowl has been. I don't think that NBC needs this show at all, and it's certainly not something that looks to have a long-term place on NBC's schedule. However, I do lean towards them bringing it back, just to avoid cancelling every new show on their lineup. It's performing marginally better than College Bowl and seems to have more internal support from NBC, and did far better than the already-forgotten Small Fortune. There's still a few weeks for its ratings to get ugly and truly warrant a cancellation, but for now, its ratings are borderline enough to not make a renewal completely inexplicable. It LEANS RENEWAL as of now.
The Republic of Sarah: Today, it was announced that The Republic of Sarah would be one-and-done, canceled by The CW in a rare move. The ratings were terrible, so it was certainly not canceled without reason, though it is still pretty jarring to see The CW actually cancel something. Still, this was a correct prediction for me despite The CW's history of generosity towards its low-rated shows.
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!
