The Summer Renew/Cancel returns after an extended hiatus with an ABC-centric update. Keep reading for the outlook on ABC's many summer game shows.
Certain to be Canceled: N/A
Likely to be Canceled: Come Dance With Me The Final Straw Who Do You Believe? Who Do You Think You Are?
Leans Cancellation: The Fatal Flaw
Leans Renewal: Claim To Fame Dancing With Myself Don't Forget The Lyrics! Mysteries Decoded So You Think You Can Dance Would I Lie To You? US
Likely to be Renewed: Beat Shazam The Challenge: USA The Chase Generation Gap Holey Moley
Certain to be Renewed: American Ninja Warrior America's Got Talent The $100,000 Pyramid The Bachelorette Big Brother Celebrity Family Feud MasterChef
Fate Determined: Duncanville (Canceled) Dynasty (Canceled) In the Dark (Canceled) Roswell, New Mexico (Canceled) Tom Swift (Canceled) Weakest Link (Renewed)
Yet to Premiere: Devils Leonardo Password
Celebrity Family Feud, Press Your Luck and The $100,000 Pyramid: These three veteran game shows have been reliable summer staples for ABC, and all remain very solid performers to this day. Even with declines experienced this season by Feud, it remains one of the top-performing series of the summer. Press Your Luck has seen minimal declines from last season and has experienced unusual growth over the season, contrary to typical ABC game show trends. Pyramid, meanwhile, received a mid-season time slot upgrade due to an impressive performance in an undesirable 10 PM slot. All three are too valuable to axe, even if ABC has cut down on game shows in recent years. They are CERTAIN RENEWALS.
Claim to Fame: Its 0.37 season average is nothing to go crazy over, but Claim to Fame has proven itself to be a decent 10 PM performer thus far, and has remained stable over the first month of its run. It has improved its timeslot from last year, even as The Bachelorette has weakened. The Bachelorette (and the other Bachelor franchise shows) is notorious for not being a particularly beneficial lead-in, so I think a show that can put up passable ratings at 10 in the summer is a renewal favorite in spite of that mediocre lead-in retention. It LEANS RENEWAL.
Generation Gap: Generation Gap is the #1 new summer series this season. That doesn't really say all that much, given the diminishing returns of summer newbies this year, but the show has certainly been decent summer fare so far. It's managed to buck the trend of ABC game shows nosediving post-premiere, tying its premiere rating for its most recent airing. ABC also seems to be behind the show, as repeats of the show are scheduled as part of ABC's Tuesday lineup. It's a LIKELY RENEWAL.
The Final Straw: The newest member of the ABC Sunday lineup, The Final Straw debuted with a 0.42 in the key demo, a rating that would seem passable if not for the strong 0.7 lead-in it enjoyed. It held up decently with a 0.34 in week two as Feud slid two tenths, but still paled in comparison to Pyramid, which gained a half-tenth despite airing in a later time slot. By week four, the show had already been shifted to 10 PM as ABC upgraded Pyramid's time slot. In the slot, Pyramid has retained Feud far better than Final Straw, as Straw hasn't matched pyramid's 10 PM performance. There is little reason to expect that this show will be seen again after its first season wraps. It's a LIKELY CANCELLATION.
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!
