This week on the ABC Renew/Cancel, it's time for another look at Alaska Daily, which hasn't been discussed since it returned from its lengthy hiatus earlier this month. Plus, a further look at ABC's freshman comedy Not Dead Yet.
Certain Cancellation:
N/A
Likely Cancellation:
Alaska Daily (0.23, 0.17-0.32)
The Company You Keep (0.26, 0.23-0.29)
Leans Cancellation:
N/A
Leans Renewal:
Big Sky (0.25, 0.19-0.31)
Home Economics (0.35, 0.30-0.41)
Not Dead Yet (0.34, 0.25-0.44)
Will Trent (0.30, 0.25-0.38)
Likely Renewal:
The Good Doctor (0.32, 0.25-0.39)
The Rookie: Feds (0.30, 0.21-0.44)
Certain Renewal:
The Conners (0.51, 0.39-0.61)
Grey's Anatomy (0.47, 0.40-0.55)
The Rookie (0.43, 0.27-0.64)
Station 19 (0.49, 0.44-0.53)
Already Canceled/Ending:
A Million Little Things
The Goldbergs
Already Renewed:
Abbott Elementary
Coming Soon:
The Wonder Years
Alaska Daily: ABC's Golden Globe-nominated new drama ended its fall run with a 0.23 average, and it has held steady there in the month since its midseason return. In spite of it merely holding stable, it has managed to look a bit better in the second half of its season, thanks to its Grey's Anatomy lead-in declining by a good deal in the same time. In fact, the last time Grey's Anatomy drew a 0.40 in the ratings, Alaska Daily was at 0.17. This year, it got a 0.22 behind a 0.40 from Grey's, and hasn't dipped below a 0.20 since. That is not to saw that I think this will be enough to save the show. While it hasn't gotten nearly as ugly, ratings-wise, as that 0.17 in the fall suggested it might, these 0.2s are still poor enough to be ABC's lowest-rated show, save for the already-ending A Million Little Things. While it has happened before (such as Fox renewing Welcome to Flatch just last season), it is very rare for networks to renew their lowest-rated show. They need to make room for new shows somewhere, and even with Alaska Daily looking less horrible than it did in the fall, a mild improvement is not sign to stop it from being among the first shows they look to cut. It remains a LIKELY CANCELLATION.
Not Dead Yet: After two weeks below the 0.30 mark, and a ratings trend that was borderline ugly, Not Dead Yet managed an uptick last week as it heads into a weeks-long hiatus. 0.31 is still not great - it's only a single hundredth above Home Economics' season low - but it's definitely better than the weeks before it, and it's encouraging to see the show rise alongside its fellow Wednesday comedies. In fact, it gained exactly as much in the demo as its lead-in, Abbott Elementary. It's promising that the show is able to improve when placed in better circumstances, even if its retention of Abbott isn't anything impressive. With the show seemingly doing well on Hulu, and ABC still nurturing it (they aren't airing new episodes behind repeats of the other sitcoms, even though it has more episodes remaining than those shows do), a renewal continues to look like the most likely outcome. ABC has three comedy pilots for next season, and a comedy expansion seems off the table, so I do think Not Dead Yet is fighting for a slot with Home Economics, with only one show likely to survive to next season. I'm not ready to predict either as having a definitive advantage over the other one as of now, but Not Dead Yet sure seems to have the edge, and a solid return in April would solidify it. It still LEANS RENEWAL.
What do you think of my prediction? What are your predictions? Let me know in the comments and vote in the poll of the week!
