Below is the table for Week 3 of CBS Renew/Cancel. Underneath that is a discussion for the two new entries, The Price Is Right At Night and Lotería Loca. Finally, this column discusses the possibility of CBS using the Super Bowl to give one of their veteran scripted series a final season announcement. Let us know what you think by voting in the poll and leaving a comment!
Note: Survivor’s prediction is for the 2024-25 season, as it already has a cycle confirmed for spring 2024. The Amazing Race has an upcoming cycle that was filmed before the one currently airing; this prediction is for any cycle following that cycle.
The Price Is Right At Night
The Price Is Right At Night premiered to a 0.36 Live + Same Day Adults 18-49 rating on a night that concluded with Lotería Loca (0.23) and a rerun of NCIS (0.09). Given how well The Price Is Right At Night did in comparison, it’s easy to overlook just how poorly it did compared to its airings on Wednesdays this past spring. It works well as solid filler when needed, but that’s not enough to assume it as an automatic lock for renewal. Still, it has to be one of the cheapest shows on CBS’s schedule, yet far from the lowest-rated. It starts as a Likely Renew, ahead of The Amazing Race due to its ability to come in as filler on short notice.
Lotería Loca
Lotería Loca struggled in its premiere, with only 64% retention from The Price Is Right At Night and reportedly a poor half-hour breakdown as well. After all, it did tank the rerun of NCIS at 10 pm. Lotería Loca was always going to be hit-or-miss. Few shows on American television in recent history have had Spanish names; most shows adapted from Latin America had name changes when they came to America (think Jane The Virgin). NBC did air a short-lived comedy called Telenovela after the first season of Superstore, but ‘televovela’ is a word that most if not all Americans recognize. While it’s quite possible more people know the translation of Lotería Loca (crazy lottery) than what NCIS stands for (can you guess in the comments without looking it up?), it’s still a fairly unrecognizable name for the network that was meaning to bring us a revival of Matlock on a night with a reimagining of The Equalizer and a new CSI spinoff.
So far, Lotería Loca is looking like a failed experiment, and makes you wonder if it’ll actually air at 8 pm on Mondays starting mid-November like originally planned. Leading into two hours of NCIS reruns, CBS would quite possibly be settling for a night of 0.1s. Either way, it’s hard to see Lotería Loca returning for a Season 2. I won’t immediately send it to Certain Cancel in case it improves, but its chances are not looking great so far.
Will The WGA and SAG-AFRTRA Strikes Mean All Veteran Shows Are Safe?
The two strikes, one of which is still ongoing, has dramatically decreased episode counts for returning series and pushed the anticipated start date of the traditional season back to as late as February or March 2024. If CBS is lucky, they can use the Super Bowl to launch their short season — one that may or may not include new shows not named Tracker. This pretty much takes off the table any chance of CBS cleaning house this season. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean everything will be renewed, either.
We already know that this is the final season of S.W.A.T., a show canceled in 2023, then renewed for a short final season, and now against all likelihood make it to 2024. It’s also highly likely that this is the final season of Bob Hearts Abishola. But what about Blue Bloods, a show that took forever to get renewed and only did so when everyone (including Tom Selleck) took a 30% pay cut? What about Young Sheldon, whose canon is nearing its end? After all, (HBO) Max is developing a new spinoff of The Big Bang Theory. Less likely, what about CSI: Vegas, a chronically low-rated show whose cancelation may very well wrap up the CSI franchise?
This would not be the first time CBS used the Super Bowl to announce the final season of a show. Two CBS Super Bowl airings ago, they aired a promo announcing the current season as the final season of The Good Wife. What will stop them from doing the same this season?