It's been years since TVRG has covered cable networks in our series of Renew/Cancels, but it's time to bring it back, with all major cable networks now being included under the umbrella of our new Cable Renew/Cancel! Keep reading for predictions on the fates of series from FX, HBO, TBS, AMC, Showtime and more!
American Dad!: The only scripted show remaining on TBS, American Dad truly seems to be nearing its end. The long-running animated sitcom from Seth MacFarlane is part of a bygone era of TBS and Warner cable networks in general, from an era where they actually valued and programmed scripted shows. TNT, TruTV and OWN have all abandoned scripted by this point (though TNT is set to debut a few new dramas next year), and American Dad is the only show keeping them from joining them in their scripted purge. It's a sad end to a long run, and it's hard to imagine that American Dad will be the show that survives the purge. It's running against the wind, and I'm not betting on it. Its last renewal came three years ago, before the Warner Bros. Discovery merger was complete, and before the the much-maligned CEO David Zaslav took the reins on Warner's assets. Zaslav's tenure has been controversial among fans of various scripted programs, after he ordered the cull of scripted on various Warner properties, and purged programming from Max, including writing off several unreleased - but completed - projects for tax purposes. Few new scripted shows have been ordered at the Warner Bros. Discovery cable networks in the time since Zaslav's leadership began, nearly all of them being at HBO, and the development of several projects on these networks from the pre-Zaslav era was canceled before making it to air. That American Dad was even able to air for this many years after the merger is a miracle in itself. In fact, Warner Bros. Discovery tried to get out of their existing contract for American Dad years ago, per the Wall Street Journal, but later abandoned that idea, perhaps thanks to the urging of the powerful company that produces American Dad, Disney. Either way, that contract is now over. American Dad is set to run out of episodes in March, at the close of its current season, and it's hard to imagine TBS ordering more episodes of a show they were itching to abandon just a few years ago. American Dad being an animated show also complicates matters. These shows are well-documented for having a lengthy turnaround time on production, with early renewals often granted to these shows to keep them from running out of episodes and needing long hiatuses. If TBS had a change of heart on American Dad, we likely would've heard about it by now. Ratings have been poor this season, consistently below the 0.10 mark, so ratings are unlikely to help change TBS's mind. There are almost no positive signs for this show. American Dad has had an excellent - if unorthodox - run, and I wouldn't be entirely shocked to see it pop up in the future on one of the many networks or streamers that make up the Disney empire. For the purposes of TBS, though, it's a LIKELY CANCELLATION.
The Franchise: Another Warner Bros. Discovery show, though one airing on the company's crown jewel HBO, is The Franchise. This comedy wrapped its first season nearly a full month ago with little fanfare. Despite boasting an impressive cast of comedy veterans and being produced by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (who also directed the pilot), the show didn't make much of a splash during its run, barely registering in the ratings, with ratings at 0.01 or even lower, even though its lead-in was rating in the 0.06-0.08 range. Its streaming performance was fairly weak as well, rarely rising into the top five on Max despite having minimal scripted competition on the service. Below Sunday comedy Somebody Somewhere performed better on both Max and in the Nielsen ratings, and that she was announced as ending performance the third season began, likely an HBO/Warner Bros. Discovery decision. If that show, which is probably also quite a bit cheaper than The Franchise and got awards attention, wasn't doing enough to score a renewal, it's hard to imagine that The Franchise can pull it off. The longer that the show is left to wait for a renewal, the more unlikely it seems. Dune: Prophecy was just renewed before its finale even aired, so waiting at least a month for news just makes The Franchise's situation all that much more dire, especially when you consider that Dune: Prophecy premiered nearly two months after The Franchise premiered. It's a LIKELY CANCELLATION.
Everybody Still Hates Chris: A revival - with an animated twist - of the popular UPN/CW sitcom from the mid-2000s, Everybody Still Hates Chris launched in September, with the network flying through ten episodes in just five weeks. Ratings were low, premiering to a paltry 0.05 in the key demo, going as low as 0.03 and as high as 0.07 over its run. Comedy Central ratings aren't all that high to begin with anymore, but South Park is still able to command an audience, and even Digman performed a bit better, despite not being a revival (albeit an unorthodox one) of a well-known sitcom. Digman's the last show to premiere on Comedy Central, and it received a renewal on the day of its season finale. Everybody Still Hates Chris finished airing two months ago, and we've received zero word on its future, and it hasn't been added to Paramount+ yet. It is said to have ten more episodes yet to air, so perhaps news will come then, but as I said above, animation has a long turnaround time, and Comedy Central does have ten episodes of data to help them make a decision, so you would expect them to have renewed it by now if they intended to get it back on the air in a timely manner. I think this one could really go either way, but there are more signs pointing to cancellation than renewal, so it LEANS CANCELLATION.
English Teacher: It's a bit of a surprise that this acclaimed comedy has not yet been renewed, more than two months ago. First-run ratings weren't high at all, starting at 0.06 and ending on a lowly 0.02, but nearly every FX show rates on the low end these days, even popular, long-running shows like What We Do In The Shadows and American Horror Story. It seemed to perform decently well on streaming, cracking the top 15 on Hulu several times during its run, though it seemed to do worse than other entries like Shadows or Ryan Murphy productions Grotesquerie and American Sports Story. The show's key argument for renewal, however, is its critical acclaim. The show is at an excellent 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 83 on Metacritic, receiving Critics Choice Award nominations this month. Acclaim doesn't pay the bills, but FX prides itself on producing quality shows, and they usually treat potential Emmy contenders very well, as those nominations do bring some increased attention to their shows and gives them more "prestige." English Teacher consists of a cast of relative unknowns, and has a simple premise that doesn't entail expensive sets or special effects, so costs are probably fairly low. All this considered, I think it's a fairly safe bet for renewal, though the long wait since its finale makes me less certain than I otherwise would be. It LEANS RENEWAL, though it's on the safer end of that category.
What do you think of my predictions? What are your predictions? Let me know and vote in the poll, and feel free to ask for the reasoning for any of my predictions that I didn't explain this week!
