Certain Cancellation:
Brilliant Minds (0.23, 0.17-0.29)
The Irrational (0.18, 0.10-0.31)
Leans Cancellation:
Found (0.22, 0.18-0.29)
Suits LA (0.24)
Leans Renewal:
N/A
Likely Renewal:
Law & Order (0.31, 0.25-0.36)
Certain Renewal:
Chicago Fire (0.40, 0.35-0.48)
Chicago Med (0.41, 0.33-0.48)
Chicago PD (0.36, 0.30-0.48)
Law & Order: SVU (0.36, 0.29-0.49)
Saturday Night Live (0.88, 0.55-2.17)
Renewed:
Happy's Place
St. Denis Medical
Suits LA: NBC put together an extremely bold Sunday night lineup when they announced their midseason schedule. With an untested docuseries leading off the night (and hardly guaranteed to be a ratings winner) and two incompatible dramas airing back to back, it's impossible to really know what NBC expected of this night. This lineup felt more like an attempt of airing all of their remaining shows that didn't fit into the Monday-Friday schedule than them trying to be competitive on Sunday nights, considering how poorly it flows together. Still, The Americas started off the night with strong 0.4s at both 7 and 8, giving the dramas a strong launchpad. Suits LA completely squandered that launchpad, with just a 0.24 rating behind a 0.42 from The Americas. As I said, these aren't exactly the most compatible of shows, but 57% retention is still terrible. Found is holding SVU better than that, and even the most recent Irrational episode had better retention from Deal or No Deal Island than that. Suits LA was heavily promoted, and is a spinoff of a well-known show. It was given every opportunity for success, and it still badly underperformed. I'm not sure there was anything NBC could've done to make this show successful. It's been over a year since Suits had a popularity resurgence on Netflix, and many people have moved on. They didn't strike while the iron was hot (which would've been hard in the first place - you can't exactly develop a TV show and get it on the air in only a few months). Suits itself wasn't all that popular in its original run on linear TV, performing well enough for a cable network but not on the level of a broadcast series. Most of its current fans came to know of it only after being added to streaming, so I'm not sure if NBC was the right place for a spinoff to air at all. As of right now, the only Suits alum confirmed for an appearance on this "spinoff" is Gabriel Macht, Harvey on the original Suits, who will appear in three episodes (show runners claim more stars will appear, though the level of their involvement, or who they are, was not disclosed). I'm not sure if brief appearances from one or two alum is enough to bring in Suits fans, especially when a more traditional Suits spinoff (Pearson, which aired during Suits' original run) was a total misfire on USA Network. In all, I think this spinoff may have felt like a good idea to NBC, capitalizing on the newfound popularity of a Universal TV property, but I think it was ill-advised. For as successful as Suits was on streaming, Suits LA doesn't seem to be delivering on streaming. Since its debut, it charted on Peacock's top ten list for just a single day, at #9 on Tuesday. With a poor debut rating, tepid streaming performance, and NBC being challenged for space (Sunday nights will be taken over by NBA next spring on NBC), I'm not seeing many positive indicators for Suits LA. I do still think it's more in contention for a renewal than The Hunting Party (which rates about the same with a slightly better lead-in), Brilliant Minds (which is in a similar boat as The Hunting Party and is also only partially owned), and Grosse Pointe Garden Society (more on that below), so it's the new drama best-positioned for a renewal. However, I don't expect NBC to give a pity renewal to a drama to save face - they've already renewed two comedies that have done better than any of these dramas, and they don't have the space on the schedule to hand more seasons to poor performers just for the sake of avoiding embarrassment. This leads me to star Suits LA as LEANS CANCELLATION. It's not dead yet, but it's just not looking good so far.
Grosse Pointe Garden Society: Premiering just behind Suits LA was Grosse Pointe Garden Society. Just based on NBC handing it the absolute worst time slot on broadcast TV (with the possible exception of Sundays at 7 PM), it was already looking like an underdog for renewal on a crowded NBC that desperately needs to slim down next season. With that scheduling, the network made it clear that this show was not a priority, and I don't think they ever had high expectations for it. With a 0.24 lead-in (0.22 at 9:30, to be more precise), the show didn't have a strong launchpad. Unlike Suits LA, we can't exactly say Grosse Pointe squandered a strong lead-in. However, that doesn't make a 0.17 premiere acceptable. Out of the starting gate, it's the lowest-rated scripted series on a Big Three network, slightly below the season average of The Irrational. When you include Fox, a network whose standards are ever-lowering in recent seasons, Grosse Pointe is the third-lowest scripted show on broadcast TV. That is... not good. The show is also DOA on streaming, not once charting in the top ten on Peacock since its debut. NBC didn't seem to care how this show did, and it was clearly an afterthought. As a result, its ratings performance was terrible. I don't know if you could've expected much higher from this show under the circumstances, but this is a very underwhelming debut, and there's little chance that Grosse Pointe Garden Society will be anywhere but six feet under the ground by the end of this season. It starts as a LIKELY CANCELLATION, and that's being optimistic.
Happy's Place: Last week, Happy's Place was renewed for a second season. The renewal news came out before last week's NBC Renew/Cancel was released, but I didn't see it until after it was posted, so I'm going to include my brief thoughts on the renewal here. Happy's Place hasn't been the most consistent performer for NBC, with ratings up and down with each passing week, but with a 0.27 average, it's done pretty well for a Friday night sitcom. It was an expected renewal, and one that I think was deserved. We'll see how its scheduled next season, though I'm hoping to see it remain in place leading off Friday nights. No need to fix what isn't broken.
Interactive Schedule:
| The TV Ratings Guide | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | The Voice | The Hunting Party | ||||
| Tues | St. Denis Medical | Night Court | Deal or No Deal Island | The Irrational | ||
| Wed | Chicago Med | Chicago Fire | Chicago PD | |||
| Thurs | Law & Order | Law & Order: SVU | Found | |||
| Fri | Happy's Place | Lopez vs Lopez | Dateline NBC | |||
| Sun | The Americas | Suits LA | Grosse Pointe Garden Society | |||
What do you think of my predictions? Let me know in the comments and vote in the poll of the week!
