It's been a long season, and nearly all the dust has settled at ABC. The network has just one show left to decide - Doctor Odyssey. That's been the case for nearly a month, but the final decisions will be made by all of the networks within the next two weeks, so it's time to take one last look at Doctor Odyssey before ABC makes its final call on it!
Certain Cancellation:
N/A
Likely Cancellation:
Doctor Odyssey (0.27, 0.22-0.40)
Leans Cancellation:
N/A
Leans Renewal:
N/A
Likely Renewal:
N/A
Certain Renewal:
N/A
Already Ending:
The Conners
Already Renewed:
9-1-1
Abbott Elementary
Grey's Anatomy
High Potential
The Rookie
Shifting Gears
Will Trent
Doctor Odyssey: Not a whole lot has changed in the two weeks since I last looked at Doctor Odyssey. The show did hit a new series low of 0.20 in the key 18-49 demo, the lowest rating of any scripted series on ABC that week, with Grey's Anatomy rising a few hundredths behind it. Doctor Odyssey was already in a tough position before that, and while one bad L+SD datapoint certainly won't kill a show on its own, it's a sign of just how weak Doctor Odyssey really is. This is a show that premiered to a 0.40, so plenty of people sampled it to begin with, but many just lost interest along the way. It's wasting the strong 9-1-1 lead-in, with its season average being 65% of 9-1-1's average. Retention has been even worse in recent weeks, holding around 60% of 9-1-1. Its performance on Hulu is also concerning, being the only drama on ABC to regularly drop off their TV chart in a typical week, spending only four or five days a week in the top fifteen since returning from the midseason break. That lines up with what we've seen from the multiplatform data we've seen so far, where Doctor Odyssey is their worst-performing drama. It's also the only show on ABC not renewed by now, which is not a good sign. ABC clearly isn't that thrilled by what they're seeing, or it would've been renewed with the other shows, including fellow freshman Shifting Gears, at the start of April. It's possible they're debating over episode count, or trying to figure out a way to lower costs, but that was also said to be a reason for Poppa's House not being renewed yet. That show was canceled last week, because such negotiations already happening in only season one is never a good sign. I expect the same fate for Doctor Odyssey. The series is just not needed by ABC, with Ryan Murphy's new show, 9-1-1: Nashville, being an obvious choice to replace it on the schedule, and there being no other obvious time slot for Doctor Odyssey. They could move it to 10, but ratings would likely be disastrous, and it would dislodge Grey's Anatomy, already renewed for another season, from its longtime Thursday home (though this was its first season in that particular slot). Also concerning for Doctor Odyssey is its exclusion from this ad. It's the only ABC scripted series not included in the ad, aside from The Conners, which already ended its final season. Even shows that have long wrapped for the season, like Shifting Gears and High Potential, were included in this ad, as were a few reality series. While being excluded from one single ad might not seem like much, and could just be a simple oversight, promos are sometimes a good indicator of what shows a network is bringing back. Doctor Odyssey did have a big promo campaign for its midseason return, but once it stopped working, and it ran out of big stunt episodes, they began to promote it less. Now, it's the only show left out of a promo that nearly every show on the network is included in. To me, that's a bad sign, one of many for this show. Deadline reported that the season one finale would work as a series finale, so even the creative team seems to acknowledge that there's at least a chance it won't be back. While ABC and Disney do seem to absolutely love Ryan Murphy, and may be more willing to give a second chance to a struggling show just because it comes from him, I think they're going to cut their losses and focus on the 9-1-1 franchise instead. It ends the season as a LIKELY CANCELLATION. Chance of renewal: 30%
Interactive Schedule:
| The TV Ratings Guide | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | American Idol | Paradise | ||||
| Tues | Will Trent | The Rookie | Bad Romance | |||
| Wed | The Conners | Abbott Elementary | Celebrity Jeopardy! | What Would You Do? | ||
| Thurs | 9-1-1 | Doctor Odyssey | Grey's Anatomy | |||
| Fri | Shark Tank | 20/20 | ||||
| Sun | American Idol | The $100,000 Pyramid | ||||
Renewed
Certain Renew
Likely Renew
Leans Renew
Leans Cancel
Likely Cancel
Certain Cancel
Canceled
What do you think of my final predictions? What are your predictions? Let me know in the comments and vote in the final poll of the week of the 2024-25 season!
