This week on the NBC Renew/Cancel, I take another look at NBC's reformed Monday night lineup, including positive news for a new comedy and further thoughts on the future prospects of a long-valued veteran reality staple.
Certain Cancellation:
Brilliant Minds (0.14, 0.11-0.18)
Leans Cancellation:
The Hunting Party (0.16, 0.10-0.22)
On Brand with Jimmy Fallon (0.17, 0.14-0.22)
Stumble (0.20, 0.11-0.61)
The Wall (0.16, 0.12-0.19)
Leans Renewal:
Law & Order (0.25, 0.20-0.27)
Likely Renewal:
The Voice (0.29, 0.20-0.42)
Certain Renewal:
Chicago Fire (0.34, 0.29-0.39)
Chicago Med (0.34, 0.28-0.39)
Chicago PD (0.29, 0.25-0.34)
Dateline NBC (0.19, 0.15-0.20)
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins (0.48, 0.25-1.38)
Law & Order: SVU (0.30, 0.21-0.33)
Saturday Night Live (0.64, 0.43-0.91)
Already Renewed:
Happy's Place (0.25, 0.18-0.33)
St. Denis Medical (0.31, 0.24-0.37)
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins: NBC's scheduling of Reggie Dinkins was, by no means, guaranteed to be a ratings touchdown. They've had minimal success with 8:30 comedies recently, even if they've found solid 8 PM sitcoms. It was clearly always the plan for Reggie to launch midseason after the Olympics, and at the time that was decided, NBC didn't know how well St. Denis Medical would hold up. St. Denis was a show that slid from a 0.51 to a 0.22 in a single season, and it spent the last four episodes of its run in the 0.2 range. Well, St. Denis has really proven itself this season, and hasn't yet touched its series low. Since Reggie came along, it's been in the 0.3 range, and has been a strong lead-in for it. Even with a weaker result this week, it's still well ahead of its season one low, and is actually up a bit year-to-year. What was once a risky scheduling move has proven to make for a match made in heaven. St. Denis and Reggie work perfectly together, with Reggie retaining at least 85% of St. Denis's ratings. Reggie might not be a huge hit like NBC had in their heyday, but it certainly looks like NBC has found another genuinely successful comedy, their third in two seasons. This week, Reggie slipped to a 0.25, which is its worst showing so far, but still not that far below the 0.28 it hit in its second week on the air. It's also a rating that plenty of other successful NBC shows - from the Chicagos to SVU - have either hit or gone below. It's not a rating that will get Reggie Dinkins canceled this season. As The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins gets closer to its finale, I now have zero doubt it'll earn a second season. I wouldn't even be surprised if the renewal came in the next few weeks, before its two-episode finale. Reggie Dinkins has proven itself enough to earn an upgrade to certain renewal status.
The Voice: This has not been a great season for The Voice, but at least it's almost over, and it hasn't dropped to any lows that we haven't already seen before. The Voice is no longer an event series. It's just another show. While the budget is pretty high for a reality show - hence recent budget cuts, like this year's entirely pre-recorded season - you can't deny that NBC has improved Monday nights with a combination of their two single-cam sitcoms and a two-hour Voice behind them. The Voice is doing far better than Brilliant Minds would've done in this slot, and is a big year-to-year improvement on The Hunting Party. It could've been a disaster airing the show into 10 PM with a format change (its series low came for an episode that aired from 9-11 on Monday nights in the fall), but it's doing OK. This is a show that has clearly aged, and as I've said many times this season, probably needs to be cut to a single cycle a year. It doesn't have a ton of gas left in the tank, but I don't think it's struggling enough that they're going to suddenly cancel it - even though this season has declined with each passing week. A "final season" announcement isn't outside the real of possibility, or the show could be left off the fall schedule, but I don't think this is where it ends. It remains a likely renewal.
NBC Renew/Cancel March Madness:
Interactive Schedule:
| The TV Ratings Guide | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | St. Denis Medical | Reggie Dinkins | The Voice | Brilliant Minds | ||
| Tues | NBA on NBC | |||||
| Wed | Chicago Med | Chicago Fire | Chicago PD | |||
| Thurs | Law & Order | Law & Order: SVU | The Hunting Party | |||
| Fri | Happy's Place | Stumble | Dateline NBC | |||
| Sat | Encores | |||||
| Sun | Sunday Night Basketball | |||||
