NBC 2020-21 Renew/Cancel Wrap-Up: Thoughts on Good Girls, Manifest, Zoey’s Playlist, Debris and More

After what feels like an eternity, NBC has finally made renewal decisions on all of its scripted originals from the 2020-21 TV season. Read on to see my thoughts on their decisions and the state of NBC as a whole. 

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist Canceled by NBC

Some not-so-extraordinary news for Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist: the musical dramedy has canceled by NBC after two seasons. The show drew absymal ratings on NBC, slipping as low as 0.2 and averaging 0.37 so far this season. A seemingly-solid streaming performane and critical acclaim (the show has Emmy buzz and NBC has been pushing it for consideration) gave the show some hope despite the low ratings, but neither were enough to save it. It will wrap on May 16 after twenty-five episodes. Jane Levy, Mary Steenburgen, Skylar Astin, Alex Newell, John Clarence Stewart, Andrew Leeds and Alice Lee star in the series. Attempts to move the series to NBC streaming network Peacock, which delayed the renewal decision, have also fallen through.

Sunday TV Ratings 5/16/21: Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, The Rookie and Family Guy End Down, Good Girls and NCIS Los Angeles Steady (UPDATED)

Preliminary Analysis: With its fate still up in the air, NBC's 'Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist' (0.2) lost a tenth for its season finale, two-tenths below last year's closer (0.4). 'Ellen's Game of Games' (0.3) also shed a tenth in the 8pm slot, but 'Good Girls' (0.3) tied its previous broadcast at 10. CBS saw some slippage early in the night with '60 Minutes' (0.5, -0.1) and 'The Equalizer' (0.6, -0.1), but 'NCIS: Los Angeles' (0.6) and 'NCIS: New Orleans' (0.5) were able to match their week-ago showings. 'AFV' (0.6), 'American Idol' (0.7), and recently-renewed 'Rookie' (0.5) all ticked down on ABC, with 'Idol' down about a tenth-and-a-half and the other two losing a tenth. Fox's animated sitcom 'The Simpsons' (0.4, +0.1) rebounded after last week's series low, despite its 'Bless the Harts' lead-in (0.2, -0.05) losing a few hundredths. 'The Great North' (0.3) held even for its season finale as 'Bob's Burgers' (0.4, -0.1) and the 'Family Guy' finale (0.4, -0.1) lost a notch. The CW got another pair of 0.1s out of dramas 'Legends of Tomorrow' and 'Batwoman'. 

Finals Update: 'American Idol' (0.8, +0.1), 'The Equalizer' (0.7, +0.1), 'AFV' (0.7, +0.1), 'Bob's Burgers' (0.5, +0.1), 'Good Girls' (0.4, +0.1), and the 'Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist' finale (0.3, +0.1) adjusted up.

Sunday TV Ratings 5/9/21: The Simpsons Hits Series Low, The Rookie Ties Season High, Family Guy and Bobs Burgers Rise (UPDATED)

Preliminary Analysis: Fresh off of a three-week break, Fox's 'The Simpsons' (0.3) crashed to an awful new series low, barely building from a steady 'Bless the Harts' (0.2). What made matters worse for the yellow family is that fellow veterans 'Bob's Burgers' (0.5) and 'Family Guy' (0.5) were each up a tenth, posting their strongest ratings in a month. In the midst, 'The Great North' (0.3) held even in the 8:30 slot, pulling into a tie with 'Simpsons'. ABC's 'American Idol' (0.8) matched its last episode but lead-in 'AFV' (0.6) and lead-out 'The Rookie' (0.6) each picked up a tenth. CBS saw one-tenth declines across the board for '60 Minutes' (0.5), 'The Equalizer' (0.6), and 'NCIS: Los Angeles' (0.5). At 10, 'NCIS: New Orleans' (0.5) managed to avoid slipping. NBC aired an 'American Ninja Warrior' special (0.3) that failed to improve from the usual 'Ellen's Game of Games'. 'Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist' (0.2) inched down at 9 but 'Good Girls' (0.3) grew from there. 'Legends of Tomorrow' (0.1) and 'Batwoman' (0.1) were unchanged on the CW. 

Finals Update: 'America's Funniest Home Videos' (+0.1), 'American Idol' (+0.1), '60 Minutes' (+0.1), 'The Equalizer' (+0.1), 'NCIS: Los Angeles' (+0.1), 'American Ninja Warrior' (+0.1), 'Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist' (+0.1), and 'Bless the Harts' (+0.1) adjusted up.

NBC Renew/Cancel Week 21: Final Calls for Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Manifest, Debris, Good Girls & More

It's been fun, but all good seasons must come to an end. I've had some big successes and some big misses on this season of the NBC Renew/Cancel, and there's still seven shows remaining. It all comes down to this, the final update to the NBC Renew/Cancel of the 2020-21 TV season. Keep reading to see my final predictions for every broadcast show.