It's the end of the line for one of the two remaining original members of the TGIT lineup. The Viola Davis-led soap How To Get Away With Murder will come to an end with the upcoming season, the show's sixth. HTGAWM was a big hit when it debuted in 2014, but it steadily faded and was consistently one of the weaker performers last season among the shows that have been renewed. The show averaged a 0.67, a nearly 30% decline from the previous season. Viola Davis won an Emmy Award for the series for her work on season one, and recurring guest star Cicely Tyson has been frequently nominated for an Emmy for Guest Actress. The show has occupied the Thursdays at 10 PM slot since its debut, and will end there next season.
What do you think of this news? Will you miss How To Get Away With Murder when it ends next season? Let us know in the comments below!
This wasn't the most exciting week on ABC, where the most notable rating was either Schooled's weaker performance or the third consecutive 1.1 for A Million Little Things. Still, we have new predictions, and a couple of shows to talk about.
Format for predictions:
Show title (average 18-49 rating, season low-season high)
Certain to be Canceled Likely to be Canceled
The Kids are Alright (1.0, 0.8-1.4)
Single Parents (0.9, 0.7-1.3)
Splitting Up Together (0.7, 0.6-0.9) Toss-Up
Likely to be Renewed
Fresh Off the Boat (0.6, 0.5-0.7)
How to Get Away with Murder (0.7, 0.6-0.8)
Modern Family (1.3, 1.2-1.6)
The Rookie (0.8, 0.6-1.0)
Speechless (0.5, 0.4-0.6)
Station 19 (1.0, 0.8-1.3)
Certain to be Renewed
American Housewife (1.0, 0.9-1.2)
Black-ish (0.9, 0.8-1.1)
The Conners (1.6, 1.3-2.4)
The Goldbergs (1.2, 1.0-1.4)
The Good Doctor (1.1, 1.0-1.3)
Grey's Anatomy (1.7, 1.5-1.9)
A Million Little Things (0.9, 0.7-1.1)
Schooled (1.1, 1.0-1.3)
How to Get Away with Murder: With a couple of 0.6s, How to Get Away with Murder really looks like it's nearing the end of its run. However, since ABC produces it, I think they will want to give the show a conclusion, so that it is more valuable in streaming. I think that the most likely future for How to Get Away with Murder is a final season of 8 or 10 episodes. It may return to its usual timeslot in the fall, or it might be held off for later in the season or shipped off to another night. But, I expect one last season for the show.
Schooled: The Goldbergs spin-off had its weakest result yet this week, dropping while The Goldbergs rose. However, we can't hold one week against it, and even at this level it looks like a show that ABC would renew. It's going to take worse ratings then this for me to be concerned that it may get canceled.
What do you think of my predictions? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
ABC has renewed Viola Davis-starring Shondaland legal thriller How to Get Away with Murder for a fifth season.
The series remained fairly stable over the course of its fourth season, where it remained in its Thursday at 10:00 timeslot, airing in the fall and winter as usual. This is a correct prediction for The TV Ratings Guide.
What do you think of this news? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
This week on ABC, TGIT returned. Meanwhile, I have also downgraded a show in my predictions. This January is getting more interesting than I thought it would be.
Format for predictions:
Show title (average 18-49 rating, season low-high) Certain to be Canceled
Likely to be Canceled
Inhumans (0.6, 0.4-0.9)
Kevin Probably Saves the World (0.7, 0.6-1.0)
Toss-Up
Speechless (1.2, 1.0-1.4)
Likely to be Renewed
Agents of SHIELD (0.6, 0.5-0.7)
Designated Survivor (0.8, 0.7-1.1)
Fresh Off the Boat (1.1, 0.9-1.4)
Once Upon a Time (0.5, 0.5-0.7)
Certain to be Renewed
American Housewife (1.3, 1.0-1.6)
Black-ish (1.1, 1.0-1.5)
The Good Doctor (1.9, 1.6-2.2)
Grey's Anatomy (2.0, 1.8-2.3)*
How to Get Away with Murder (0.9, 0.9-1.1)*
Fate Determined
The Goldbergs (RENEWED)
The Mayor (DE-FACTO CANCELED)
The Middle (FINAL SEASON)
Modern Family (RENEWED)
Scandal (FINAL SEASON)
Ten Days in the Valley (DE-FACTO CANCELED)
*Ratings for Thursday, January 18 are preliminary.
How to Get Away with Murder: While its ratings haven't been all that strong this season, How to Get Away with Murder had remained steady for the most part, staying in the 0.9-1.0 range post-premiere. Those numbers are still just fine for a ABC drama, even one whose year-to-year trends aren't always so good. So, I would definitely expect it to be back next season.
Kevin Probably Saves the World: ABC's support of Kevin Probably may have just come to an end. This upcoming Tuesday, Match Game will be repeated in the show's timeslot. Originally, a Kevin Probably repeat was planned (as can be seen when looking at the show's listings on The Futon Critic). This change in scheduling makes it look like ABC is done trying to make this show work, and as a result I am more pessimistic about its chances. I think a renewal is still possible in a worst case scenario spring. But, looking at things right now, it seems unlikely that Kevin Probably will make it out of this season alive.
Speechless: Like last week, ABC opted not to promote Speechless this week. Still, also like last week, it gave one of its stronger performances in the ratings. So, the show's chances are still very uncertain.
What do you think of my predictions? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Welcome to a segment I call "The Future of the Night". The format is I take a look at a night on the network's schedule, see what could use improvement, and come up with scenarios which could potentially solve it. First, I present a short argument as to why it could work, then play Devil's Advocate with my reasoning, and then present the bottom line. Enjoy, and fee free to leave your opinions by leaving a comment!
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Just last year, ABC Thursday was Must-See TV. It went by many names: Shondaland, TGIT, Shonda Thursday, etc. Now, Grey's Anatomy remains on top of ABC's ratings, now their #1 drama, but Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder have fallen mightily. Scandal is no longer the show that seemingly there's someone walkabout about it at all times, and many associate a decline in quality with the ratings decline. At 10pm, the highly serialized nature of How to Get Away with Murder may have lost many old fans. In addition, spring replacement The Catch premiered to very low ratings, and is definitely not a force that can bring TGIT back up to where it once was. Thursday is far from being ABC's worst day, but it's also far away from its heyday not too long ago (in raw and relative ratings).
Option 1: Stay Steady
Why It Will Work: With Sunday and Tuesday being a mess, as well as holes on Monday and even Wednesday, does ABC really have the time to mess with Thursday? A network can only move so much in a season. Grey's Anatomy and Scandal are both expected to be above-average performers
next season, and Murder is still ABC's #1 10m show, so why not keep the block together?
Why It Won't: With declines like this, by next season How to Get Away with Murder risks going fractional. How do you promote the block as "Thank God It's Thursday" with ratings like that? Additionally, The Catch indicates that Scandal can't launch a show. And keeping the schedule stable would mean no launching a new show out of Grey's Anatomy, their #1 drama.
Bottom Line: This season, ABC played it safe by keeping almost every returning show in its old time slot. If ABC wants TGIT back, they should probably get experimenting. If they're OK with what they have now (and expect to get next season) and want to work on other nights instead, that's equally plausible, if not more plausible.
Option 2: New Drama at 10pm
Why It Will Work: Despite ratings declines, Scandal is still relatively high up there in terms of ABC scripted show rankings. Instead of having it leads into what is bound to be the weakest link of the night, move Murder to a problem slot and give a new drama a chance at Thursdays. Plus, there's barely any competition in the time slot. For promotional purposes they would probably choose Shondaland's Still Star-Crossed.
Why It Won't: Murder is bound to see declines next season just by its nature, but moving it from Thursday will do even more damage, and there's no way of telling if this new drama is going to be DOA or not.
Bottom Line: Trying a new drama at 10p after Scandal would be optimal to moving Scandal to 10pm and trying something at 9 just for the purpose of stability. If ABC thinks that it could better utilize Murder in a trouble time slot, then they should go for it. I don't see it as being utmost priority though.
Option 3: New Drama at 9pm
Why It Will Work: Opening up a spot after Grey's Anatomy will provide a new drama with its best chance at success.
Why It Won't: As mentioned earlier, a network can only do so much in one season. TGIT isn't what it once was, but that doesn't necessarily mean they go and move 2 of 3 shows.
Bottom Line: Grey's Anatomy is aging, so is it time that ABC use its lead-in on something other than Scandal? If they do go ahead and not only move Murder to another night but also shift Scandal back to 10pm, I wouldn't expect many other moves to be made on the schedule. I just don't think it's worth it.
What do you think? Are there any other somewhat-plausible options that I didn't cover? Let me know in the comments below!
