Editorial: How Are The Networks Doing In This Falls Television Season?

Why does everyone on this poster look like their CGI?

Last night, word came in that Will Arnett starring sitcom The Millers had been cancelled. The show was only a few episodes into it's second season, but ratings were middling for the show, it's most recent episode bringing in only 6.47 million viewers. I suspect a similar fortune shall befall fellow CBS sitcom The McCarthy's, which brought in even lower viewership in its most recent endeavor with only 6.36 million viewers.

This Fall season has been interesting for TV shows, as a lack of options for TV networks have led to them putting of cancelling shows and renewing ones that wouldn't have had a prayer in past years. FOX is easily the biggest example of this, with very little going right for them, though it's more than worth noting that their Sunday night block has managed to improve Brooklyn Nine-Nine's ratings substantially, while The Simpsons is performing better than recent years.

Even that block has it's downsides though, namely Mulaney, a show reviled by critics that;s been fascinating to watch in it's pathetic ratings. The past two episodes have failed to hit 2 million viewers, and after six weeks of airing the program, FOX pushed the show back to 7:30 and putting Bob's Burgers in it's 9:30 slot, as it should be. It is astounding the show hasn't been cancelled yet, a fate the creators of FOX drama Red Band Society are likely amazed hasn't befallen their program yet. The show only occasionally clears 3 million viewers, making it unlikely to get renewed, though in it's defense its ratings are usually better than the ones posed by New Girl, now in it's fourth season.

Over at NBC, they're experiencing a great season with hits like The Blacklist and The Voice, though their search for a successful comedy continues. The Mysteries Of Laura got a full season renewal to my amazement, while their others newbies for the season have a 50/50 shot for further episodes. ABC has a similar problem involving tons of success, but still having a single major problem. The network has managed to turn Wednesday and especially Thursday nights into rating powerhouses.

Wednesday has hit sitcoms like Modern Family and Black-ish, and has given a major ratings boost to sophomore show The Goldbergs, but it's Thursday that's truly a treasure trove of success. Shonda Rhimes produced dramas Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder have become some of the biggest shows on TV. Even Friday night, sometimes a ratings graveyard for networks, has become a place for success for the network, as the Tim Allen starring sitcom Last Man Standing consistently gets over 6.5 million viewers, while newbie Cristela has managed to have over 5 million viewers for five of it's six episodes.

In fact, I chuckled when I saw Cristela's viewership this morning, realizing a smaller scale sitcom airing on Friday night gets more eyeballs than ABC's high-profile Agents of SHIELD, airing on Tuesday nights. That show has been hitting series lows all season, with new viewership lows being achieved each week. While negative buzz from last season has certainly hurt the show (a shame considering how entertaining it's been this time around), the shows it follows don't do it any favors. Selfie and Manhattan Love Story (why does ABC always pair SHIELD with comedies? It never works for either the Marvel program or the comedy) Neither did well, with Manhattan Love Story, the show airing right before SHIELD, having particularly bad ratings. It's last episode only garnered 2.62 million viewers, a pathetic result that got it to be the first cancelled show of the fall season and immediately replaced not by a new show but by a rerun of Modern Family.

Selfie has also bit the dust in the past week, though it's still airing new episodes while those Modern Family reruns are only getting 2.85 million viewers, in the same range as those new episodes of Manhattan Love Story. While putting in a new lead in program would shift Agents of SHIELD's ratings to Big Bang Theory level of success, it certainly would help matters considering how expensive and high profile the show is for the network.