Canceled TV shows: Here's what's not coming back this fall

Networks have made their decisions on their shows and we now know which programs will be returning. Were some promising new programs canceled before they got a chance to shine?

We now know which TV shows will be reappearing next fall.

As usual, many of the programs were relatively new. NBC decided not to order any more of the comedies “A to Z,” “About a Boy,” “Marry Me,” “Bad Judge,” and “One Big Happy.” “Z,” “Marry,” “Bad,” and “Happy” were all new shows this season, while “Boy” aired its second season this year.

Over at ABC, the network canceled the comedies “Cristela,” “Manhattan Love Story,” and “Selfie” (all were new shows this year) while Fox decided against more of the comedies “The Mindy Project,” “Weird Loners,” and “Mulaney.” “(Weird” and “Mulaney were new this year.) 

And according to the website TVLine, CBS didn’t order more of the comedies “The McCarthys” or “The Millers.” “McCarthys” was a new show this year. 

Dramas that won’t be continuing next season include NBC’s “Allegiance,” “Constantine,” and “State of Affairs” (all were new this year), as well as the Fox shows “Backstrom,” “The Following,” “Gracepoint,” and “Red Band Society.” (“Backstrom,” “Gracepoint,” and “Red” were new.) ABC’s canceled dramas include “Forever,” “Resurrection,” and “Revenge” (“Forever” was new), while CBS decided not to order more of the dramas “Battle Creek” and “Stalker.” Both were new.

The only shows that debuted this year that were picked up by their networks were Fox’s “Empire,” “Gotham,” and “Last Man on Earth” as well as ABC’s “American Crime,” “Black-ish,” “Fresh Off the Boat,” “Galavant,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Agent Carter,” and “Secrets and Lies.” (Obviously, ABC renewed the most new shows by far.) NBC’s only new show to be renewed was “Mysteries of Laura,” while CBS’s were “Scorpion,” “Madam Secretary,” and “NCIS: New Orleans.” 

The only new show the CW canceled was “The Messengers,” while it went ahead with the new programs “The Flash,” “Jane the Virgin,” and “iZombie.”  

NBC canceled the most new shows and picked up the fewest, while Fox also canceled more than they renewed. A question that has arisen more and more in recent years is if broadcast TV shows are being given enough time to grow an audience. An oft-cited example of a TV show that succeeded spectacularly after being renewed is the NBC sitcom “Cheers,” which was the last of all TV shows in the ratings early in its run, according to Yahoo. It later turned into a top-rated show.

Some TV shows that debuted this past fall seemed destined early on to be canceled – NBC’s “Bad Judge” currently has a score of 38 out of 100 on the review aggregator website Metacritic, with USA Today critic Robert Bianco, for one, writing that the show “reeks of too many cooks.” But according to critics, some improved during their first season. Yahoo TV critic Ken Tucker wrote of ABC’s “Selfie”: “I do wish ‘Selfie,’ which had a terrible title but an ever-improving ensemble, had been given another chance… [a] mistake-cancellation,” while Entertainment Weekly writer Hillary Busis wrote that she “was not a huge fan of ABC’s Selfie when it premiered… But over the past six weeks, Selfie has managed to transcend its initial premise… to become something less gimmicky and more character-based… this show [is] one of the fall’s strongest new comedies on a purely joke-by-joke level.” 

We’ll see if more promising new shows are given a chance by their networks this time next year.