We are only a month away from the broadcast upfront week, where the networks will unveil their fall schedules, but a significant portion of nets’ lineups for next season remains murky.

Yet to learn their fate are not only middling performers and other shows that have found themselves on the bubble for one reason or another, but also high-rated series whose renewal is subject to complex negotiations with a non-affiliated studio — such as ABC’s The Goldbergs (Sony TV) and The Conners (Werner Entertainment), CBSFBI franchise and The Equalizer (Universal TV) as well as Fox’s 9-1-1 franchise and The Resident (20th TV) — or even with the network’s own studio and/or top talent, as is the case with NBC’s Law & Order and Law & Order: Organized Crime and CBS’ Blue Bloods.

While these shows are fully expected to continue, the renewals of a slew of bubble shows will depend on the strength of the broadcast networks’ crop of 2022 pilots as they will be competing against them for a spot on the schedule.

Here is a close look at the scripted broadcast series that have yet to be renewed or canceled, with analysis of their current status and prospects. Next up: Deadline’s Pilot Panic roundup of pilot buzz, which will launch this month.

TV Cancellations Photo Gallery: Shows Ending In 2022 & Beyond

ABC

ABC, which is seeing off veteran comedy Black-ish,has so far renewed its strongest dramas, Shondaland’s Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 and stalwart The Rookie as well as red-hot newcomer Abbott Elementary. Deals are being worked out for veteran family comedies The Goldbergs and The Conners to come back, along with sophomore drama Big Sky. (UPDATE 4/19: The Goldbergs has been renewed for Season 10). Two other half-hours, freshman The Wonder Years and sophomore Home Economics, also look promising to continue.

Drama A Million Little Things, now in its fourth season, is a true bubble show, with its odds at 50-50. The series, which has drawn praise for its depiction of complex issues like mental health, has been asked by ABC not to wrap its storyline in the Season 4 finale, I hear, which could be a positive sign for its future. Like Dan Fogelman did with This Is Us, AMLT creator DJ Nash had pitched the series with a pre-conceived ending, so a possible cancellation would deny the ensemble drama a proper ending.

Freshman drama Queens likely is not to come back.

CBS

CBS

CBS has renewed the NCIS franchise, CSI: Vegas; comedies Young Sheldon, The Neighborhood and Bob Hearts Abishola; breakout hit Ghosts; and drama S.W.A.T., while veteran Bull is ending its run this season.

There are several non-bubble shows that are yet to be picked up, most notably, CBS’ top scripted series, FBI. The flagship, as well as the other two FBI dramas, Most Wanted and International, are in renewal negotiations with lead studio Universal Television, along with two other CBS dramas Universal TV is co-producing: The Equalizer and Magnum P.I. I hear the conversation is complicated, but sources expect deals to be made for all five shows to come back. Magnum P.I. is believed to be the most uncertain of the bunch, but even its odds are said to be better than 50-50.

Blue Bloods has been a rock-solid Friday night anchor for CBS and is expected to remain one with a Season 13 renewal contingent on star and executive producer Tom Selleck closing a new deal, which is pending, I hear.

Spring Premiere Dates For New & Returning Series On Broadcast, Cable & Streaming

For a second year in a row, the Chuck Lorre-produced comedies B Positive and United States of Al are on the bubble. Last year, both of them ultimately got renewed. This time around, there is talk that only one of the two might join Lorre’s Young Sheldon on the 2022-23 schedule. B Positive currently has a slight edge with a better than 50-50 chance; Al is at 50-50, according to sources.

CBS has had one of the strongest freshman classes in awhile, with three formidable new additions already renewed for Season 2: Ghosts, NCIS: Hawai’i and FBI: International. Of the other two freshmen, drama Good Sam does not look good. Comedy How We Roll just launched a couple of weeks ago, so the jury is still out . So far, the sitcom been a so-so performer with lead-in retention in the ballpark of B Positive and United States of Al.

Fox

Fox

Fox has renewed its animated slate as well as freshman drama The Cleaning Lady. Like CBS, the network has yet to pick up its top-rated scripted series, 9-1-1 and spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star. The duo, along with medical drama The Resident, which also has been a solid performer, are in renewal negotiations with 20th Television. All are expected to continue, but talks are complex.

On the comedy side, Call Me Kat is expected to get another go as the network is said to be happy with the show’s creative direction under the new Season 2 showrunner and her writing staff. I hear Fox brass also are high on freshman comedy Pivoting, which is looking good for renewal, contingent on trimming the budget for Season 2 and boosted by strong showing on Hulu. It’s early to make a definitive call on midseason comedy Welcome to Flatch, but it seems to be playing too young for Fox, with its linear ratings the lowest of any series on the network this season.

Fox already canceled dramedy The Big Leap, with fellow freshman Our Kind Of People heavily on the bubble. There were some positive signs early on as the soapy drama has done well on Tubi, but OKOP‘s chances of renewal have gone down recently, largely due to its high cost.

Cancellations/Renewals Scorecard: TV Shows Ended Or Continuing In 2021-22 Season

NBC, which is saying goodbye to its flagship drama This Is Us, has renewed freshman standout La Brea and veteran The Blacklist and has the Chicago franchise, Law & Order: SVU and New Amsterdam coming back next season as part of three-year renewals. (Next season will be medical drama New Amsterdam‘s last.)

Law & Order: Organized Crime and revived Law & Order are NBC’s highest-rated scripted series that have not been renewed yet. Both are fully expected to come back.

On the comedy side, freshman American Auto, from Superstore creator Justin Spitzer, is considered a slam-dunk for a pickup, with sophomore Young Rock, executive produced by and featuring Dwayne Johnson, also looking good. There are positive signs for Mr. Mayor, based on its pedigree — coming from Tina Fey and Robert Carlock — and its streaming performance, with feelers out about a potential Season 3 writers room. Sophomore Kenan and freshman Grand Crew are heavily on the bubble, though the former involves arguably the two top players on Saturday Night Live: executive producer Lorne Michaels and longest-running cast member Kenan Thompson.

NBC recently canceled freshman drama Ordinary Joe, with fellow first-year drama The Endgame not looking good.

the cw logo

The CW

For the first time in years, the CW finds itself with about half of its series on the bubble. The network recently renewed its strongest performers: All American, The Flash, Kung Fu, Nancy Drew, Riverdale, Superman & Lois and Walker. That’s about half the number of series the network renewed in January-February the past two years (13 in 2020 and 12 in 2021).

The pending ownership change clearly is a factor in the CW’s renewal strategy this year. The massive renewal of virtually the entire slate we have seen in years past works for the two studios that supply the CW — Warner Bros. TV and CBS Studios — and their parent companies that co-own the network. The CW’s new majority owner is expected to have a say in the remaining renewals, with Warner Bros. recently getting acquired additionally complicating decisions. Even if the CW is not bought by the upfronts, the network is not expected to renew shows en masse, making for some tough calls.

Believed to be most vulnerable are low-rated series like freshman The 4400 as well as Dynasty, whose previous renewals had been motivated by the money the series generates for CBS Studios through the show’s Netflix deal. Charmed and Legacies‘ odds probably are a little better, with Legacies‘ ties to one of the CW’s signature series, The Vampire Diaries, giving it a slight edge.

Then there are the three remaining DC series — veteran Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman and freshman Naomi — which will be in consideration alongside DC pilot Gotham Knights. Word is that about half of the four projects will make it to next season. Batwoman and Gotham Knights are set in a similar universe, so it is possible that one of them is picked up for next season. It will be a difficult decision on Legends of Tomorrow, which is getting old, currently in its seventh season, having gone through a string of cast changeovers. The CW President Mark Pedowitz is known for giving the network’s long-running series a proper goodbye, so a final season would be logical solution, but given the uncertainty over the CW’s ownership, the final decisions might not be the network’s to make.

Yet to premiere new seasons are the network’s Stargirl, Roswell, New Mexico and In the Dark.





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