At this point, there’s a whole lot we don’t know about what we’re going to be able to watch on TV in the coming months. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, broadcast and cable networks have announced new schedules and new shows, and they’ve renewed old shows — but, almost without exception, they have no idea when production will be able to resume.
The one sure thing in TV right now is what won’t be coming back. There’s a long list, including one show with a local tie. Netflix dropped the ax on “Next In Fashion,” the design competition show hosted by Utah resident Tan France (who continues as a member of Netflix’s “Queer Eye” team).
The cancellation that bothers me the most is “Single Parents.” The ABC sitcom was fresh and funny, had a great cast and made the best use of kids in comedy since “Modern Family.” I wish somebody would save it, but that appears unlikely.
It’s theoretically possible other shows could be saved from cancellation, but none of those listed have been at this point. And it’s worth pointing out that not all the shows on this list were actually canceled — some, like “The Good Place,” “Modern Family” and “Schitt’s Creek” — retired after their producers and casts decided to call it quits.
Here’s the list of shows that won’t be coming back.
(Raymond Liu | ABC via AP) Constance Wu, from left, Lucille Soong, Hudson Yang and Randall Park in a scene from the series finale of "Fresh Off the Boat," which aired on Friday, Feb. 21.
ABC • “Bless This Mess,” “Emergence,” “Fresh Off the Boat,” “Grand Hotel,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Modern Family,” “Single Parents” and “Schooled.”
Did I mention how bummed out I am that “Single Parents” won’t be back? Great show!
I’m also a little sad about “Fresh Off the Boat,” both because I’m very fond of (most) of the people involved with that show and because it represented diversity. But 116 episodes is a very good run. Not as good as “Modern Family’s” 250 episodes, but that show had experienced a marked decline in quality.
As for “Emergence,” well, I told you so. I said that odds were it would become the latest in a long line of ABC science fiction-y series that end on a cliffhanger that will never be resolved. It joins “Miracles,” “Invasion,” “Pushing Daisies,” “FlashForward,” “V,” “Happy Town,” “The River,” “Whispers,” “Resurrection,” “Agent Carter” and “The Crossing.”
(Photo courtesy of Sonja Flemming | CBS) Kyle MacLachlan and Patricia Heaton starred in “Carol's Second Act.”
CBS • “Broke,” “Carol’s Second Act,” “Criminal Minds,” “God Friended Me,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Man With a Plan” and “Tommy.”
There’s nothing worth mourning here. “Criminal Minds” ran 324 episodes; “H50” ran 240 episodes — and they both ran out of gas years ago. “God Friended Me” and “Tommy” weren’t awful, but they weren’t particularly good. The other three shows were awful, so … good riddance.
(Photo courtesy of Sergei Bachlakov/The CW) Juliana Harkavy, Ben Lewis, Stephen Amell and David Ramsey star in "Arrow," which aired its final episode on Jan. 28.
The CW • “Arrow” and “The 100.”
“Arrow” didn’t need to return for an abbreviated eighth season, and “The 100” stopped being interesting several seasons ago. By the way, “Supernatural” was supposed to end — after 15 seasons — earlier this year, but then the pandemic shut down production. The CW has scheduled it to complete its run this fall, but that seems more optimistic than realistic.
(Chuck Hodes | Courtesy of Fox) Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson) visits Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) to claim her share of the company in the premiere episode of "Empire."
Fox • “Almost Family,” “Deputy,” “Empire” and “Outmatched.”
“Empire” started out as a guilty pleasure and quickly devolved into bad soap. And the other three shows were so instantly forgettable I’d already forgotten about them.
(Photo courtesy of Andrew Eccles/NBC) Ted Danson, Manny Jacinto, Kristin Bell, William Jackson Harper, D’Arcy Carden and Jameela Jamil starred in “The Good Place.”
NBC • “Blindspot,” “Bluff City Law,” “The Good Place,” “Sunnyside” and “Will & Grace.”
“Blindspot” was never all that interesting. I love Jimmy Smits, but “Bluff” was just plain bad. “Sunnyside” might have developed into something, but the ratings were terrible, so its cancellation was no surprise. And it was time for “Will & Grace” to go … again.
Several of the streaming services have been around long enough to be canceling some of their original series. Netflix axed a whole bunch, meaning it only has about a million left.
CBS All Access • “Tell Me a Story.”
Disney+ • “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”
Facebook Watch • “Limetown,” “Sorry for Your Loss.”
Hulu • “Future Man,” “Marvel’s Howard the Duck,” “Marvel’s Runaways,” “Marvel’s Tigra & Dazzler Show,” “Veronica Mars.”
(Photo courtesy of Adam Rose/Netflix) Tan France and Alexa Chung were the hosts of "Next In Fashion."
Netflix • “Alexa & Katie,” “Anne with an E,” “AJ and the Queen,” “Daybreak,” “Dark,” “EastSiders,” “The End of the F***ing World,” “Fuller House,” “Insatiable,” “Medici,” “Messiah,” “Next In Fashion,” “October Faction,” “The Ranch,” “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power,” “Soundtrack,” “Spinning Out,” “13 Reasons Why,” “Turn Up Charlie,” “Unbelievable,” “V Wars.”
YouTube • “Impulse.”
And cable channels also wielded the ax.
Cartoon Network • “Steven Universe.”
Cinemax • “Strike Back.”
Comedy Central • “Lights Out with David Spade.”
E! • “Very Cavallari.”
(Photo courtesy of Vu Ong/Freeform) “Party of Five” starred Niko Guardado as Beto Acosta, Brandon Larracuente as Emilio Acosta, Elle Paris Legaspi as Valentina Acosta, and Emily Tosta as Lucia Acosta.
Freeform • ”Party of Five.”
HBO • “Room 104” and “Run.”
History • “Project Blue Book” and “Vikings.”
IFC • “Brockmire.”
Nickelodeon • “Henry Danger.”
OWN • “Ambitions,” “Greenleaf” and “If Loving You Is Wrong.”
Pop • “Best Intentions,” “Flack” and “Florida Girls.”
(Stephan Rabold | Showtime via AP) Claire Danes appears in a scene from "Homeland." The series finale for the spy thriller series airs Sunday on Showtime.
Showtime • “Homeland” and “Ray Donovan.”
Starz • “Power,” “The Rook,” “Sweetbitter” and “Vida.”
Syfy • “The Magicians.”
USA • “Dare Me,” “The Purge” and “Treadstone.”
(This listing does not include shows that were designed to be one-and-done — “limited series” like “Mrs. Fletcher” on HBO or “Looking for Alaska” and “Mrs. America” on Hulu.)
MORE SHOWS ENDING SOON • By the way, there are a whole bunch of other shows that have announced their next seasons will be their last. That list includes “Bosch” and “Goliath” (Amazon); “Better Call Saul” (AMC); “Corporate” (Comedy Central); “Bojack Horseman,” “The Crown,” “Dark,” “Dear White People,” “Glow,” “Grace and Frankie,” “Lost In Space,” “Lucifer,” “The Rain” and “Trinkets” (Netflix); “Shameless” (Showtime); “The Spanish Princess” (Starz); “Van Helsing” (Syfy); and ”Claws” (TNT).
(Photo courtesy of Guy D’Alema/ABC) Victor Rasuk and Nathalie Kelley star in “The Baker and the Beauty.”
MAYBE, MAYBE NOT • There are several shows that are somewhere between living and dead — they haven’t been renewed, but they haven’t been canceled. Programmers are still making up their minds.
That list includes ABC’s “The Baker and the Beauty” and “For Life”; NBC’s “Council of Dads,” “Indebted,” “Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector,” “Manifest,” “Perfect Harmony” and “Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist”; and The CW’s “Katy Keene.”
I’m rooting for two of these shows. “The Baker and the Beauty” and “Perfect Harmony” are both surprisingly good — and they get bonus points for ending their seasons by both resolving a lot of storylines, thus satisfying fans, and creating cliffhangers to make fans want more. That’s not easy.
