ABC cancels Last Man Standing, a longstanding sitcom featuring Tim Allen and Nancy Travis. Conservatives are claiming that ABC axed the show because of Allen's staunch support of Donald J. Trump. |
My honest take on what 2016-17 season of television.
Right off the bat, I am very disappointed in the canceling of Last Man Standing. The show was close to the seventh season when talks between 21St Century Fox and ABC fell apart. Tim Allen, the show's creator and star was blindsided by the news of his show being axed. Allen is a Republican who supported John Kasich for president before he turned to Donald J. Trump. Allen's show focused on a mixture of culture, politics and family. The show also featured Nancy Travis, Hector Elizondo, Molly Ephraim, Kaitlyn Dever, Christoph Sanders, and Amanda Fuller. The show even had special guests like Jay Leno and Kim Kardashian-West on the show. It pulled in 8 million viewers on Friday.
With Last Man Standing cancelled, the follow-up third season of Dr. Ken was cancelled as well. Dr. Ken was a show based off the real life comedian, voice actor and certified physician Ken Jeong. He created the show based off his real life experience in the medical field. The show featured an ensemble cast of entertainers of diverse backgrounds. Suzy Nakamura, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Jonathan Slavin and Dave Foley were the stars of the show. Some of the guest on the show were Joel McHale, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Alison Brie. They were featured players on Jeong's previous show Community on NBC.
The Real O'Neals, a situation comedy dealing with a gay teen trying to figure out how to adjust to a somewhat staunch Catholic family. It was created by Dan Savage, political agitator and writer. The show featured Noah Galvin, an openly gay actor who portrayed the character based off Savage. Also featured in the show was Martha Plimpton, Jay R. Ferguson, Matthew Shively and Bebe Wood. Iit was cancelled after two seasons.
Also ABC cancelled Shonda Rimes show The Catch. It will be ending Scandal soon. Rimes is hinting a prequel to Grey's Anatomy.
American Crime, Imaginary Mary, Conviction, Time After Time, Secrets and Lies were cancelled as well. They gave The Middle, Speechless, American Housewife, Fresh Off The Boat, Black-ish and Modern Family the green light. Dramas like Quantico, Designated Survivor, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will continue on for the time being.
I was worried that they were going to cut Quantico and S.H.I.E.L.D.
Rosanne is returning for a short order. Most of the original cast will return to the show.
Also American Idol will make a return to television. ABC bought the rights to the show and it will be in direct competition with America's Got Talent and The Voice on NBC.
NBC also saw some bloodshed this season. Not so much as the longstanding shows, but the ones that were about to take off really didn't.
Of course, DC's Powerless was lackluster. Emerald City, Grimm, and The Blacklist Redemption was cut from the lineup. I have strong doubts The Carmichael Show will survive a fourth season given that they moved it to late May for the prequel season shows.
NBC saw the good of most of their shows. America Ferrera's show Superstore continues to shine. Law & Order: SUV, Chicago (Fire, Med, and P.D.) will continue to reign (although Justice is possibly canned). Steve Harvey's Little Big Shots continues on. This is Us, Taken, Timeless, Great News, THe Good Place, The Blacklist, Blindspot, Shades of Blue are running on.
CBS also made some real tough calls on shows. Kevin James continues on. Kevin Can't Wait was a ratings success. It will continue on Monday. Matt LeBlanc's Man With A Plan did modestly well. It will continue. Superior Donuts was an instant smash. It will be given a full season.
The Big Bang Theory will be on for the next two seasons. Chuck Lorre's other sitcom Mom will continue as well. The prequel comedy Young Sheldon will come to CBS.
Scorpion will be masterminding another season.
Life in Pieces is a ratings success. The move from Monday to Thursday was a risky move but it paid off for the show. It's a go for season three.
Fridays will dominate with MacGyver, Blue Bloods and Hawaii Five-O.
Elementary, Madam Secretary, Code Black, NCIS (including Los Angeles and New Orleans), Criminal Minds and Bull will continue on.
Beth Behrs and Kat Denning's sitcom 2 Broke Girls ends on a cliffhanger. The executives cancelled the show last minute. They canned Joel McHale's The Great Indoors. They ended Matthew Perry's The Odd Couple.
Bill Paxton's death also ended Training Day. CBS placed the show on burnout and it was quickly cancelled upon Paxton's death.
CBS cancelled Pure Genius, Doubt, Ransom and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.
The CW continues to be a dominating force in DC Comics. Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and iZombie are hits. They were quickly renewed before the second episode.
I really love the dramedies on The CW. Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend are critically acclaimed comedy/musical dramas. The actresses Gina Rodriguez and Rachel Bloom both won Golden Globes for their outstanding roles in the shows, respectfully.
The CW was on the fence with both shows. So I am guessing that as a token of goodwill, they let them survive a final season without mentioning it.
Riverdale is a dark version suspense drama based off the famed comic Archie and Friends. The show is winning the demo. It was quickly renewed in the middle of the season.
The post-apocalyptic dramas The 100, The Originals and cult classic Supernatural will continue on another season.
DC Comics will add another show to the roster. Black Lightning will come this Fall.
Frequency and No Tomorrow were quickly cancelled. Also Significant Mother was cancelled as well.
The Vampire Dairies, Beauty and The Beast and Reign were given proper endings.
The old ABC drama Dynasty will be a reboot on The CW. Valor and Life Sentence will be on the Fall listings.
On Fox, Empire is still standing. It saw a modest drop off but it was still a ratings draw. Star is also renewed despite harsh reviews from critics. Gotham and Lucifer are a go. The shows had modest drop off but it developed a major cult following.
Last Man on Earth is a cult comedy with Will Forte. It will continue to keep you guessing on how Tandy and his friends survive being the last human beings on Earth.
Fox's animation series Bob's Burgers, Family Guy and The Simpsons were renewed. They are the only animated sitcoms on American broadcast television.
Damon Wayans and Clayne Crawford's action/comedy drama Lethal Weapon continues on. The television version of the blockbuster movie has been a great success. It was a good lead in for Empire. It will get a second season.
New Girl is going to be in its final season. After eight seasons, Fox will end it soon. Show creators Zooey Deschanel and Elizabeth Meriwether will find a new home for the show. There will be at least 8 episodes for the final season.
I was already upset they cancelled Rosewood. But the rest, I wasn't really surprised about it but somewhat shocked. Fox decided that APB, Pitch, Making History, Scream Queens, Sleepy Hollow, Son of Zorn, and You the Jury were not hits, so they cancelled them.
Bones was given a proper ending.
So I want to know how you feel about the massacre of television?
Are you disappointed about the loss of Last Man Standing, 2 Broke Girls, Rosewood and Dr. Ken?
Are you disappointed about the cancellation of Last Man Standing, 2 Broke Girls and Dr. Ken?