QUICK THOUGHTS ABOUT UPFRONTS 2015

Which cancellations made me cry?

The actual Upfronts presentations are next week, however we know [almost] everything by now. Here is a brief summary of all my thoughts [and feelings!]:

ABC [AKA the Shonda network]

• Forever more like “For a short time” No, it’s not a surprise that Forever got cancelled, but it broke my heart a little. Especially when I read this message from Ioan Gruffudd. [He is such a gentleman! Please bring him back to my screen]
• American Crime / Secrets and Lies: Probably what shocked me the most is that ABC’s “event series” [AKA miniseries] performed well enough and were actually renewed.
• Revenge: I am not sad to see this show go. I am sad that a previously good show deteriorated into something I am not really going to miss.
• Agent Carter and Agents of SHIELD: Not the greatest ratings, but ABC is obviously invested in the brand, which is a good thing because those shows are kind of cool. Plus, I am assuming they make money in the international market.

CBS [AKA The predictable network]

CBS hasn’t finalized its announcements yet, but made the predictable cancellations: Stalker and Battle Creek. Nothing shocking about that.

THE CW [AKA the renewal network]

Yes, The CW made the three least surprising announcements in the history of television:

iZombie “RENEWED”/ The Messengers “CANCELLED” / Hart of Dixie “Oh yeah… cancelled ages ago, we just refused to confirm it for unknown/illogical reasons… but you guys knew, right?”

FOX [AKA The I-am-not-sure-I-care network]

What do you mean we are cancelled?!

Well… the good news is that… FOX didn’t cancel a sci-fi show I love for the first time in a decade. But that’s just because they DON’T have a sci-fi show I love in their schedule. Well… guess it is for the best. Still, there were a few surprises.

• The Following: Syndication rules don’t apply to midseason shows… to think this show was such a hit when it first premiered… And yes, I am going to go and wonder “What if they had renewed Almost Human instead last year?!” We’ll never know.
• The Mindy Project: Now that cancellation was a bit of a shock. I was under the impression that Fox valued the show [and Mindy] enough to let it complete at least 4 seasons. Guess not… but the show may be heading over to Hulu… which would be a first Hulu broadcast rescue if I am not mistaken.

Truth be told, I am not invested in any FOX shows this year.

NBC [AKA the we-have-given-up-on-sitcoms network]

• One Big Happy didn’t get a happy result: A bit sad about this one, but I’ll live [and I am still blaming Elisha Cuthbert].
• State of Affairs: For some reason I thought this show was doing OK. Guess it wasn’t. Guess I won’t have to watch it now.
• The Night Shift: I keep forgetting this show exists… and apparently is popular.
• The Mysteries of Laura: When I heard this was renewed, I was actually happy. Gotta admit, it grew on me.
• Constantine: Tried watching it, definitely not my genre. But it seemed to have a very committed fanbase, so my heart goes out to them. 

With all those failed comedies I bet NBC is regretting giving Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt to Netflix. I am glad the quirky Tina Fey comedy found a home that actually cares.

That’s it… no major shocks and my biggest heart-break was Forever [shame on you ABC!], but I did see it coming.

I’ll write [and/or tweet] more about the upcoming new shows in the next few weeks.

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TVEmpress

The TV Empress is a Media Management graduate, screenwriter in the making (and financial engineer in the meantime). She has serious plans to take over global television. You can follow the TVEmpress on twitter @TVRepublik