Southland being canceled prior to the first airing of its second season wasn't yet another sign of the Leno-pocalyse, but just the another clean up action in the post-Ben Silverman NBC era. (the first being the reduction of Day One to a four hour miniseries)
What other Ben Silverman garbage is likely already loaded on the truck and is ready to be dumped?
I'd lay odds that Parenthood is the next "surprise" to be canceled. It's production was pushed back because of medical issues with its star and isn't scheduled to appear until next spring. I'll guess we never see it.
The others are easy for anyone reading our NBC Renew / Cancel posts. Trauma, Mercy and Parks & Recreation are all Silverman-era detrius that will at some point this season be flushed prior to the end of this season.
The only vestiges of the Silverman era left at NBC at the end of this season are likely to be Biggest Loser and Celebrity Apprentice. Based on their most recent ratings, they aren't going anywhere.
Is this hope for the Leno Skeptics? I don't think so. That move was all Jeff Zucker, and he's also not going anywhere.
Wait, Chuck came about during the Silverman era. What are you saying Bill? WHAT ARE YOU SAYING???
But seriously, it will probably/hopefully be either Trauma or Mercy…and soon.
P&R may be garbage in the ratings, but it has turned its quality around from last season where it’s probably the funniest returning comedy this season. And Parenthood still looks good to go since critics spoke highly of its pilot and the switch from Maura Tierney to Lauren Graham has been publicized just this past week.
i think who ever read the scripts for trauma and mercy and decided that, that would be good television should be flogged ….
How could I have forgotten about Chuck!
I guess I just don’t think of it as a Silverman era show.
At this point it seems NBC has devolved to Fox circa. Early-mid 90s. So they have a good ten-fifteen years before they’re back on to the top.
I’m afraid you may be right, but Parks & Rec is doing better out of Community than it did out of SNL: Weekend Update. Trauma and Mercy will be gone by the end of the season. I agree with Chief that Chuck might be one of the remaining silverman shows.
Parenthood had a good cast, so I wonder how well it will test? But we’ve seen how another tv show based on an 80′s movie that earlier failed as a series (EASTWICK) is performing, so there is always the chance that Parenthood will be cancelled before it airs too.
P&R should have been cancelled last season.
@ Jeremy, or CW circa 2005.
I highly doubt Parenthood will be canceled before it airs. They took the trouble to sign Lauren Graham onto the project, even if she did have a development deal with NBC. I think they will likely stick with it and see how it goes mid-season.
Parenthood has cast Lauren Graham so I doubt they will axe it before it airs. As for getting a second year, who knows.
Trauma will likely be axed in a month, either before airing all 13 episodes or after.
Mercy could get a full season since it isnt doing as badly as other series.
Parks & Rec will get a full year but then be axed or replaced with 100 Questions.
Chuck could go either way.
Parenthood is the only new show that is creating any sort of buzz on the entertainment sites for NBC. Sure most of that buzz is due to a cast member getting sick and being replaced, but buzz is buzz. I think Parenthood has the best odds to survive out of everything listed above.
I think Parks and Rec is safe for the season. I don’t know of a midseason comedy on NBC’s roster. I also can’t imagine the network will be able to come up with an additional 5 hours of programming in one season, so it seems The Jay Leno Show might need to stick around at least another season while the net rebuilds.
I heard they recently bought a hyped J.J. Abrams pilot. That’s a good sign. They obviously know they need big names and big quality to create buzz for the network again.
I think they’d have to be fairly dumb to cancel something purely because Silverman liked it, as long as Chuck holds up in the ratings I can’t see it going anywhere.
Does anyone watch Parks & Recreation? It looks like a clone of The Office, which is a show that’s always seemed to be far more popular than it deserves to be. Either way, my wife and I haven’t spent more than a minute or two trying to watch it and we’re stuck on figuring out why it’s on. Amy Poehler is so much better than that.
Joshua, you may well be right, but Southland’s situation indicates that decisions can often come even when work is well underway. They were in the middle of the production of their 13 episode order when the cancellation notice came in.
That has got to be one of the most disgusting pictures I’ve ever seen. If that doesn’t convince all of us to recycle, nothing will!
I never saw Southland, but Trauma and Mercy were awful. They were so unoriginal relying on every cliche in the book that tt was almost painful to watch them. (I do however give kudos to Kate Mulgrew as the gin drinking cigarette smoking mother in Mercy. It was the only thing that gave me a chuckle)
I said in the Jay Leno article that NBC is less likely to take chances on new shows because the number of hours available for programming is less. But the flipside is that awful dramas like Trauma and Mercy were green lit by NBC and are stinking up the coveted time slots available. If you know the space on the schedule is limited, you should have showcased your A Game and taken a chance on some creative programming instead of relying on the same tired cop\rescue\medical drama.
Is it bad that I don’t know which medical series I’ve caught a few episodes of (and didn’t mind it at all), Trauma or Mercy?
The one about an ex soldier girl who served in Iraq?
I wouldn’t care at all if it got cancelled, but It’s pretty much Grey’s anatomy 2, except the main character is a badass ex soldier not an annoying person like in Grey’s.
Trauma’s definitely going to be cancelled before Parenthood. It got a 1.7 in the demo!
Bill, but with Southland they have the season 1 ratings to look at to base their decision to yank it (although it was not their official reason to cancel it but it was a huge factor for sure) Parenthood is a new show with buzz so I’m sure NBC would want to know how this show will perform in the ratings so unless there will be another production problem, I’m confident Parenthood will be aired.
mercy is a wreck of a show…how did the leading actress ever get cast?
she is unwatchable as well as unlikable.
I think you are spot on with the guess Parenthood doesn’t make it. Both with the push-back due to Maura’s treatment, then having to recast, we may never see the show. Or it could be pushed to summer/fall if NBC wants it bad enough (with their ep order, I wouldn’t be surprised if they burn it off in the summer – call it the #1 new summer show for PR sake – then cancel it like the Philanthropist/Listener).
I think Trauma will be the next to go. Dan and I from the beginning thought Mercy was a goner and NBC would keep Trauma around instead; however, with Trauma bombing and pricey – and Mercy performing better in demo and cost – I wouldn’t be surprised if they keep Mercy around for awhile (cause really, what else do they have right now to fill their non Tuesday/Thursdays?) & dump Trauma.
I’m sure since NBC wants Amy around they’ll at least pick up Parks for a full season. If Community can find its own footing at 8p though, it’s possible Parks will be done after this year. If Community stays lower than Parks in the demo, Community will be gone after this season (unless they keep it strictly due to lack of programming).
Who knows though about sitcoms lately. I never thought Better Off Ted would be renewed, and I was way off on that one. I knew they would renew Til Death, but that’s just because Sony gave them a free LED TV with every episode ordered.