Which TV Shows Have Been Renewed, Which Have Been Canceled and Which Are We Waiting to Hear About?
By Kate Aurthur
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Since mid-March, the coronavirus pandemic has upended every aspect of life in the United States, causing stay-at-home mandates in most states in an attempt to contain the spread of COVID-19.
As a consequence, the entertainment industry — a multi-billion-dollar global business — has come to a grinding halt, with every television show and movie indefinitely shut down , putting most of the tens of thousands of people employed by those productions out of work. The shutterings hit the broadcast networks — Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, and The CW — toward the end of the traditional TV season, so some shows had already completed production before the summer hiatus. Others — such as ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” which had shot 21 episodes of its 25-episode order — simply had to adjust accordingly, concluding its season early on April 9.
The bigger concern for the networks is what to do with their fall 2020 schedules, which under normal circumstances would have been unveiled to advertisers, the press and the public during the broadcasters’ flashy upfront presentations in mid-May. As the scope of the coronavirus emergency became clear, the networks all announced in mid-March that they would stream their upfronts instead of doing them at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Rockefeller Center and Lincoln Center.
Now, according to a report in AdWeek , the entire upfronts process is in flux, with NBCUniversal delaying their presentation, and ad buyers expressing doubt that their clients will be ready to spend money. After all, pilot season, when the networks typically produce shows that will vie for places on the fall and midseason schedule, simply did not happen this year, and no one knows when it will be safe to begin filming again. On top of everything else, a global recession looms.
So everything is guesswork right now, with the most likely scenario being that the networks’ 2019/20 shows will mostly be renewed, even marginal performers — and their most promising pilots on paper will receive straight-to-series orders. That plan, however, is predicated on the so-far unsubstantiated notion that the pandemic will have abated by July, and some semblance of normal life will be able to resume.
Truly, who knows?
What is certain is in the coming months, the broadcast networks will renew some shows, and cancel others. And Variety will continuously update this post as those decisions are made.
NBC
Renewed
“America’s Got Talent” (premieres May 26), “American Ninja Warrior” (summer premiere, maybe), “The Blacklist,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Chicago Fire” (for three more seasons!), “Chicago Med” (for three more seasons!), “Chicago P.D.” (for three more seasons!), “Ellen’s Game of Games,”
“Good Girls,”
“Law & Order: SVU” (for three more seasons!), “Making It,” “New Amsterdam” (for three more seasons!), “Songland” (summer premiere), “Superstore,” “This Is Us” (for two more seasons!), “The Wall”
Canceled
“The InBetween,” “Sunnyside”
Awaiting news
“America’s Got Talent: The Champions,” “Bluff City Law,” “Council of Dads,” “Indebted,” “
Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector,” “
Little Big Shots,” “Manifest,” “Perfect Harmony,” “The Voice,” “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”
Hasn’t premiered/returned yet
“The Titan Games” (May 25), “World of Dance” (May 26)
Moving to Peacock
“A.P. Bio”
Ending
“Blindspot,” “The Good Place,” “Will & Grace”
ABC
Renewed
“The $100,000 Pyramid,” “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “American Housewife,” “American Idol,” “The Bachelor,” “The Bachelorette” ( pushed to fall ), “Bachelor in Paradise” (not happening), “Black-ish,” “Card Sharks,” “Celebrity Family Feud,” “The Conners,” “The Goldbergs,” “The Good Doctor,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Holey Moley,” “Match Game,” “A Million Little Things,” “Mixed-ish,” “Press Your Luck,” “The Rookie,” “Shark Tank,” “Station 19,” “Stumptown,” “To Tell the Truth,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”
Canceled
“Bless this Mess,” “Emergence,” “Grand Hotel,” “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” “Reef Break,” “Schooled,” “Single Parents”
Awaiting news
“The Baker and the Beauty,” “Family Food Fight,” “For Life”
Hasn’t premiered yet
“United We Fall” (premiere date TBA)
Ending
“Fresh Off the Boat,” “How to Get Away With Murder,” “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” “Modern Family”
CBS
Renewed
“All Rise,” “Big Brother” (summer premiere, maybe), “Blue Bloods,” “Bob Hearts Abishola,” “Blood & Treasure” (summer premiere), “Bull,” “Evil,” “FBI,” “FBI: Most Wanted,” “Love Island” (summer premiere, maybe), “MacGyver,” “Magnum P.I.,” “Mom,” “NCIS,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “NCIS: New Orleans,” “The Neighborhood,” “SEAL Team,” “Survivor,” “S.W.A.T.,” “Undercover Boss,” “The Unicorn,” “Young Sheldon”
Canceled
“Broke,” “Carol’s Second Act,” “God Friended Me,” “Man With a Plan,” “Tommy”
Awaiting news
“Big Brother: Celebrity Edition”
Hasn’t premiered/returned yet
“The Amazing Race” (premiere date TBA — was May 20), “Game On” (May 20), “Tough as Nails” (July 8)
Ending
“Criminal Minds,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Madam Secretary”
Fox
Renewed
“9-1-1,” “9-1-1: Lone Star,” “Beat Shazam,” “Bless the Harts,” “Bob’s Burgers,”
“Duncanville,” “Family Guy,”
“Hell’s Kitchen,” “Last Man Standing,” “The Masked Singer,” “MasterChef Junior,” “Prodigal Son,” “The Resident,” “The Simpsons,” “So You Think You Can Dance” (scheduled for a summer premiere, but who knows)
Canceled
“Almost Family,” “BH90210,” “Deputy,” “Outmatched”
Awaiting news
“Flirty Dancing,” “MasterChef,” “LEGO Masters”
Hasn’t premiered/returned yet
“Filthy Rich” (premiere date moved to fall), “The Great North” (premiere date midseason 2020/21), “Mental Samurai” (had to shut down production, so premiere date TBA), “NeXt” (premiere date moved to fall), “Ultimate Tag” (premiere date TBA)
Moved to Hulu
“The Orville”
Ending
“Empire”
The CW
Renewed
“All American,” “Batwoman,” “Black Lightning,” “Burden of Truth” (summer premiere), “Charmed,” “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” “Dynasty,” “The Flash,” “In the Dark,” “Legacies,” “Nancy Drew,” “The Outpost” (summer premiere), “Pandora” (summer premiere),
“Penn & Teller: Fool Us,”
“Riverdale,” “Roswell, New Mexico,” “Supergirl,”
“Whose Line Is It Anyway?”
Canceled
Nothing yet!
Awaiting news
“Katy Keene”
Ending
“The 100,” “Arrow,” “Supernatural”
Will Thorne has contributed to this report.
