Articles

May 9, 2014
 

NIELSENWAR 2014-15: House Cleaning at NBC and ABC

 

If #6seasonsandamovie is going to happen for COMMUNITY, it won’t be at NBC, which finally fired the bullet that’s been aimed at Dan Harmon’s show seemingly every season since it went on the air.  That doesn’t necessarily mean Community is dead, since there have been murmurs of a possible move to cable or a streaming platform, but for now the doors at Greendale are closed.  Also, Wednesday’s finale of REVOLUTION will be its series conclusion, as the show just kept running out of electricity as its 2d season went on.  GROWING UP FISHER has gotten as old as it ever will, and both halves of the Sunday BELIEVE/CRISIS combo are dead.  (The latter pair became a foregone conclusion when NBC yanked them from the schedule for the last Sunday of sweeps.)

In more cheerful news, ABOUT A BOY has been renewed (although series creator Jason Katims’ PARENTHOOD is still sitting on the bubble), as has HANNIBAL, which gets lousy ratings but has critical love, a very young audience and an extremely low network license fee going for it.

Over at ABC, to no one’s surprise, DANCING WITH THE STARS, SHARK TANK, THE BACHELOR and AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS are officially coming back, and the cancellations of SUBURGATORY, TROPHY WIFE and SUPER FUN NIGHT are confirmed.  No word yet on NASHVILLE or LAST MAN STANDING, both of which are very likely embroiled in license fee discussions with the network (and in the case of Last Man, strategems involving pilots its studio still has in the running for pick-ups).



About the Author

Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."