Programming

Elementary is heading into its seventh season. The end for 9JKL had been expected.

The Kevin James vehicle underwent a creative overhaul between seasons one and two, with original co-star Erinn Hayes’ character written off the show and Leah Remini joining the cast, reuniting James with his former King of Queens co-star. But the show still saw a big ratings slide in its second season.

All told, the network canceled five series last Thursday and Friday. So, what’s behind the bloodshed? To put it simply: the network’s deal with the NFL for Thursday Night Football, which will take over more than 30 hours of space on an already truncated schedule as Fox, unlike ABC, NBC and CBS, does not program the 10 p.m. hour. 

The DC Comics drama needs only 13 episodes to get to the mark needed for syndication.

With Upfronts Week 2018 here, NBC, as is tradition, was the first broadcast TV network to announce its schedule for the fall TV season. It adds two dramas and one comedy. Conspicuously missing from the Peacock net’s lineup — remaining bubble series Timeless and Champions. During a conference call with reporters, NBC Chairman Robert Greenblatt said a final decision on both shows will come down quickly “after they finish” their current runs. (Timeless wrapped its second season Sunday night.)

A day after Fox canceled Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the praised cop comedy has been picked up by NBC for a 13-episode season six.

The bloodletting appears to have stopped — for now. A total of 20 broadcast series were dispatched to TV’s dreaded MIA Network on Thursday and Friday as the major networks began cleaning house in advance of next week’s fall upfront presentations. The body count was highest at ABC, which axed series both established (Quantico), fledgling (Deception) and long presumed dead (The Mayor).

NBC has canceled the workplace/family comedy starring Briga Heelan and Andrea Martin after two seasons. Created by 30 Rock alumna Tracey Wigfield and exec produced by 30 Rock creator Tina Fey, the series had a modestly rated run in midseason 2017.

Fox’s well received but low-rated horror drama series The Exorcist has been axed after two seasons.

ABC’s Designated Survivor will not see a third season. The network has canceled the Kiefer Sutherland starrer after two seasons. The May 16 season finale will now serve as the series finale.

ABC’s terrorism drama Quantico will not see a fourth season. The network has opted to cancel the series starring Priyanka Chopra. Its Season 3 finale set for May 17, will now serve as the series ender.

A low-key midseason entry in 2016, Lucifer, from Warner Bros. TV, exceeded expectations at first, earning a second-season renewal, a Season 2 back order and an early Season 3 renewal — all within nine months.

It’s official — Last Man Standing will be back. A year after it was canceled by ABC, Fox has closed deals to bring back the multi-cam comedy starring Tim Allen for premiere during the 2018-19 season. The bulk of the show’s core cast is back, including Allen, Nancy Travis, Jonathan Adams, Amanda Fuller, Christoph Sanders and Jordan Masterson.

Liz Meriwether has become one of the most powerful producers in television — and she’s using her clout to champion projects made by women.

The writing was on the wall when NBC recently pulled action drama Taken off the schedule. Now the series based on the Taken movie franchise has been officially canceled.

The military drama, one of three to debut during the 2017-2018 season, failed to make a splash in the ratings. It averaged a 0.9 rating in adults 18-49 and 4.6 million viewers in Live+Same Day after 13 episodes.

Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg has secured about $800 million in financing for his video startup NewTV, which the company will use to fund high-end TV series that have YouTube-length episodes, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Joni Day upped to senior vice president, alternative programming and development; Colin Nash hired as senior vice president, alternative programming and development; Jean Shi hired as vice president, alternative programming and development.

The Big Bang Theory Season 11 finale episode brought in the CBS sitcoms best numbers in several months in the Thursday overnight ratings. Big Bang, which saw Sheldon and Amy finally tie the knot, drew a 2.8 rating in adults 18-49 and 15 million viewers, pending updates. That is up by approximately 17% in the demo and 16% in total viewers compared to last week’s episode. That is also the best demo rating the show has seen since February and its best total viewers haul since January. It was also the highest-rated and most-watched show of the night by far.

Next season’s lineup spans live news, sports, music and unscripted entertainment with new productions and multi-season franchises across eight distinct genres.

This is a fan reaction to a TV series cancellation the magnitude of which we have rarely seen: Three hours after news broke of Fox not picking up Brooklyn Nine-Nine for Season 6, the cop comedy was the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter, going head-to-head with the biggest TV event in the world, Eurovision. While done at Fox, Brooklyn Nine-Nine may not be gone altogether. Hulu, Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s SVOD home, is considered the most likely choice,

A little more than a year after a hot start last midseason, Fox’s comedy series The Mick is getting a cancellation. The network has opted not to order a third season of the show starring It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia‘s Kaitlin Olson. The network today also canceled The Last Man on Earth and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

It’s the end of the apocalypse as we know it: Fox has canceled Will Forte’s doomsday satire Last Man on Earth after four seasons. The axing means that last Sunday’s finale — which ended on a cliffhanger — will now serve as a series finale.