The CW has pulled the Zac Efron travelogue after two episodes. The network also has jettisoned Fantastic Friends (starring Harry Potter twins James and Oliver Phelps) from its primetime lineup.
HBO’s groundbreaking, Emmy-winning comedy series A Black Lady Sketch Show is ending with its recent fourth season. Creator, showrunner, writer and star Robin Thede issued a statement about the move, which is being characterized as a mutual decision to end on a creative high note.
VICE, the documentary TV series that launched on HBO in 2013 and in more recent years called Showtime home, is the latest program to be “disappeared” from the Paramount+ With Showtime streaming service. VICE previously had been available on the Showtime app, and then for a hot second moved to Paramount+ With Showtime (after the Paramount+/Showtime merger).
Exclusives
Magnum P.I.‘s reprieve at NBC is coming to an end. The network has opted not to order additional episodes beyond the 20-episode fifth season picked up last year.
It’s one and done for NBC’s The Wheel. The U.S. adaptation of the U.K. game show has been canceled after one season. Airing five nights a week over two weeks last December, The Wheel debuted to 1.4 million total viewers and a 0.2 demo rating, and finished with 2.2 mil and a 0.3.
This news will be a major bummer to fans of the Australian surfing drama Barons: The CW has pulled it from the primetime schedule after four episodes. Repeats of Nancy Drew will take over the Mondays at 9 p.m. time slot, effective next week.
NBC has opted not to proceed with a third season of its workplace comedy series American Auto, created and executive produced by Superstore creator Justin Spitzer. The news comes a week after the network picked up to series Spitzer’s workplace comedy pilot St. Denis Medical.
“Since many of you have been asking about the possibility of Gotham Knights finding a new home, we wanted to let you know that, over the last few months, our producing partners at Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Discovery had been working extremely hard to get the show picked up or possibly even moved to a new network,” showrunners James Stoteraux and Chad Fiveash wrote Wednesday on social media. “Unfortunately, despite all their efforts, The CW wasn’t able to renew the show, and the studio wasn’t able to find a new home for it.”
Three of ABC’s primetime dramas won’t make it to the 2023-24 schedule. On Friday, the Alphabet network canceled Big Sky, Alaska Daily and The Company You Keep.
The CW on Thursday canceled two more series as network owner Nextstar continues to whittle down its roster of scripted shows. Kung Fu and Supernatural prequel The Winchesters — both produced by Warner Bros. TV, one of The CW’s former owners — won’t return to the network in 2023-24. Kung Fu ran for three seasons, while The Winchesters ends after a single season. The cancellations follow that of first-year show Walker: Independence, which comes from the network’s other former owner, CBS Studios, on Tuesday.
No more tropical island escapes for Fox: the network is not renewing Fantasy Island for a third season. Fox greenlit the contemporary version of the classic drama series in 2021. The series, which takes place at a luxury resort, starred Roselyn Sanchez stars as Elena Roarke, a descendant of the original series’ enigmatic Mr. Roarke. The series was done under a low-cost business model, so its threshold for success was lower. But Fox still decided to have the sun set on its summer series.
On Tuesday, The CW canceled Walker prequel Walker Independence after one season. The move, which was expected, followed the CW’s renewal of mothership series Walker earlier in the day. The bulk of the CW’s existing scripted series will be canceled this week as the network is transitioning to a new business model of lower-cost scripted programming in pursuit of profitability.
CBS is dropping the ax on East New York and True Lies after one season. The CBS dramas’ Season 1 finales will now mark the end of both shows, airing Sunday, May 14, and Wednesday, May 17, respectively.
In the highest-profile cancellation so far this upfront, CBS has opted not to renew S.W.A.T. for a seventh season. Its upcoming Season 6 finale will serve as a series finale. The show’s demise illustrates the harsh economic realities of the broadcast business as S.W.A.T. has done what was asked of it this season — it has been a rare TV series to rise in linear viewership year-to-year by double digits following its move to Fridays, where the drama has flourished. It may be the most watched broadcast series to get the axe this season.
On Friday, the network canceled comedy Call Me Kat after three seasons. The show has seen dwindling ratings, particularly in its third season.
Vice News Tonight celebrated its 1,000th episode this past March, and now the award-winning weekly news program is being canceled. The cancellation, which will officially take place in May, comes as Vice Media Group begins layoffs within its Vice News unit.
Netflix’s Bling Empire has fallen. Both the original series and its spinoff, Bling Empire: New York, have been canceled. Inspired by the big-screen success of Crazy Rich Asians, the first series focused on a group of Asian-American socialites in Los Angeles. Bling Empire‘s first season premiered in January 2021, followed by a second in May 2022.
The network has canceled its medical drama after six seasons. The decision comes nearly three months after The Resident, produced by Disney’s 20th Television, finished its 13-episode sixth season.
The network has canceled the dancing competition, which starred Nick Jonas, Liza Koshy and Shakira, after one season. The decision, which was made a few months ago, comes after the show, which was hosted by Camille Kostek, premiered last May and ran for eight episodes. The news emerged after NBC set its summer lineup.
CBS Media Ventures’ nationally syndicated daytime talk show Rachael Ray will be coming to an end after its current 17th season when it will stop original production. “In my more than 20 plus years in television I have had 17 wonderful seasons working in daytime television with Rachael,” Ray said in a statement. “However I’ve made the decision that’s it’s time for me to move on to the next exciting chapter in my broadcast career.”
