thought that would happen...I don't think ABC did either. As a 28-year-old woman, I basically am their target demo, and if I've turned away, that's not a good sign. To their credit, they seem to have noticed the downturn and have cut a lot of the dead weight. I'll be posting about their new pilots later on, but seriously, ABC needs a win this fall if they're going to keep their heads in the game. They haven't had a breakout hit since Modern Family debuted. Based on what I've seen for their fall slate, I'm guessing they'll be waiting another year for a win. That, or midseason. In a rather annoying and confounding trend, most of the new pilots this year that actually look promising are being held till midseason, with no greater offender than ABC. Weird. Good luck with that, ABC.
Anyways, here's how the chips fell. In terms of freshman shows returning for a second season, ABC only fared marginally better than NBC. Not a statistic to be proud of...
SHOWS THAT HAVE BEEN CANCELED:
- Better With You
I'm only mostly sure I know which of the lame-ass slew of relationship comedies this one is, but it won't be missed even if I'm thinking of the wrong one. - Brothers & Sisters
I only ever saw the pilot, and that was enough. Geez, this sucker has been around for ages, so even though I can't speak to its current quality, it has to be pretty long in the tooth at this point. - Detroit 1-8-7
I hear this one actually got pretty good. It's a shame it won't be back. Maybe TNT wants to flesh out its cop show rescue programming and pick it up. The Chicago Code as well. - Mr. Sunshine
Wow, won't be missed. Nice try, Matt. No ci-gar. - No Ordinary Family
Fun concept, horrible cast. If I could have gotten past the Julie Benz and Michael Chicklis of it all, it might have been watchable, but that's a whole lot to get past. - Off the Map
Lame concept, wonderful cast. It's a shame Shonda refused to step out of her box on this one. Of course, its cancellation frees up a lot of good actors for better projects, so kudos, ABC. - V
I gave up on this one after the first, uh... pod(?) of episodes. It had some real potential, but the scheduling situation was too annoying to bear.
- Body of Proof
Meh. It's a decent enough medical procedural, if you're into that sort of thing, but I ain't. - Castle
Oh, my darling Castle. Way to be the only show on this entire network worth watching. Okay, seriously, that finale!? Awesome! I had a feeling Montgomery wasn't going to survive the episode, but I didn't seem him as the pseudo-baddie at all! Unlike Bones, who picks villains out of a hat 10 minutes before writing the big reveal, Castle did a lovely job setting this up and paying it off. The fight between Ryan and Esposito was surprisingly jarring, the confrontation with Beckett was brutal, and the attempt at Beckett's life at the funeral? Unexpected and evocative. Plus, as a box full of cookies to shippers everywhere, Castle's confession of love to Beckett right before she passed out was just perfect. Well done, show. Well done. - Cougar Town
It's nice to see at least one of the Friends has broken the curse. Who'd have ever guessed it'd be Monica? Not Chandler, I tell you that much (see Mr. Sunshine, above). - Desperate Housewives
Wow, speaking of long in the tooth, I can't believe this show is still on. It'll now be opposite The Good Wife, which, if viewers have any savvy at all, means that DH devotees will be jumping ship for some real quality programming. - Grey's Anatomy
Uh, good for them? - Happy Endings
Along with Body of Proof, this is the only other Freshman series to be returning in the fall. Don't get me wrong, that means that last year was twice as successful as NBC, but again, not something to brag about. It's a catastrophically low bar. - The Middle
- Modern Family
Yeah, I'm just not feeling the love so much these days... This season has been uneven at best and downright dull at worst. It's still amusing on the whole, but not much of a laugh-out-loud event the way that Community is. - Private Practice
The last thing I remember was Violet getting a C-section performed by a psychopath... Wonder how that turned out. Wait, no, I don't.
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