2016-2017 TV Season Season Cancellations

On 2/24/17, CBS marked the first official cancellation for the TV season. It seems the networks have really mastered their game in cancellation chicken this TV season. Instead of having to announce a cancellation, they announce no further episodes will be ordered, air the remaining episodes and then ignore the show existed. Last season's first official cancellation was ABC with "Wicked City" on 11/13/15, but this one certainly breaks that record.

After only 2 episodes, the legal drama starring Katherine Heigl was disbarred. The ratings were very poor for the midseason starter series coming in second-to-last in the demo by only slightly besting "Ransom." Things are not much better for total viewership, only performing better than "Training Day" and "Ransom." There is no word on when or if the unaired episodes will be released, or even how many were completed before production was shut down.

On 3/29/17, ABC pulled the midseason starter from their schedule after airing 5 episodes. The series debuted to lackluster ratings and the numbers only fell lower after that. There is no word on when or if ABC will debut the 3 unaired episodes.

On 5/1/17, FOX cancelled the freshman sports-drama. Despite ample amounts of marketing and critical acclaim, the series started out with so-so numbers and they quickly dropped. There were a total of 10 episodes with the final one having aired on December 8, 2016.

On 5/10/17, ABC surprisingly cancelled the Tim Allen-lead sitcom after six seasons. Despite the fact that it performs very well for Fridays and was their #2 comedy this season after Modern Family, there are rumblings that ABC no-longer wanted to negotiate with Fox TV over the costs. There are also rumblings that Fox might try to find a new home for the series as it still successful in its own right. A total of 130 episodes have aired.

On 5/11/17, ABC cancelled the social-issues drama after three seasons. It had been on the bubble since the first season, but the ratings hit new lows with the third. Despite critical acclaim and awards, the series continued to dive in the ratings per season. It is currently the lowest-rated scripted series on ABC in regards to the demo. In total viewership, it only bests "Time After Time" and "Agents of Shield." There were a total of 29 episodes with the final one having aired on April 30th.

On 5/11/17, ABC cancelled the Shondaland drama after only two short seasons. The series debuted to halfway decent ratings, but they sank to undesirable with the second season. The 20th and final episode is slated to air tonight, May 11th. It’s safe to say there will likely be little to no closure, unfortunately.

On 5/11/17, ABC finally and officially cancelled the legal drama.
The series received weak ratings from the start and after airing 5 episodes, ABC announced the series would not be getting more episodes beyond the initial 13. It was obvious the show was a goner, but the networks have changed the game by simply announcing no additional episodes instead of no renewal. The final episode aired on January 29, 2017.

On 5/11/17, ABC took away Ken’s medical license after two seasons. While the series did not perform as well as it’s also cancelled partner, “The Last Man Standing,” it still did fairly well for a sitcom on a Friday night. There were a total of 44 episodes, with the last one having aired on March 31st.

On 5/11/17, ABC imagined Mary away after 7 episodes. The signs of trouble were as early as fall 2016, when the episode count was cut from 13 to just 9. When it debuted, the ratings were anything but good. The final two episodes are scheduled to air on May 16th and May 30th.

On 5/11/17, ABC finally and officially cancelled the drama series. The ratings were not good and the network announced the episode count would be cut from 13 to 10 after airing just 5 episodes. The final episode aired on December 8th, 2016.

On 5/11/17, CBS finally and officially cancelled the medical drama. The series started out with weak ratings and it continued to drop. After 4 episodes, CBS announced they would not be ordering anymore episodes beyond the initial 13. However, they will continue airing the episodes through January. This was another freshman series from the fall that everyone knew was cancelled, but the networks like playing cancellation chicken. The final episode aired on January 26, 2017.

On 5/11/17, ABC evicted the O’Neals after two seasons. The series performed alright in the ratings, but certainly not well enough compared to the other sitcoms it was pared with. Speculation is that ABC wanted to distance themselves from the series once one of the stars made a number of controversial and upsetting statements. This was followed by the network reducing the season two episode count from 22 to just 16. There were a total of 29 episodes, with the final one having aired on March 14th.

On 5/11/17, ABC cancelled the crime drama after two seasons. The series debuted to very good numbers, but season two saw a drop. There was a fairly long hiatus (nearly 16 months) between seasons, with little promotion for the second season as well. Add to the fact that there is a slow, but growing fatigue with anthology-like series that don’t have the most compelling stories each season. There were a total of 20 episodes, with the last one having aired on December 4th, 2016.

On 6/23/17, ABC cancelled the freshman sitcom after only 6 episodes. Despite critical acclaim, the ratings were not that great. Though, it was fairly obvious ABC was burning the 8-episode series off for the summer season. The final 2 episodes are slated to air June 27th, but the producers are planning to find a new home for it.