Cable network AMC announced yesterday that post-apocalyptic martial arts series Into the Badlands will be returning for a second season. That show delivered one of the highest debuts ever for a cable series last Fall with The Walking Dead as its lead-in. Its numbers dropped for the last three episodes of its six-ep first season, but still had decent ratings for a cable entry these days. There was no word on the long delay from the end of its first season to the announcement (series star Daniel Wu had claimed months back that the show was renewed), but perhaps they were trying to work out the budget because this one is certainly costly to produce. The second season will comprise ten episodes and will bow in 2017.
CBS announced yesterday that it plans to renew five of its freshman shows which is good news for Supergirl and Limitless even though both of those shows have seen their numbers slip off notably of late. The network has had five new shows premiere this season thus far, though Angel from Hell was pulled from the schedule after five episodes (and the producers must have really irked the network because the show’s numbers weren’t that bad). It seem unlikely that one will be included in the renewals meaning that one the CBS shows that has yet to debut (Rush Hour and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders) will get the nod. That will leave one more as odd-show-out if the network sticks with the five show cap, meaning Limitless especially needs to get its numbers up because it has had a significant drop off in 2016. But that show still has a decent chance and it looks like Supergirl could be pretty much a lock at this point. This follows ABC’s wave of renewals last week that included Once Upon A Time and Agents of SHIELD and is suggesting a trend that the broadcast nets are wanting to stick with as many known properties as possible in the current ratings slump era. I still consider Limitless a Call to Action show, though, so fans need to make noise to assure that it is included among the promised CBS freshman pickups.
Expect even more announcements over the coming weeks and months as we approach the May Upfronts where the networks present their schedules for the 2016-17 season (you can see the timing of those at this link). And keep a close eye on this site and the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for updates and breaking announcements.
