Cancellation Watch: HBO’s Westworld and NBC’s Timeless Are Among the Five New Shows Most Likely to Succeed this Fall

The competition is stiff for viewers these days with the many scripted shows out there, genre and non-genre, and quite a number of these will not attract a large enough audience to survive. Since 2014, there have been over fifty sci fi & fantasy shows that have lasted two seasons or less and over forty of those were cut short after one season. But there are some shows on the upcoming Fall schedule that look to have a decent chance of sticking around, at least as things stand now. Here are five new entries that I believe have the best chances for survival as we head into the new season.

Westworld (HBO) – The excitement level seems to be pretty high for this reboot and it gained momentum when it picked up some good buzz coming out of the San Diego Comic Con. Plus, it airs on HBO so it will have the freedom to take more chances with its storytelling and also to explore the adult themes that are intrinsic to its premise. And as a pay channel series, its fate is not as heavily dictated by the early ratings results because the network does not have to answer to the sponsors. I expect it to pull decent viewership numbers and wouldn’t be surprised at an early renewal announcement.

Timeless (NBC) – Not only is this one of the more interesting sounding premises among the many time travel shows hitting the schedule over the next year, it also gets one of the best timeslots on the broadcast network schedule. The Monday 10 PM EST post-The Voice hour on NBC has proven a boon for quite a number of shows over the last few years and I expect Timeless to ride its favorable scheduling to a second season renewal.

Channel Zero (Syfy) – This season-long anthology series draws from the “creepypasta” stories running around the internet and I’m expecting that fact to help it find a decent audience. Plus, the early previews make it look truly creepy and this one could just give Syfy that hit that has eluded it for the last few years.

Incorporated (Syfy) – Another potential Syfy winner, this one sounds interesting and drops in the name cred of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. With those two onboard as executive producers, I’m guessing the network had to show some serious commitment to the series and Syfy has been giving most of its shows two seasons at least to prove themselves anyway. I would expect it to pull numbers along the lines of The Magicians which is the second highest rated Syfy show over the past year.

Black Mirror (Netflix) – We really need a true anthology show back on television and this one has already made a name for itself with its first two seasons in Britain. The same creative staff is aboard for the Netflix version and the excitement level is high. Consider a fourth season for this one pretty much a good bet.

There are over 40 sci fi & fantasy shows hitting the schedule in Fall 2016.  Find out how to keep up with all of them at this link