Is There Still a Chance for The Inhumans?

I’ve noticed a lot of buzz the last few days on the internet suggesting that ABC has cancelled its new Marvel series The Inhumans, and while there has been no official announcement at this point, all the signs are pointing toward an exit for that one. SpoilerTV.com noticed the other day that the show had been removed from the network’s press site. That could just be a website error, but it has not been corrected yet. On top of that, ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey did not have too much good to say about the show during the TCAs, a time when networks are typically trying to put a positive spin on even their biggest clunkers. I have had the show at Cancellation Likely status for a while, and I have seen little reason to believe that the network will keep it around for a second season. A petition has been started to save the show, and it is already close to its modest 2,500 signature goal (they will need more than that to to get ABC’s attention, though). If fans can organize and mount a campaign, it’s not impossible that Disney could issue an order for a second season. But the window is closing fast and the fans will need to make a lot of noise if they want to change this one’s fate. ABC will likely not make an official announcement until May, right before the Upfronts when they present their 2018-19 schedule to the sponsors. If fans can influence the network and/or corporate owner Disney before then, maybe this one has a chance.

The Time Has Been Set for Timeless

NBC has announced the Season 2 return date for Timeless, slating that show for Sundays at 10 PM EST beginning on March 11th. That is not the best hour on the schedule for the show, but it is still better than getting cast to Fridays or a late Thursday slot. The network averaged a 0.8 rating based on same day viewing in the 18-49 demographic in that hour last Spring (NFL Football airs on that night in Fall), and if Timeless can pull similar numbers then I believe it might be okay. Those ratings, plus the boost it gets on the social networks may be enough to carry it into a third year. But fans will need to keep up the same level of engagement as last season to assure that the show trends well on the social nets and also scores well in delayed / digital viewing, because those could be the deciding factors in keeping the show from running out of time. A strong push ahead of its premiere would also be a good move because that can attract new viewers to the show. The first season is available at NBC’s website and on Hulu (only five eps, though), and that should be part of any social net campaign trying to bring attention to the show.

Ratings Results of Interest: Beyond Returns Low, Counterpart Debuts Poorly

Freeform’s paranormal series Beyond returned for its second season last Thursday and only posted a 0.10 rating with 312K total viewers for its two-episode premiere. That is lower than the already-low 0.14 average the show had in its first season. But the network has marketed this one differently, releasing the entire first season online at the same time as its linear debut last year. It did not do the same this season, but may still be focusing more on digital viewing (it is available to stream at Freeform’s website). I am going to start this one out at Renewal Possible status, but I am leaning heavily toward making it a bubble show. I will see how it trends over the next few weeks first.

On Sunday, Starz’s parallel universe series Counterpart had its official first season debut but only managed a 0.09 rating based on same day viewing in the demo with 371K total viewers.  That episode did get a preview airing late Fall after the season finale for Outlander, so technically this counts as a rerun.  But it didn’t get much promotion then and Sunday’s numbers are not encouraging.  I will see how this one does with its second episode, but it is close to getting counted as a bubble show.

On Friday, CBS’ MacGyver continues to perform better than its Fall numbers as it posted another 1.0 rating with 8.1 million total viewers. That show runs a repeat this Friday, though, and will likely not air more than two new episodes in a row the rest of the season due to typical CBS scheduling hijinks during the second half of the year. We will see how that impacts its ratings in the coming weeks. Over on ABC, Agents of SHIELD held at a 0.6 rating with 2.3 million total viewers, and the network seems to be okay with its fifth season performance on Fridays so far.  On Saturday, USA’s Falling Water improved slightly to a 0.11 rating with 346K total viewers.  But that is not enough to get it off the bubble at this point.

I covered the ratings from the first part of the week on Friday at this link and you can see the full ratings results at this link.  Be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for the latest ratings results as well as breaking news.  Ratings source: ShowBuzzDaily.