Today was the first day of the Upfronts which saw NBC and FOX unveiling their schedules for the 2018-19 season (I will have a rundown for all the networks later this week), and we learned the fate of several more shows as well. On the renewal front, ABC announced that Agents of SHIELD will be returning for a sixth season. Just like the agents in the show, that one always seems to have the odds against it and it goes down to the wire, but it makes it out alive. This could be the last time, though, as the network has only given it a shortened thirteen-episode order for its sixth year. That has not been officially announced as its final season yet, but it sure seems to be lining up that way at this point. I would expect Agents of SHIELD to return at mid-season, because a crossover is planned with the Captain Marvel movie which will get its release in March 2019.
Today’s other renewal was an expected announcement as Netflix officially gave the greenlight to a second season of its Lost in Space reboot. That show has had a good debut according to viewing tracked by Nielsen and the showrunner’s were already in the process of working on stories for a second year. The new Lost in Space has not received the same amount of acclaim as some of Netflix’s other original genre entries such as Stranger Things and Black Mirror, but the reviews have been mostly positive thus far and it considered a good selection for family viewing. Expect ten episodes for the show’s second season and expect it to bow at some point in 2019.
There were no cancellation announcements today, but FOX confirmed that The X-Files will be coming to an end as expected. Network chairman Gary Newman had this to say about the show at the Upfronts today: “It’s been a great show for the network but there are no plans to do another season at the moment”. Series co-lead Gillian Anderson had previously said that she would not be returning to the show, but she sent out a tweet today suggesting that it was the show’s ratings declines, not her departure, that led to the FOX decision. The fact is that after scoring high viewership in its first revival season, the show dropped off notably this year and was barely at passable levels when it wrapped up. The network had already cooled on the idea of another season several months ago, and the ratings did nothing to change that. Of course, Newman said they have no plans for the show at the moment, so it could always return for another revival at some point or head to the big screen once again. Don’t expect that in the next year or so, though.
Two of the broadcast network shows are still awaiting word on their fates, and I expect an announcement on at least one this week. NBC’s time travel series Timeless aired its season finale on Sunday, and the network is still debating that show’s future. Its ratings are down year-over-year, which is not a good thing for a show that barely avoided cancellation last season (it was actually cancelled then uncancelled). But the fans are still showing their support on the social nets, and that helped it last time around. I expect to hear a final announcement on that one at anytime. As for FOX’s Ghosted, apparently the network is going to wait a while before they make a final call. It still has six episodes to air (produced by a new showrunner) that will hit the schedule in July. I thought that was a burn-off run, but apparently the network is still keeping the door open for the show depending on how well those do. At best this one will be back at mid-season, and we likely will not know for sure until later in the Summer.
Be sure to follow our Cancellation Watch Tracker as well as the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news as several of the regular season cable shows are still awaiting word on their fates and announcements on those could come this week.
