This is the final Scorecard for the 2020-21 regular season and it could also be the final final Scorecard. With the future of the ShowBuzzDaily site uncertain at this point, I do not have a similar comprehensive source for ratings numbers that I can use to compile the data needed to produce the rankings. But as I said in the Weekly Roundup post, much of this is heading to irrelevance anyway. While the Big Four broadcast networks still pay close attention to the ratings numbers, The CW has evolved beyond that and the cable channels are producing less and less in the way of scripted programming. Should the ratings data continue to be available, I will produce the Scorecard in some format. But I believe that it is becoming less and less reliable for all but the Big Four broadcast nets, and those latter stations are producing less in the way of genre shows. The television landscape continues to change and Nielsen is still behind the times in how they compile viewership data. Perhaps that will change, though, and more reliable numbers will be available at some point in the future.
The rankings below have not changed much since the last iteration, and it exemplifies what we have been seeing from the rankings since I started them. The shows towards the top tend to get renewed while the ones towards the bottom tend to get cancelled. There are always exceptions to this, like MacGyver getting the ax from CBS while at the Number 10 slot, but that had more to do with the current lawsuit over profits. Or His Dark Materials getting renewed at the Number 32 slot, though that one is an international production and it was picked up for a final season only. As the measurement for a show’s success on the broadcast networks and cable channels continues to change, I would expect to see more cases where the rankings do not as adequately gauge the renewal/cancellation prospects. But if more reliable data becomes available, maybe that will change. Keep an eye out for future Scorecards if the data is there. But for now, this will be the last set of rankings for a while.
The Scorecard ranks all of the sci fi and fantasy shows’ ratings performance vs. their network’s ratings benchmark (see metric definitions below). Shows at or above their benchmark should be okay, whereas those slipping notably below are getting into iffy territory.
| Rank (PW) | Series | Net | Std Avg | Net Bench | % Var | Status |
| 1 (1) | The Walking Dead (O) | AMC | 0.67 | 0.30 | 124.8% | Renewed |
| 2 (2) | Supernatural (O) | CW | 0.30 | 0.15 | 103.9% | Final Season |
| 3 (3) | Superman & Lois (O) | CW | 0.28 | 0.15 | 91.6% | Renewal Possible |
| 4 (4) | The Flash (O) | CW | 0.25 | 0.15 | 67.6% | Renewed |
| 5 (5) | Resident Alien (O) | Syfy | 0.19 | 0.15 | 28.7% | Renewed |
| 6 (6) | Kung Fu (O) | CW | 0.18 | 0.15 | 20.0% | Renewed |
| 7 (7) | Fear the Walking Dead (O) | AMC | 0.31 | 0.30 | 2.6% | Renewed |
| 8 (8) | Riverdale (O) | CW | 0.14 | 0.15 | -5.5% | Renewed |
| 9 (9) | Supergirl (O) | CW | 0.13 | 0.15 | -8.8% | Final Season |
| 10 (11) | MacGyver (O) (F) | CBS | 0.51 | 0.56 | -9.6% | Cancelled |
| 11 (10) | Legacies (O) | CW | 0.13 | 0.15 | -10.5% | Renewed |
| 12 (12) | Manifest (O) | NBC | 0.50 | 0.57 | -13.0% | Renewal Possible |
| 13 (14) | The Walking Dead World Beyond (O) | AMC | 0.25 | 0.30 | -16.7% | Renewed |
| 14 (13) | Batwoman (O) | CW | 0.12 | 0.15 | -17.0% | Renewed |
| 15 (15) | Snowpiercer | TNT | 0.25 | 0.30 | -17.4% | Renewed |
| 16 (16) | Swamp Thing (O) | CW | 0.12 | 0.15 | -18.5% | Cancelled |
| 17 (18) | Primal | ADSW | 0.19 | 0.25 | -24.0% | Renewed |
| 18 (17) | Black Lightning (O) | CW | 0.11 | 0.15 | -24.0% | Final Season |
| 19 (19) | Debris (O) | NBC | 0.40 | 0.57 | -30.4% | Cancelled |
| 20 (20) | Legends of Tomorrow (O) | CW | 0.09 | 0.15 | -36.6% | Renewed |
| 21 (22) | Two Sentence Horror Stories | CW | 0.09 | 0.15 | -40.0% | Renewed |
| 22 (21) | Nancy Drew (O) | CW | 0.09 | 0.15 | -41.1% | Renewed |
| 23 (23) | Charmed (O) (F) | CW | 0.09 | 0.15 | -41.1% | Renewed |
| 24 (24) | The Outpost | CW | 0.08 | 0.15 | -44.1% | Renewal Possible |
| 25 (25) | Trickster | CW | 0.08 | 0.15 | -49.0% | Cancelled |
| 26 (26) | Pandora | CW | 0.07 | 0.15 | -52.4% | On the Bubble |
| 27 (27) | The Nevers (O) | HBO | 0.09 | 0.20 | -56.7% | Renewal Possible |
| 28 (28) | Wynonna Earp | Syfy | 0.06 | 0.15 | -58.9% | Cancelled |
| 29 (29) | NeXt | FOX | 0.25 | 0.64 | -61.6% | Cancelled |
| 30 (30) | Star Trek Discovery (O) | CBS | 0.21 | 0.56 | -62.2% | Renewed |
| 31 (31) | Van Helsing | Syfy | 0.05 | 0.15 | -65.3% | Final Season |
| 32 (32) | His Dark Materials | HBO | 0.05 | 0.20 | -73.6% | Renewed |
| 33 (33) | American Gods (O) | Starz | 0.04 | 0.15 | -76.7% | Cancelled |
| 34 (34) | The Watch | BBCA | 0.03 | 0.25 | -86.3% | On the Bubble |
| 35 (35) | Moonbase 8 | Show | 0.01 | 0.20 | -95.6% | On the Bubble |
Metric Definitions:
Rank (PW): Current rank based on the variance of a show’s season to date ratings average vs. its network’s benchmark (see definition below). The number in parenthesis is the prior week’s rank. Note that shows on the streaming services are not included because of insufficient viewership data and foreign imports like Doctor Who will not be included because they rely more heavily on their viewership in their home countries.
Series: (O) indicates the show is owned or co-owned by the network and/or a sister studio. (F) indicates the show airs on Friday when ratings expectations are lower on the broadcast networks.
StD Avg: The show’s season to date ratings average based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic.
Net Bench: (Network Benchmark) For the broadcast networks, this is the net’s season to date average rating based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic for non-sports, non-special, non-repeat broadcasts. For the cable channels, this is the lowest level at which a show is typically renewed by that network if there are enough genre entries on that channel to provide a decent sample. But note that with cable entries intangibles such as international and/or streaming partnerships can play an important factor in a show’s survival and that is not measured here.
% Var: The percent variance between a show’s season to date average and the network benchmark as defined above. The higher the variance, the better a show is performing vs. the benchmark.
Status: My assessment of the likelihood that a show will get renewed or cancelled. The statuses are Renewal Likely, Renewal Possible, On the Bubble, Cancellation Likely (plus Renewed and Cancelled/Ended)
Ratings Source: ShowBuzzDaily
