Sci Fi TV Update: Status updates, news, and developments on sci fi and fantasy television. For breaking news, be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site
Status Update:
CBS does not appear to be afraid of Ghosts because it will be keeping the show around for a full season. The network just extended the supernatural sitcom beyond its original thirteen episode pickup, though the back order of eps has not been determined yet. Expect six to nine more installments from the show during the 2021-22 season. That one got off to a decent start with a 0.56 rating for its premiere based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic. It then improved in its second week to a 0.61 score. Those are good numbers for a sitcom these days, and CBS apparently used the show’s early success to justify shoring up half an hour on the schedule for the rest of the season. If it continues to perform above the 0.50 mark, then it should have a decent chance of continuing to a second year.
Digital Ratings:
The week of September 20th to 26th was a slow one for sci fi and fantasy entries in the Nielsen Streaming Top 10. Netflix’s Lucifer was the only genre show in the Top 10 for originals, slipping from the prior week to the Number 2 slot with 860 million total viewers. What If . . . ? dropped out of the Top 10 and the premiere of the animated Star Wars Visions did not chart for the week. Doom Patrol Season 3 premiered that week on HBO Max and Foundation had its bow on Apple TV+, but those streaming services are not tracked in these Nielsen rankings yet. In the Top 10 acquired shows, Manifest slipped from the Number 1 slot to Number 5 and pulled in 430 million minutes of viewing. Supernatural remained in that chart and improved to the Number 7 slot. There were no genre entries in the Top 10 for movies. Following are all the sci fi and fantasy entries on the streaming charts for the week (the number in parenthesis is the prior week rank):
Digital Ratings for the Week of Sep-20 to Sep-26
Streaming Originals
2 (1) Lucifer (Netlfix) 860 Million
Acquired Shows
5 (1) Manifest (Netflix) 430 Million
7 (8) Supernatural (Netflix) 361 Million
Movies
No Genre Entries
Source: Nielsen SVOD Content Ratings (Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix), Nielsen National TV Panel, U.S. Viewing Through Television
Ratings of Interest:
The curious onlooker effect took its toll on Syfy’s Chucky this week, though not by too much of a margin. The show slipped from its premiere week to a 0.14 rating based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic with 390K total viewers for its airing on Syfy on Tuesday. The simulcast on USA slipped to a 0.11 rating with 280K total viewers, but overall the numbers for that one are still decent for a basic cable entry these days. Over on NBC on Tuesday, La Brea slipped to a 0.55 rating with 5.1 million total viewers. It was the top-rated scripted show for the night, but CBS was running all repeats. Still, the show is doing well enough compared to other scripted entries on NBC this season. The full ratings for the week will be available in the Tuesday Sci Fi TV Update post.
Status Update:
The quick cancellation of Y: The Last Man was in part related to the options for the cast expiring according to The Hollywood Reporter. That show had experienced major delays in production, and a decision had to be made by October 15th by FX and Hulu execs. The networks would have been required to pay $3 million to extend the options, and they decided not to go that route. Early indications are that the viewership was not strong (the show has not ranked in the Nielsen Streaming Top 10), though THR claims that did not factor into the decision. The show is currently being shopped around with HBO Max as a possible target seeing as the series is based on a WarnerMedia owned DC/Vertigo comic book.
Sci Fi TV Schedule:
The sci fi film Mother/Android, which stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Algee Smith, and Raúl Castillo, has been given a December 17th premiere date on Hulu. The Peacock original series Girl in the Woods premiered this week with almost no notice (it does not even have a Wikipedia entry). Following is the tagline for the show: “In a world where monsters are real, a teenage runaway in a sleepy mining town must enlist the help of new friends to fight dangerous figures from her past”. All episodes are available for viewing (and thanks to Jon Jones for bringing that one to our attention). Next week brings the premiere of the reboot of The 4400 on The CW. That one has its bow on Monday at 9 PM EST. On Friday, the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy has its premiere on Paramount+. And on Sunday, the thirteenth season of Doctor Who premieres on BBC and BBC America. You can keep up with the Weekly Listings at this link and you can see the full Fall schedule of sci fi and fantasy shows at this link.
Follow our Sci Fi TV Update posts each week for the status of the current sci fi and fantasy shows, the latest news, schedule info, and more.
Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and keep up with what is airing/streaming each week with our Weekly Listings.
If you can everyone should checkout the original UK version of Ghosts. It’s a charming, very funny, family comedy.
Is is streaming anywhere?
It’s on HBO Max and Britbox but you have to have a subscription. You might, and I say might be able watch it for free on BBC iPlayer if you use a VPN. Last resort the DVDs are available or you can buy it on iTunes.
Fun fact: Charlotte Ritchie who play the lead in the BBC version as Alison (rather than Rose McIver as Samantha in the CBS version) was in Doctor Who. She was the archaeologist that got mind controlled by the Daleks in “Resolution”.
She also played a lead in Dead Pixels (as Alison again) and was in the BBC Radio 4 adaption of Good Omens.
I am not willing to watch any SciFi series since SciFi doesn’t finish its series. Dark Matter much?
I’m still waiting for Resident Alien.