Cancellation Watch: Status updates for the sci fi and fantasy shows on the broadcast networks, cable channels, and streaming services as well as breaking news on the currently airing, returning, and upcoming genre entries.
Status Updates
Resident Alien (Syfy, Status: Renewal Possible): This show improved for its season finale, pulling a 0.08 rating based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic with 622K total viewers. Its third-year numbers have been nowhere near where it was in its first season and the first half of its second season, but it did see an upward trend the last couple of weeks. The first two seasons just started streaming on Netflix and have performed well there, and that could be boosting the viewership. That could also help it get to a fourth season, and the showrunners do have plans for where the show will go next, but some help from fans on the social networks would give it a boost as well.
Fallout (Prime Video, Status: Renewal Possible): This show premieres today on Amazon’s Prime Video and it may already be headed to a second-season renewal. Word is that it has been offered a $25 million tax credit to relocate filming from New York to California. That does not guarantee that a second season will happen, but it will certainly act as a strong incentive, especially as the streaming services try to keep costs down. We will have to see how this much-anticipated show performs in viewership, but consider its prospects good at this point.
Halo (Paramount+, Status: Renewal Possible): This video-game-based series has wrapped up its second season, and it had a four-week run in the Nielsen Streaming Rankings, averaging an estimated 377 million minutes of viewing per week. That is good for a Paramount+ entry and should help get this one to a third-season renewal.
Not Dead Yet (ABC, Status: On the Bubble): The numbers for this supernatural comedy have been slipping, and it hit a series-low 0.15 rating in the demo with 1.4 million total viewers with its latest episode. It is also losing a fair amount of the audience each week from its lead-in The Conners. It is firmly On the Bubble and fans will certainly want to make some noise on the social networks to support it if they hope for it to stick around for a third season.
American Horror Story (FX, Status: Renewed): This horror anthology barely registered in the ratings with its return for the second half of its twelfth season, posting a series low 0.03 rating in the demo with 243K total viewers. This was once among the top-rated shows on cable, but its audience has certainly diminished over the years. It has been renewed through its thirteenth season, but could be wrapping up at that point.
3 Body Problem (Netflix, Status: Renewal Possible): This sci fi entry held at Number 1 in the Netflix Top 10 for a second week in a row, but its viewership dropped almost in half from week to week, from 116 million hours to 61 million hours. That may suggest that the completion rate is not where Netflix execs want it to be, and this is an expensive show to produce. But it is also a high-profile series, so the streamer will have an incentive to keep it going if the cost can be justified.
You can see the status of all the shows from the current season at our Cancellation Watch Page.
Cancellation/Renewal Score:
NBC announced last week that its Quantum Leap revival will not be continuing to a third season (more on that at this link). That brings the current score to ten cancelled and ending sci fi and fantasy entries (20% of shows tracked) vs. twenty renewals (39%). Below are this season’s numbers, and you can see the list of shows and keep up with the score throughout the week at our Cancellation Watch Page.
| Show Count | 51 | ||
| Cancelled | 6 | 11.8% | |
| Ending | 4 | 7.8% | 19.6% |
| Renewed | 20 | 39.2% | |
| On the Bubble | 5 | 9.8% | |
| Renewal Possible | 16 | 31.4% | |
| Mini-Series | 5 |
Be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates. And for the latest news and discussions on sci fi and fantasy television, follow r/SciFiTV
Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and you can see the premieres for all the upcoming genre entries at this link.
I happened onto Resident Alien by accident and was instantly hooked! Such a well written fun show and such great actors! Please don’t drop this gem!! Give us RA season 4!
being a sci-fi channel show I was skeptical but since catching up with it on Netflix i found it to be a charming little gem. I still won’t watch it on sci-fi mind you but I hope it continues.
The “Resident Alien” finale was solid, considering that they were cut to 8 episodes in the middle of the writers’ room and so they had to pack a lot of material into a shortened season. Really have my fingers crossed for another season because I feel like it’s really picked up and it does deserve it. Here’s hoping that those Netflix numbers give it the boost it needs and that more people will find it whenever they decide to release Season 3 on Netflix.