Coming as no surprise, Hulu has announced that its mystery box series Paradise has been renewed for a second season. Parent company Disney touted the viewership numbers for the show’s first week, which is rare for the Mouse House, in which it pulled in seven million views in global streaming. The Nielsen Streaming Rankings have not caught up yet, but that will likely have it in the Top 10 originals for its premiere week. The show has also been well-received by critics and viewers, currently holding an 81% Fresh Rating and 83% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes. Production on the second season will begin in Spring which should have it on track for an early 2026 premiere. There are two more episodes of the first season left with the finale set to drop on March 4th. Starting on April 7th, all eight episodes of the show will air on ABC.
Also coming as no surprise, CBS has given a two-season renewal to its supernatural comedy Ghosts, extending its run through its sixth season. That show has performed well for the network–currently the network’s second highest-rated comedy–and the fifth season renewal will get it to 100 episodes which makes it very attractive to the syndication market (where shows really turn a profit). There is no word at this point on whether they plan on wrapping up the show by its sixth season, but it is in the network’s best interest to keep it going for a while to pad out the syndication package and assure it a Big Bang Theory-type encore run.
These two announcements bring the Cancellation/Renewal Score for the current season to 23 renewed sci fi and fantasy entries (49% of shows tracked) vs. 13 cancelled and ending (28%). You can see the breakdown of the numbers and the full list of shows for the current and prior seasons on our Cancellation Watch Page.
According to the logline, “Paradise is set in a serene community inhabited by some of the world’s most prominent individuals. But this tranquility explodes when a shocking murder occurs and a high-stakes investigation occurs.” There is a sci fi twist at the end of the first episode, but I will not spoil that here. The show stars Sterling K. Brown, Julianne Nicholson, Sarah Shahi, Nicole Brydon Bloom, Aliyah Mastin, James Marsden.
Ghosts follows New Yorkers Samantha and Jay Arondekar who inherit a country mansion only to find that it is falling apart and inhabited by ghosts. Jay cannot see the spirits in the house, but after Sam has a near-death experience, she can see and speak with them. It stars Rose McIver, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Brandon Scott Jones, Danielle Pinnock, and Richie Moriarty and it is based on the British sitcom of the same name.
The new year is underway and more cancellation and renewal announcements should be on the way. You can see the status of all this season’s shows at our Cancellation Watch page. And be sure to follow this site as well as our Twitter and Mastodon accounts for updates and breaking news.
Keep up with the status updates of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow us on social media for breaking news and updates: Twitter | Facebook | Mastodon | Blue Sky.
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.