Cancelled Shows, Facts & Figures: The 'Best' Casualty, The 'Worst' Renewal, The Most Ruthless Network And More

For dozens of broadcast-TV shows, it's all over but the crying. And my annual number-crunching.

In the wake of a busy two weeks of Upfronts Season cancellations, and with only a smattering of shows still awaiting official word of their fate, TVLine as is tradition is here to take inventory of the fallen — to glean some "fun" facts amid so, so much misery.

Which freshman show this season was first to get the hook? Which of the five broadcast networks astonishingly had the lowest "batting average" this time around?

What was the strongest-performing series to be sent packing, and which were the weakest performers to (somehow) merit renewal? And which cancellations generated the most (...and least) conversation on this here Internet site?

I took a trip down to the TV morgue to compile this review of the year's cancellations as well as evaluate the freshman class as a whole — including the "new"-but-yet-to-debut shows that have been sitting on the shelf for... a while.

Want scoop on any NOT-cancelled show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line.

Of those that have met one certain fate or another (as of May 23), 48 percent of the series that debuted during the 2021-22 TV season will not be back for an encore — a sharp uptick  from the previous TV season, when 29 percent of freshman shows flunked out.

Of this year's one-and-done casualties, 70 percent were hour-long dramas — which may only speak to the scarce number of freshman comedies trotted out this season.

The traditionally renewal-happy CW this season had the worst batting average, with just 33 percent of its freshman shows living to see a Season 2. Meanwhile, CBS and NBC each saw three out of five freshmen make the grade, representing the season's best showings.

The CW — which admittedly has a lot going on (a possible sale and the end of their suh-weeeet Netflix deal included) — in fact also chopped the most shows overall (at least 10 as of press time, AKA nearly half of its slate), followed by CBS (which cut six). Fox thus far has officially only trimmed three.

NBC foreclosed on the life-swapping reality "experiment" Home Sweet Home after just four airings, after which the show eventually finished out its run on sister streamer Peacock. Similarly, ABC decided after four low-rated outings that the vineyard-set sudser Promised Land would finish out its one-and-done run on Hulu.

As for full-throated, "No Season 2 for you!" cancellations, the broadcast networks were a bit less hasty this season. But NBC's Ordinary Joe and Fox's The Big Leap both premiered Sept. 20... and both got the bad news on March 4.

Among midseason premieres, NBC broke up with The Courtship after just two Sunday airings, moving the remainder of the season to USA Network (and streaming next day on Peacock).

After dodging assorted bullets over the years, CBS' embattled Bull will end its run on May 26 after 125 total episodes.

The CW's unceremoniously cancelled Legends of Tomorrow followed closely with 110 episodes' worth of time-traveling antics.

Despite both averaging a 0.1 in the demo (and that's with Live+7 DVR playback factored in!), Riverdale and Nancy Drew will be back next season, though the former is officially set to serve up its farewell run.

Riverdale also stands as this season's least-watched renewal (having averaged just 480,000 weekly linear viewers).

Looking at non-CW series, the dishonors go to Fox's Welcome to Flatch, which (somehow) earned a Season 2 after averaging just 1.07 million viewers and a 0.2 demo rating (again, with Live+7 playback factored in).

Ending very much on its own terms, NBC's This Is Us leaves us as TV's top-rated entertainment program, averaging a 1.5 demo rating (with Live+7 playback).

Of the truly cancelled, though, CBS' Magnum P.I. was the highest-rated casualty, averaging a 0.7 during its fourth season.

In total viewers, CBS' ending Bull will leave the largest audience on the table (7.5 million), followed closely by Magnum's 7.3 mil.

Our original reporting of CBS saying a sad aloha to Magnum P.I. drew nearly 500 comments, followed by another 800 on star Jay Hernandez's reaction.

Placing a distant second was The CW's Legacies, which amassed about 400 comments across three separate stories.

On the flip side, the news that 4400's number was up at The CW tallied... 19 comments (as of press time).

Unlike All Rise (which found a new home on OWN)... Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist and Timeless (which both scored TV-movie wrap-ups)... Brooklyn Nine-Nine (which moved from Fox to NBC)... Lucifer (which found salvation on Netflix) ... and the like, none of this year's cancelled shows have been "saved."

Yet.

And on a related-ish note....

Of the more than 30 new broadcast shows that were announced over a year ago, two three have yet to see the light of day: Fox's Monarch, which has been rescheduled multiple times and now is due to premiere during the 2022-23 TV season; ABC's Maggie (which now will debut on Hulu, on July 6); and Fox's Krapopolis, an animated comedy set in mythical ancient Greece and featuring the voices of Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso), Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd), Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows) and others.