American Dad, Miracle Workers And Snowpiercer Among TBS/TNT Series In Limbo Amid Scripted Exodus

Does Chad's fate spell doom for the T-Nets' remaining scripted originals? Less than eight hours before the Nasim Pedrad comedy's scheduled return on July 11, TBS announced that the series had not only been cancelled, but Season 2 — which was already in the can — would never see the light of day (at least not on TBS).

Chad's demise is part of a larger transition happening at TBS and its sibling TNT. On the heels of April's Warner Bros. Discovery merger, it was reported that both cable networks would halt all scripted series development. But Chad's unceremonious death indicates that WBD is looking to hasten TBS/TNT's scripted exodus. (UPDATE: As of July 25, Full Frontal With Samantha Bee has also been axed at TBS; get details.)

What does that mean for remaining originals such as American Dad, Miracle Workers and Snowpiercer? Read on as we tackle that very question. (Reps for Warner Bros. Discovery declined to comment for this story.)

The post-apocalyptic drama was picked up for Season 4 last July, five months ahead of its Season 3 premiere (on Jan. 24) and nine months before the Warner/Discovery merger closed (on April 8).

Then in June, TNT, under the newly formed Warner Bros. Discovery, announced that Season 4 would be Snowpiercer's last. At the time of the announcement, production was said to be underway on its final batch of episodes.

Since then, Seasons 1-3 have been quietly scrubbed from HBO Max. Past seasons of previously cancelled TBS comedies Chad and The Last O.G. were also removed, signaling the potential forfeiture of SVOD rights for the basic cable originals.

The Seth MacFarlane 'toon was renewed in December, pre-merger, for Seasons 18 and 19. But if TBS pulls an about-face and washes its hands of the Smith family, the animated series is unlikely to stay in the Warner Bros. Discovery fold. Streaming rights for American Dad remain exclusive not to HBO Max, but to Hulu, which would make a natural home for new episodes of the Disney-owned comedy. Reps for Hulu declined to comment. (Meanwhile, Season 17 resumes airing Monday, Sept. 5.)

Believed to be the cabler's last remaining live-action comedy, Miracle Workers was renewed for Season 4 in November — also pre-merger. The pickup was announced in tandem with a series order for Damon Wayans Jr. comedy Kill the Orange-Faced Bear... which was subsequently killed by WBD in April, just a week out from production.

While the Daniel Radcliffe/Steve Buscemi anthology is currently shooting Season 4, it seems unlikely the new episodes will air on TBS. But there is hope: Unlike Chad and Snowpiercer, Miracle Workers has not disappeared from HBO Max, signaling a potential jump to the streamer (à la Search Party).