The 2011 TV Show Obituary

[Nemesis]

Welcome to the IGN TV Show Obituary, formerly known as the "Endangered Series" list. With the news that Nikita and One Tree Hill are renewed and some very confident buzz on Blue Bloodsand The Good Wife being set to return, it's time to put another endangered list to bed. The major networks have decided on their renewals and new series pick-ups, and we have a more definite answer as to what will and won't be back next season.

So here it is: The final tally on which shows didn't survive the 2010-2011 TV season. Note that our focus here is specifically on network series, so cable shows (which don't operate under the same cycle) are not included.

Smallville

America's Most Wanted

We start off with an unusual situation, as FOX has "sort of" and "sort of not" cancelled this long-running Saturday series. America's Most Wanted will no longer be a weekly series, but the network is going to have two-hour specials every few months. Meanwhile, John Walsh is looking to find a new outlet for a weekly version of the show.


Better With You

The only one of ABC's fall comedies to not get an early renewal, Better With You has failed to perform to the standards of the shows that surround it, The Middle and Modern Family.


Breaking In

Having American Idol as a lead in gave this FOX comedy the chance for a lot of potential viewers. Unfortunately, while it was thought the show might get a renewal, apparently the drop off from Idol was too steep (and grew too much as the weeks went on) and FOX ended it after one short season.

Update: FOX is said to be reconsidering Breaking In's fate and are giving it a small but crucial test -- airing the season finale after Raising Hope, to see how it does without the American Idol cushion. We'll see if this could help save the day for this fun series.


Brothers & Sisters

Ratings had dropped for this Sunday-night series and among ABC's more veteran one-hour dramas, Brothers and Sisters was the weakest performer.


The Cape

NBC's latest attempt at a superhero series debuted low and only dropped further each week. The network cut the episode order from 13 to 10, and ultimately didn't even air the final episode, banishing it to online-only.


Chaos

With notably weak ratings for CBS, the network pulled this comedic-action series from the air after just three episodes.


Chase

This NBC action series failed to find an audience in the fall and soon saw its episode order cut down, before being pulled from the schedule entirely (though NBC eventually decided to burn the remaining episodes off on Saturdays).


The Chicago Code

This well-reviewed new cop series from The Shield creator Shawn Ryan lost a lot of its House lead in, leading to its cancellation after one season.


Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior

The spinoff of the CBS hit, Criminal Minds, Suspect Behavior did not hold on to much of the audience of the original, which it had as a lead in.


The Defenders

CBS moved this weakly-rated legal series to Fridays, where it quietly ended its run in a single season.


Detroit 1-8-7

Unfortunately, ABC continues to have terrible luck launching a drama at 10:00pm. With terrible ratings, Detroit 1-8-7 -- despite some critical support -- was doomed.


The Event

It's hard not to make jokes about the title of this show, which failed to be a true event in anyway, seeing its large initial audience quickly diminish.

Update: Could The Event somehow survive? Netflix is reportedly considering saving the series, as it branches out into original programming. But will it decide the show has enough of a loyal fanbase, small as it may be, to justify paying for the series? We shall see...


Friday Night Lights

The fact that this critically adored series made it five seasons is truly remarkable, as FNL always struggled in the ratings. Thankfully, the deal NBC made with DirecTV allowed the series to continue long after most other shows of this type would have been cancelled, and the writers were able to give the show a proper ending this year.


The Good Guys

Debuting over the summer, there wasn't much of an audience for this action-comedy from Matt Nix (Burn Notice). Its fall run on Fridays was DOA and alas, Good Guys is no more.


Hellcats

Things looked relatively OK for this cheerleader-centric series in the fall, but as the season went on, Hellcats ratings notably dropped and never recovered.


Human Target

This fun action series was somewhat burned off in its second season, with episodes rapidly aired to make room for FOX's spring schedule. Christopher Chance got out of a lot of tough scrapes, but couldn't avoid cancellation this time around.


Law & Order: Los Angeles

Pulled off the air for several months amidst a huge cast turnover, Law & Order: LA returned to worse ratings than in the fall.


Lie to Me

This Tim Roth series has been off and on the FOX schedule many times over its three seasons. It was thought it might once more get a renewal as a show the network could use as a benchwarmer of sorts, but ultimately, they decided it was time to end it.


Life Unexpected

This CW series had a lot of critical support early on, but its numbers were never very strong and even some of its critical backing seemed to ebb in Season 2. Well liked star Britt Roberston has quickly been cast in a new CW pilot, The Secret Circle.


Lone Star

Everyone knew Lone Star was a tough sell, but few expected the well-reviewed FOX series to crash and burn as quickly as it did, becoming the fall's first TV casualty after just two episodes.


Mad Love

Despite a strong cast, this recent addition to CBS's Monday night comedy block struggled among a very successful lineup.


Medium

Five seasons on NBC and another two on CBS is nothing to scoff at, but in the face of very diminished ratings, CBS put an end to the Patricia Arquette series.


Mr. Sunshine

The very strong ratings for the first episode of this new Matthew Perry sitcom did not hold up, and it's lost a notable amount of its large Modern Family lead in each week.


My Generation

Scorned by most critics and ignored by viewers, this ABC series was an early cancellation in the fall.


No Ordinary Family

ABC's attempt at a superhero series, No Ordinary Family dropped lower and lower through the season in the ratings, even while those who stuck around felt it got creatively stronger.


Off the Map

Shonda Rhimes's successful run of medical series finally hit a wall with Off the Map, which debuted soft and stayed that way on Wednesdays.


Outlaw

This Jimmy Smits legal series' failure to find an audience on Fridays was accentuated by CBS's early success with Blue Bloods.


Outsourced

This critically-lambasted series was doing OK after The Office, but having moved to 10:30, it's proving it has few fans of its own and lacks any of the critical support or online buzz of other NBC Thursday night comedies.


The Paul Reiser Show

It looked like this show wasn't even going to air during the regular TV series -- likely burned off over the summer -- until it got pulled off the bench to replace the failing Perfect Couples. But Paul Reiser did even worse, and after two horribly-rated episode, NBC decided to air Office repeats in the Thursday/8:30 timeslot instead.


Perfect Couples

This poorly received new sitcom turned into a ratings vacuum for NBC on Thursday nights, dipping precariously in-betweenCommunity and The Office. Ultimately, it got pulled from the air before all the Season 1 episodes finished airing.


Running Wilde

We love Arrested Development, but it was hard to deny that the latest collaboration from Mitch Hurwitz and Will Arnett got off to a tough start, creatively. Even as the show began to find its footing in the writing, its steep drop off in the ratings from Raising Hope sealed its fate.


$#*! My Dad Says

While it wasn't doing terribly in and of itself, $#*! failed to hold on to a lot of the huge lead-in Big Bang Theory was giving it. With CBS trying to build up a comedy block on Thursdays, $#*T was a non-starter.

After a remarkable 10 year run, The CW announced Clark Kent's long journey towards wearing tights and a cape would finally conclude this season.



Traffic Light

While Raising Hope has been a mild success for FOX, they continue to struggle to find a comedy that can hold onto Hope's audience. Brought in after Running Wilde was cancelled, Traffic Light was another ratings non-starter.


Undercovers

J.J. Abrams can't hit them all out of the park. The Lost/Alias/Fringe creator's attempt at a more procedural, lighthearted series felt "off" from the beginning for a creator known for cool, mythology-based series, and was mostly ignored by viewers.


V

Even though it was doing the best among a struggling Tuesday lineup, V was still a weak performer for ABC and didn't survive the network cleaning house at the end of the season.


The Whole Truth

ABC's legal drama was no doubt another source of frustration for a network who can't seem to launch a 10:00pm hit.

[Nemesis]

Shows that were saved.

The Amazing Race (Officially Renewed)
American Dad (Officially Renewed)
America's Next Top Model (Officially Renewed)
The Big Bang Theory (Officially Renewed)
Blue Bloods (Officially Renewed)
Bob's Burgers (Officially Renewed)
Body of Proof (Officially Renewed)
Bones (Officially Renewed)
Castle (Officially Renewed)
Chuck (Officially Renewed)
The Cleveland Show (Officially Renewed)
Community (Officially Renewed)
Cops (Officially Renewed)
Cougar Town (Officially Renewed)
Criminal Minds (Officially Renewed)
CSI (Officially Renewed)
CSI: Miami (Officially Renewed)
CSI: New York (Officially Renewed)
Desperate Housewives (Officially Renewed)
Family Guy (Officially Renewed)
Fringe (Officially Renewed)
Glee (Officially Renewed)
The Good Wife (Officially Renewed)
Gossip Girl (Officially Renewed)
Grey's Anatomy (Officially Renewed)
Happy Endings (Officially Renewed)
Harry's Law (Officially Renewed)
Hawaii Five-0 (Renewal Expected)
How I Met Your Mother (Officially Renewed)
House (Officially Renewed)
Law & Order: SVU (Officially Renewed)
Mike & Molly (Officially Renewed)
The Middle (Officially Renewed)
Modern Family (Officially Renewed)

NCIS (Officially Renewed)

NCIS: Los Angeles (Renewal Expected)
Nikita (Officially Renewed)
90210 (Officially Renewed)
The Office (Officially Renewed)
One Tree Hill (Renewal Expected)
Parenthood (Officially Renewed)
Parks and Recreation (Officially Renewed)
Private Practice (Officially Renewed)
Raising Hope (Officially Renewed)
Rules of Engagement (Officially Renewed)
The Simpsons (Officially Renewed)
Supernatural (Officially Renewed)
Survivor (Officially Renewed)
30 Rock (Officially Renewed)
Two and a Half Men (Officially Renewed)
The Vampire Diaries (Officially Renewed)

[Peebrain]

I had a feeling it was coming, but I actually enjoy The Event. Sad to see it go, hopefully Netflix does pick it up.

[GeneralSarcasm]

I had a feeling it was coming, but I actually enjoy The Event. Sad to see it go, hopefully Netflix does pick it up.

me too...

[Johnson30 VIP]

I had a feeling it was coming, but I actually enjoy The Event. Sad to see it go, hopefully Netflix does pick it up.

Me three..... I hate Sophia and her selfish people.... I hope Netflix picks it up.

Other two sad to see go: Mad Love and Outsourced.

Mad Love was a funny show.... Just watched the season finale the other night. I didn't know it was a series finale.
Outsourced I thought was a great show, I found it to be extremely funny. That 10:30 start did suck, thanks to DVR, made it not that bad.

[BigMoneyNacku]

The only show I watched on the cut list is V. I mostly watch it to compare to the original, it was pretty good.

On a side note, I'm glad to see outsourced get axed. I was among the people that didn't think it was cool to make light of a problem that has helped send our country into the tank. I didn't watch one second of it.

[Nemesis]

It sucks about The Chicago Code.

[iDnTyX]

It sucks about The Chicago Code.

+2, it was a good show.

[IRISH BULL]

It sucks about The Chicago Code.

+2, it was a good show.

Yea, this really sucks. I heard about this before. I loved this show. Especially working in downtown Chicago as a cop.
Detroit 187 was a grerat cop show also.

The Event being cancelled really sucks. I just wanna know more back history.

I liked "V", but I watch most shows on Hulu or On Demand. And for some reason the second season never came back on Hulu or On Demand. So I lost interest.

[Johnson30 VIP]

For a show like The Event, there must be a long story line involved figuring the series was going to last for awhile. Is there a book of this story prior to the series? I did find this story interesting.