Save Our Shows 2020: Vote now for your favorite TV series to return
Coronavirus or no, it’s still time to save your favorite shows.
USA TODAY's 23rd annual Save Our Shows survey gives you a voice in a most unusual year: 19 comedies and dramas on the major broadcast networks are "on the bubble" between renewal and cancellation, with few new series teed up as potential replacements, after production on pilots was shut down last month due to the global pandemic.
This year’s list consists almost entirely of new or somewhat recent series, such as NBC’s “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” and “Manifest,” CBS’s “S.W.A.T.” and “God Friended Me,” and ABC’s "Mixed-ish" and “Stumptown.”
Long-running shows (especially former hits) lately have been more often treated to planned sendoffs, as “Modern Family,” “Empire,” “Arrow” and “Criminal Minds” were (or will be) this spring. “Blindspot” returns April 30 for a final run, and “Supernatural” will get a delayed finale later this year.
The list: Save Our Shows: Is your favorite TV series canceled, renewed or on the bubble?
The fate of most other shows will be determined next month, when the networks announce new lineups (streaming on video this year, instead of the usual splashy presentations to advertisers in New York). But before they make their final picks, you can vote now to save the shows you love – or hasten the exits of those you don’t.
(Streaming, cable and unscripted series, which are renewed on a year-round basis, aren't included in the survey; nor are spring series too new to include, such as ABC's “The Baker and the Beauty,” CBS's "Broke" and NBC's "Council of Dads.”)
The Save Our Shows campaign, and other fan-centric efforts, can get results. NBC's time-travel sci-fi series "Timeless," winner of the 2017 and 2018 Save Our Shows polls, was rescued twice, for a second season and then a wrap-up movie, while 2019’s winner, CBS’s “Madam Secretary,” was picked up for a shortened final run last fall.
Last year's results: Fans pick 'Madam Secretary,' 'Whiskey' and 'Rookie' as their Save Our Shows favorites
Some network executives say the coronavirus pandemic, which has stalled production on pilots for new series, won’t spare marginal shows from extinction. Instead, being a known commodity is merely a modest added factor, weighed against reality shows or other placeholders. And networks have already financially committed to several new shows sight unseen, including CBS's "Silence of the Lambs" sequel "Clarice"; NBC's "Young Rock,” starring a kid version of Dwayne Johnson, and its “Law & Order” spinoff about an organized crime unit starring Christopher Meloni. And some have holdover shows originally planned for spring, such as Fox's soap "Filthy Rich" and sci-fi tinged "NeXt."
The larger question is how quickly shows can resume production, and how the fall TV season will be impacted.
Shawn Ryan, executive producer of “Timeless,” is less worried about his latest endangered series, CBS’s third-season “S.W.A.T.,” starring Shemar Moore. He figures steadier ratings and more international success improves its chances. “There’s a lot going with ‘S.W.A.T.' that we didn’t have with ‘Timeless,’ ” and writers are already working on new scripts (from home, of course).
But CBS has limited drama failures, leaving fewer holes in its schedule. And after merging with Viacom, Ryan says, “There’s a new leadership regime in place who I’m sure will want to start putting their own fingerprints on the schedule, and in those situations, you never know what will happen.”
Jane Levy, who stars in NBC’s midseason musical dramedy “Zoey’s,” about a woman who hears people's innermost thoughts through music, doesn't think one season is enough to really get to know these characters who sing, dance, make wisecracks and sometimes tear up, all in the same episode.
"A lot of people have reached out to me, strangers and people I know, about how they were surprised at how emotional the show makes them, and that often while watching they cry," she says. But "the pain is more catharsis. Right now, crying is a really healthy thing. People say to me that they have not laughed so hard and then cried within such a short amount of time."
In recent years, networks’ decisions have become ever more complicated by accelerating shifts in viewing. Streaming services have drained viewers, live viewership of entertainment programming has plunged and networks are more concerned with profitability than TV ratings. High digital viewership, especially among younger viewers, for shows like “Zoey’s,” can tilt the balance toward renewal, but only if networks and studios can make money from that nontraditional (but ever-more-common viewership).
The survey is now closed. Look for our results in early May.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: TV shows on the chopping block: Vote now to save your favorite series