Pink slips have been flying Thursday (5/12) at ABC, as "The Muppets", "Agent Carter", "Galavant", "The Family", "Castle", and "Nashville" all got the cancellation notice.
For Nashville, it couldn't come at a worse time for star Hayden Panettiere, as she has checked herself back to rehab for postpartum depression. The show used to be a darling on Wednesday nights...that is, until Fox's "Empire" (which airs an hour earlier) came along. The beginning of the end for Castle, however, came when Stana Katic announced she would be leaving the series; as for the others? Didn't watch them or even cared (okay, so I sampled The Muppets).
Could those axings mean that ABC may head into the 2016-17 season in fourth place, despite "Dancing With The Stars" and anything Shonda Rhimes pulling in big ratings/revenue for the network? Jimmy Kimmel's audience is slowly growing, but Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert are still keeping him at #3. "Modern Family" has been losing its luster since HBO's "Veep" ended their Emmy streak last fall, and the only place they're dominant in is the mornings ("Good Morning America", though the news surrounding Michael Strahan joining them full-time may lure viewers to "Today", "CBS This Morning", and/or the local shows).
The last time ABC was fourth came after "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" moved to syndication, while at the same time, they premiered "The Bachelor(ette)" and Kimmel...which, by the way, went untouched here in Atlanta until WSB finally took the plunge in 2007. There was a lot of turmoil in the boardroom, as Comcast was interested in buying ABC from Disney. Thankfully, Susan Lyne came to the rescue and brought us "Desperate Housewives", "Lost", DWTS, and "Grey's Anatomy"; the rest they say would be history.
Kimmel joked about ABC's fourth place woes last time, and it looks like he'll be doing them again.
For Nashville, it couldn't come at a worse time for star Hayden Panettiere, as she has checked herself back to rehab for postpartum depression. The show used to be a darling on Wednesday nights...that is, until Fox's "Empire" (which airs an hour earlier) came along. The beginning of the end for Castle, however, came when Stana Katic announced she would be leaving the series; as for the others? Didn't watch them or even cared (okay, so I sampled The Muppets).
Could those axings mean that ABC may head into the 2016-17 season in fourth place, despite "Dancing With The Stars" and anything Shonda Rhimes pulling in big ratings/revenue for the network? Jimmy Kimmel's audience is slowly growing, but Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert are still keeping him at #3. "Modern Family" has been losing its luster since HBO's "Veep" ended their Emmy streak last fall, and the only place they're dominant in is the mornings ("Good Morning America", though the news surrounding Michael Strahan joining them full-time may lure viewers to "Today", "CBS This Morning", and/or the local shows).
The last time ABC was fourth came after "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" moved to syndication, while at the same time, they premiered "The Bachelor(ette)" and Kimmel...which, by the way, went untouched here in Atlanta until WSB finally took the plunge in 2007. There was a lot of turmoil in the boardroom, as Comcast was interested in buying ABC from Disney. Thankfully, Susan Lyne came to the rescue and brought us "Desperate Housewives", "Lost", DWTS, and "Grey's Anatomy"; the rest they say would be history.
Kimmel joked about ABC's fourth place woes last time, and it looks like he'll be doing them again.