Lots of Renewals and Cancellations are being announced now. For those who care, and maybe for those who don’t but find me marginally amusing, here are my reactions to them. Note that I’ll only really be talking about shows I watch, or tried to watch, and won’t have anything to say about shows I’ve never seen or cared about. And because of who I am, this is mostly about genre television (Science Fiction and Fantasy), but not completely.
Cancellations
Agent Carter: Well, this one is sad. I really liked this show, though I get why a lot of folks didn’t. I’ll miss Hayley Atwell’s Agent Carter, but she’s got a new show coming, so I’ll check that out.
Castle: As much as I like Nathan Fillion, I’m OK with Castle getting cancelled. I realized, as I was watching last night, that I kind of don’t care anymore; I’m over it. I’ll continue to the end of this season (only one or two shows) to see if they manage to take out LokSat, but I don’t think I would have watched next year, anyway.
Galavant: I admit it, I loved this show. It wasn’t perfect, but the humor was often hilarious, and the songs were pretty clever with their pop culture references and smug sarcastic tone. But it was also a miracle it got a second season, and they knew a third was pretty unlikely, as evidenced by the second season finale. I’ll remember the show fondly, but I’m under no illusion it had a chance.
The Grinder: I feel a tiny bit responsible for this one. I watched the first few episodes, and found them watchable, but as soon as Rob Lowe made his horrifying comments about the Paris attacks, I couldn’t stand to look at him, so stopped watching. Also, to be honest, the show had only one shtick, and it was getting old. So good riddance.
The Muppets: I didn’t even realize it was still on. I watched three episodes in season 1 and bailed; it was a mean-spirited, boring take on the muppets. A revival of the 1970s show would have been a better idea, in my opinion.
Renewals
Agents of Shield: I know some folks don’t like it. Those folks are nuts. It’s a great show, and does a really good job of linking to the Marvel Cinematic Universe within the constraints of a TV show. I do sometimes roll my eyes that they’re unable to call in Tony Stark to help out, or Cap, or better, Black Widow–but I can live with that. Good call, ABC.
Arrow, Flash, Supergirl: Yes, thank you. The DC movies are horrifyingly grim and, frankly, I’m losing interest in them. But the DC shows are awesome, and I’m very glad Supergirl will be continuing, especially, as this is the show I can watch with my daughter. Supergirl night is a thing in my house; I am glad it gets to keep happening.
Big Bang Theory: I love and hate this show. I haven’t seen this season, as we moved to Hulu/Netflix, and CBS shows aren’t on Hulu. So my opinion is pretty useless here.
Fresh Off the Boat: I really liked this show last year, but this year it seems to be stagnating. It’s not as funny as it could be, and more and more it seems to be leaving behind the cultural humor of living in a place very unlike your home culture, and becoming more a “look at these crazy Chinese people” show, which… no. We’ll see how it develops, I guess. I do like that it skewers the worldviews of both the Chinese characters and the Americans, but I’d like to see less “fish out of water” humor.
Hawaii Five-O: I’ve been a fan of this new show for a while, though again I haven’t seen the most recent season.
Legends of Tomorrow: Thank you, CW. I was worried, and I love this show.
Once Upon a Time: I’m not sure why, to be honest, but I still like this show. I love the redemption of the Evil Queen, no longer Evil, but I am very upset at the most recent developments in her story and I hope the Finale this week helps.
Quantico: HELL. YES. I love this show so hard. The star is amazing, and the fact that a show with an Indian female lead has done so well is a testament both to her ability and to the writing. This show has kept me guessing all along, and I can’t wait to see how they manage next year, since they won’t have Academy stories to flash back to.
Supernatural: I still watch it. I still enjoy it. But it’s starting to feel like maybe they should let go.
Black Sails: Yes, thank you. Love this show.
The Expanse: This was never really in doubt. I’m still way behind on this, but I’ll finish it soon, and I can’t wait to see next year.
Fear The/Walking Dead: I like both shows. They were never really in doubt. But I wonder how long I’ll continue to like them next year.