Late buzz is not always worthy of its resulting optimism. Despite reports that “$#*! My Dad Says” was under consideration for a second season renewal in the wake of spring ratings woes for CBS’ spring comedies, news comes Sunday that the Eye is passing on the William Shatner comedy.
“Dad” joins the more-obvious “Mad Love” and “The Defenders” on the cancellation block, opening the door for some new series pickups this week. Thus far, CBS has only formally ordered drama “Person of Interest” and comedy “Two Broke Girls” for next season.
Had CBS canceled “$#*!” after its run wrapped up early into 2011, few would have been remotely surprised by its cancellation. In addition to skewing old, it also failed to retain a sizable chunk of its “Big Bang Theory” lead-in on Thursdays.
But some hope arrived when the rest of CBS’ schedule began tanking in the spring. “The Big Bang Theory” has fallen by about 25% from its early-season numbers in the demo (and current lead-out “Rules of Engagement” fails to perform as well as “$#*!”), and CBS’ Monday lineup, in the wake of “Two and a Half Men” ending its season and moving into lower-rated re-runs, has fallen from grace.
Still, CBS is evidently hopeful that its comedies will rebound at the beginning of next season, and “$#*!,” which already reached its upside potential, did not seem like a compelling choice.
“Mad Love”‘s cancellation was obvious. While some fans point to the fact that it never received the same opportunity as past “How I Met Your Mother” lead-outs (most of its season aired between a weakened “How I Met” and re-runs of “Two and a Half Men,” and that is when “How I Met” wasn’t in re-runs as well), even its first few episodes underwhelmed in the ratings, and it was not the kind of show that would notably grow its audience over time.
“The Defenders” was just a middling performer; there was nothing shocking about its death on CBS.
Notorious for keeping its scheduling decisions under wraps, CBS has not yet addressed the state of numerous other pilots.
