It’s that time of the year again folks.
Get ready to see your favorite shows cancelled, a slew of #SaveOurShow fans campaigns ramping up in the days and weeks ahead, and a series of heartfelt social media posts from the gutted cast and crew of that one show you were really sure was definitely (maybe?) coming back next season.
In TV land, May is synonymous with 3 things: cancellations, May Sweeps, and new show announcements.
First come the cancellations: This week NBC has axed Found, The Irrational, Suits LA, Lopez vs Lopez, and Night court, all in advance of the Network’s 2025/26 TV slate announcements due to land on Monday, May 12.
Found, cancelled after 2 seasons, starred Shanola Hampton as Gabi Mosely, a public relations specialist who finds missing people the police and FBI have overlooked based on race, social status, gender and other shameful factors. Gabi herself is haunted by her own childhood abduction by a man known as “Sir” (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) who returns in the present day to help and hinder Gabi and her team in turns.
The series garnered an average of 3.9 million viewers per episode (those statistics incorporate delayed viewing). The Season 2 finale — now series finale — airs Thursday, May 15 and is titled “Missing While Dying.”
Suits LA, cancelled after just one season starred Arrow vet Stephen Amell as Ted Black, a fast-talking New York lawyer who swaps the Prosecutor’s bench for Criminal Defence of the Hollywood set in Los Angeles.
The series, set in the same universe as OG Suits, featured guest appearances from the original cast including Gabriel Macht and Rick Hoffman. However split between the past in New York and present day in LA, while continuing to average just 2.35 million viewers (including delayed viewing) per episode, the show failed to capture audience’s imaginations. Was Ted simply too unlikable? Were the Hollywood cameos too gimmicky? Did all the flashbacks confuse the average viewer? We may never know.
The series finale airs Sunday May 18.
The Irrational, cancelled after a 2 season run, starred the smooth-voiced Jesse L. Martin as Dr. Alec Martin, professor of Behavioural Science and moonlight investigator of unsolved crimes for the FBI. The show evoked the nostalgic charm of classic cop procedurals, but at only 4.4 million viewers per episode (including those who watched later), the Network made the call for The Irrational and Dr. Martin to hang up his hat and call it a day.
The series finale aired Tuesday, March 25.
Meanwhile, as Broadcast season continues to wind up for the 2024/25 period, expect a wave of finale cliffhangers, including but not limited to earthquakes, floods, fires, fatal poisonings and major character deaths, as the Networks take advantage of the annual May Sweeps period to appeal to those precious Nielsen families for coveted ratings.
We can also expect NBC’s new slate for the year ahead to arrive shortly.
TV continues to be a fickle numbers business.
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