Every year, TV program makers and the fans of those TV shows face an anxious wait to see if their favorite series is going to be renewed for another series – or if it is going to be canceled, never to be seen again on their screens.
NBC is one of the biggest broadcasters in the US, and they have created some memorable TV shows over the years, including Seinfeld, Friends, The West Wing and Law and Order. The channel also famously rescued the popular sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine in 2018, just a few hours after the show was canceled by its original network, Fox.
Sometimes fans can save their favorite shows with online campaigns – as happened with Brooklyn Nine-Nine – but in the end, the network’s decision is final, and even if a series has enjoyed good ratings, TV channels can often decide to cancel a show for various other reasons or the program makers themselves can make the decision that their show has reached its natural conclusion.
NBC has recently announced some of the shows that it is definitely going to be canceling in 2019, while industry insiders reckon there are still plenty of TV series that are in the firing line at the network. Check out the list below to see if your favorite NBC show is going to be coming to an end this year – or whether you need to mount a campaign to save one which could be at risk!
Ending In 2019: Last Call With Carson Daly: Season 17
After 17 seasons and over 2000 episodes, chat show Last Call with Carson Daly will come to an end in 2019. As well as interviews with Hollywood stars and comedians, Last Call also featured live performances by musical guests. In February, Daly announced that his presenting duties on Last Call would come to an end in 2019, so he could focus on other NBC projects including The Voice. The network is to replace Daly with YouTube personality Lily Singh on a new talk show, which will be called A Little Late with Lilly Singh, making her the first female late-night host on any network.
Ending In 2019: Marlon: Season 2
Sitcom Marlon, starring and created by Marlon Wayans, has been canceled by NBC after just two seasons, as a result of dwindling ratings. Loosely based on Wayans’ own life, the sitcom focuses on Marlon and his ex-wife, and their often misguided efforts to try and stay friends for the sake of their children. Wayans, who has starred in several Hollywood comedies alongside his brother Shawn, including White Chicks and Little Man, nevertheless managed to secure a worldwide distribution deal for Marlon with Netflix, making the first two series available around the world from 2018 onwards. As yet, there is no news on whether Netflix will pick up the show for a third season themselves.
Ending In 2019: Midnight, Texas: Season 2
Author Charlaine Harris has enjoyed some impressive successes with television adaptations of her novels, first in the HBO vampire series True Blood and then in the NBC show Midnight, Texas, as kind of supernatural detective program set in the eponymous town. However, while True Blood ran for seven seasons, Midnight, Texas has been canceled by NBC after just two years. This unusual show was perhaps just too quirky for the great American viewing public, and NBC decided to cut their losses after viewing figures for Midnight, Texas slumped during the second season, which came to an end in December 2018.
Ending In 2019: Reverie: Season 1
Fans of Midnight, Texas may feel that the show has been canceled before its time, but at least NBC gave it a couple of seasons to establish itself. The network wasn’t so benevolent with Reverie, a science fiction series about a former hostage negotiator who takes one a new job trying to save people whose minds have become lost in virtual reality. Despite starring Sarah Shahi, who had taken on lead roles in Life and Person of Interest, ratings were poor from the start for Reverie, with NBC making the tough decision to cut the show after just one series.
Ending In 2019: Shades Of Blue: Season 3
Cop drama Shades of Blue, starring Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta, will also come to an end in 2019, after three successful seasons on NBC. In this case, it is not the network canceling the show, but the program makers – including executive producer Lopez – who have made the decision that the show has reached a natural conclusion. Undoubtedly, that decision is partly based on the fact that singer and actress Lopez has a packed schedule, including appearing in a live TV version of the musical Bye Bye Birdie on NBC, and Shades of Blue missed the cut when it came to her diary.
Ending In 2019: Timeless: Season 2
Science fiction and alternative history series Timeless, co-created by Eric Kripke of Supernatural fame, follows a group of time-travelers who have to visit significant historical events in order to prevent their enemies from changing the proper timeline. Despite some glaring historical inaccuracies, the season proved popular with viewers – so much so that when NBC tried to cancel the show after just one season, fans managed to persuade them to change their mind. There was no second reprieve, however, when NBC announced that the second season of Timeless would be the last finishing with a special two-hour episode in December 2018.
Ending In 2019: Trial & Error: Season 2
Trial & Error is a mockumentary in the style of The Office and Parks and Recreation, which focuses on the idiosyncrasies of the American legal system – and American legal TV shows in particular. In fact, star Nicholas D’Agosto also appeared in three episodes of The Office before landing the leading role in Trial & Error. Co-starring comedy legends John Lithgow and Kristen Chenoweth, the show made a promising start with viewers in 2017, before ratings began to fall. NBC finally revealed in late 2018 that they would not be renewing Trial & Error for a third season, and the program makers failed to find an alternative distribution network for the show.
Possibility: Good Girls: Season 3
While NBC has already confirmed that the previous seven TV shows have been seen on our screens for the last time, for many other NBC series, fans and program makers alike are still waiting anxiously to find out if they are going to be renewed – and some of them are facing a tough challenge to convince NBC that they are worth the gamble. Good Girls, a comedy crime drama about a group of suburban moms who try to rob a local supermarket, has seen its ratings fall by 40% between season one and season two, despite a star-studded cast featuring Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks.
Possibility: The Blacklist: Season 7
Starring James Spader as criminal mastermind Raymond Reddington, The Blacklist is an FBI drama with a difference – and more twists and turns than a roller coaster, and more than its fair share of cliffhanger endings. Following an elite task force set up to track down some of the most evil criminals in the world, with Reddington’s help, The Blacklist was a huge hit when it first screened in 2013, but as the plot has become more convoluted – and frankly more ridiculous – viewers have started to drift away, and as yet there is no news as to whether a seventh season will be broadcast on NBC.
Possibility: Blindspot: Season 5
Similarly, Blindspot has been a success for NBC both with viewers and the critics, but after fours seasons, event this series’ future is uncertain. Another FBI drama, Blindspot stars Jaimie Alexander as a woman who is found bare and reeling from amnesia, her body covered in a series of intricate tattoos. The first two seasons followed FBI Agents as they tried to decipher these tattoos, with Alexander’s character eventually recovering from her amnesia in season three – a plot twist that somewhat altered the appeal of the show for many viewers, and which has left NBC’s decision about season five on a knife edge.
Possibility: I Feel Bad: Season 2
Based on the book I Feel Bad: All Day. Every Day. About Everything by Orli Auslander, NBC sitcom I Feel Bad stars Sarayu Blue as working mom Emet, who tries to have it all, but who only ends up feeling guilty that she isn’t devoting enough attention to any part of her life as a result. Reviews for the show were less than promising and I Feel Bad only has a 27% score on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, and viewers seem to feel the same way, with ratings dropping steadily throughout the first series. At this stage, a second season of I Feel Bad would feel like something of a miracle.
Possibility: Manifest: Season 2
NBC drama Manifest feels a little like the network is trying to repeat the success it enjoyed with Lost back in the 2000s. In the new series, a group of people traveling on a plane disappeared, only to reappear years later with no memory of what had happened to them. Season one of Manifest came to an end in March 2019, leaving fans and the team behind the series waiting to hear from NBC as to whether the show is going to be picked up for a second season. Despite the unexpected plot twists, Manifest has been leaking viewers throughout its first season.
Possibility: Little Big Shots: Season 4
NBC really is the home of the talent show, broadcasting America’s Got Talent and The Voice, along with Little Big Shots, a talent show for kids, presented by Steve Harvey. As well as getting the opportunity to show off their skills on primetime TV, the kids also get the chance to speak to Harvey – usually the moment when the old adage about never working with children or animals is proven to be absolutely right! The show has already been on NBC for three series, but viewing figures are starting to fall. Is the American viewing public starting to get tired of talent shows?
Possibility: Genius Junior: Season 2
A game show with a difference, Genius Junior aims to find the most intelligent kids in the country by putting them through their paces in a series of mental agility tasks which would leave most adults blundering. Genius Junior has maintained pretty strong viewing figures on NBC throughout its first season, mainly thanks to the presence of Neil Patrick Harris as host. However, with Harris as yet unconfirmed to return to the show, NBC may be having second thoughts about renewing the show without the How I Met Your Mother star at the helm. NBC is probably waiting for Harris to commit to season two before they do.
Possibility: The Enemy Within: Season 2
Another NBC show which is coming to the end of its first series, and anxiously waiting to find out if it will be renewed, is The Enemy Within. This psychological thriller stars Jennifer Carpenter of Dexter fame as former CIA agent who apparently betrayed her country, and who is serving a life sentence in prison. However, the FBI needs her expertise to take down a criminal mastermind, and she begins helping them with their case from her prison cell. Despite an impressive performance from Carpenter, The Enemy Within has failed to make much of an impact with either viewers or critics.
Possibility: Hollywood Game Night: Season 7
Hollywood Game Night has enjoyed six seasons on NBC, thanks in part to its ability to attract high-caliber celebrity guests to take part in the games and competitions with ordinary members of the public. The show, which was devised by Sean Hayes from Will and Grace is hosted by Jane Lynch, and has featured Kristen Bell, Amy Poehler, Ray Romano, and Henry Winkler among the dozens of celebrity contestants. Viewing figures were down in season six, which could suggest that viewers are growing tired of the format – which means that NBC is unlikely to renew the show for a seventh series.
Possibility: Little Big Shots: Forever Young: Season 2
A spin-off from the Little Big Shots children’s talent show, Little Big Shots: Forever Young instead features seniors with incredible talents, which often belie their advancing years. Also hosted by Steve Harvey, Little Big Shots: Forever Young made its NBC debut in 2017, and the first season featured such acts as an 82-year-old Brazilian acrobat and a 95-year-old yodeler. While these acts make for amusing diversions on regular talent shows, viewing figures suggest that there might not be enough interest for a TV series based entirely on older acts, and it is unclear yet whether the show will be renewed.