Fall 2015 has had a long list of interesting, exciting and refreshing new television shows. It’s also had some that don’t quite measure up and others that you want to succeed, but for whatever reason are failing. Unfortunately, not every show is granted the time it needs to build an audience or find its footing. Without a doubt, we’ll have to say goodbye to some of these shows in just a few weeks, if not days, as it doesn’t look like they’ll make it past their freshman season. Here are the new Fall 2015 shows we expect will get the boot.
Minority Report
This will most than likely be the first show to get kicked to the curb. FOX’s futuristic series taking place ten years after the hit 2002 Tom Cruise flick with the same name just doesn’t quite work. The idea was strong enough as a film, but past that, just feels awkward and played out. While the performances of Stark Sands and Meagan Good are strong, the chemistry feels very forced and the dialogue isn’t anything to write home about as it overplays cliches and often repeats itself. Even if you believe that it just needs time to find its footing, Minority Report ratings will most likely not grant it that chance.According to Zap2It, its already low 3.1 million opening dropped to just 2.5 million in its second week. With ratings this low, it’s entirely possible FOX pulls the plug before the first half of the season even finishes.
Life in Pieces
When a show premieres immediately following one of its network’s biggest successes (The Big Bang Theory), you would expect that it fares mildly well, at least for its first couple of episodes. Unfortunately for Life in Pieces, this is not the case.
This CBS single-camera comedy dropped its viewership substantially from its first week, going from 15.2 million to 8.7 million in its second episode. While 8.7 million is pretty strong for a new show, dropping to almost half its viewers in one week isn’t something CBS is likely to ignore.
The Player
This seems to be a series that most people forgot about, never heard of, or assumed was a rom-com movie. The promotion for The Player was definitely scarce. There weren’t many trailers airing and aside from some billboards here and there, it’s not unreasonable for people to be unsure what it was or when it was coming out. This likely played a part in its low ratings. Despite being led in by The Blacklist this Wesley Snipes NBC drama only managed to rake in a 4.5 million viewer audience, dropping from Blacklist‘s 7.7 million.
Scream Queens
It’s hard to make a solid call on the fate of Scream Queens. The Ryan Murphy project has definitely been entertaining in the way it laughs at itself and draws intrigue in its murder-mystery element, but still has a few elements working against it. For one thing, the story doesn’t seem like it would have much to go off of past learning the identity of the killer. Though shows like Pretty Little Liars have managed to draw that out for a long time and even work to continue past it, that isn’t the only thing standing in Scream Queens’ way. Unfortunately, its second week was only able to pull in a disappointing 3.4 million viewers. However, given the fact that FOX and Ryan Murphy have a longstanding relationship (Glee) and are currently working on other projects with him (American Horror Story, American Crime Story), we’re hopeful that the show lasts at least through its planned 13-episode run.
The Muppets
The Muppets is actually quite unexpectedly entertaining for adults. The new take on the classic Muppets character places this show as a workplace comedy based in Los Angeles and shows the personal and professional lives of our favorite Muppets as they work on the talk show Up Late with Miss Piggy. It features cameos from A-list stars playing themselves including Elizabeth Banks, Josh Groban and Liam Hemsworth. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll get much more interaction between our favorite Muppets and our favorite celebrities. The series averages only 5.78 million viewers and had the biggest drop of any new show, according to TV.com.
(Images courtesy of FOX and ABC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
