Bubble Watch 2011: What Shows Might Bite the Dust?

It’s that time of year again when everyone gets nervous that their favorite show that no one watches is going to get cancelled. To help ease (or feed) your fears, we’ve come up with this handy list and scale to help you out. The scale is 0-10, with 0 meaning the show is gone, 5 meaning it’s on the fence, and 10 meaning it’s a sure bet to return. So without further ado, here we go:

Parenthood

What started out as a chaotic, melodramatic show, Parenthood has become one of the best ensemble dramas on TV. It’s no coincidence that its gotten better as executive producer Jason Katims wrapped up Friday Night Lights, and any fan of the football drama that isn’t watching Parenthood needs to do so immediately. That aside, the strong ratings opposite CBS’ popular The Good Wife and the critical acclaim (rare for an NBC drama in recent years) will probably come back for a third season, even though there hasn’t been a renewal yet.

Cancellation Scale: 8

House

Surprised to see this one on here? The show hasn’t been renewed yet as FOX and the show’s studio, NBC Universal are haggling over contracts, but the long running show has ratings to back it up. Ultimately the biggest issue for TV fans is whether or not House will still be quality entertainment for another season or two. I love the cranky doctor as much as the next guy, but after seven seasons, the jokes are stale and the insane medical crisises aren’t exciting. House will be back, rest assured, but maybe its time to start thinking about pulling the plug.

Cancellation Scale: 10

Mr. Sunshine

For a show that most people didn’t like at first, it has steadily improved as its become less and less reliant on Matthew Perry making sour faces and brought the excellent supporting cast into the spotlight a bit more. The show has been ABC’s best new comedy, despite airing opposite American Idol and frequently after low rated Modern Family reruns. This isn’t a perfect show, but there’s potential, especially if its paired with Cougar Town, which shares a similar quirky vibe. If ABC finds something better, it’ll get the axe, but if not, expect to see it on the lineup in the fall.

Cancellation Scale: 5

The Chicago Code

Shawn Ryan had a rough fall with Terriers, and his cop drama on FOX hasn’t exactly done stellar this spring. Still, the show has been slowly getting stronger and has been up against lighter, popular comedies on CBS, and FOX really needs it. The network has had a rough stretch when it comes to new dramas in the past few years, and their two popular franchises in the genre, House and Bones have lost the shine they had a few years ago. It wouldn’t be uncharacteristic of the network to drop The Chicago Code and start fresh in the fall with four new dramas, but the prevailing notion is that unless something better comes along, you’ll hear more ridiculous statements about the White Sox being better than the Cubs.

Cancellation Scale: 6

Perfect Couples/Outsourced

To be clear, Perfect Couples isn’t a good show, but Outsourced is atrocious. The former should be cancelled because it isn’t fresh or entertaining enough to watch week to week, and the latter has spent an entire television season insulting smart viewers and the entire nation of India with jokes about diarrhea and culture clashes. The two shows are the weak links in NBC’s three hour comedy block, but they aren’t necessarily signs that the experiment failed. 10:00 is a good spot for 30 Rock, and renewals for Community and Parks and Recreation have proven they work in their time slots. This is ultimately an issue of quality instead of quantity, but NBC will probably run for cover and put an hour long show back in at 10. Despite this fact, it’ll be nice to get rid of Outsourced and barely noticeable that we’ll be rid of Perfect Couples.

Cancellation Scale: 1

NBC Brings Back Parks and Rec, Adds Extra Hour of Comedy to Thursdays

If a new, free Girl Talk record wasn’t enough good news for you Monday, how about the news that NBC is bringing back Parks and Rec this January as part of a new three hour block of comedy? Works for us! The show will come back January 20 as part of an interesting move by NBC to put half hour comedies into the 10:00 hour, giving their Thursday comedy night six shows. Community will still lead off the night at 8, followed by a new show, Perfect Couples, about three different couples who are at various stages of their relationships. The Office stays at 9:00 and will lead into Parks and Recreation at 9:30, which should benefit from the larger audiences tuning in for Steve Carell’s final episodes as Michael Scott. 30 Rock will move to 10:00 and Outsourced will round out the night. It’s going to be interesting to see how the move plays out, but above all, it’s going to be great to see the folks of Pawnee back on TV.

2010 Upfronts: NBC

It’s TV Upfront Week, the week in which the networks reveal their fall lineups, and today kicks off with NBC:

Mondays

Chuck will lead off the night in its normal 8 pm time slot after finally getting a renewal that didn’t come at the 11th hour. That will be followed by The Event, which stars Jason Ritter and Blair Underwood, which is about “an Everyman (Ritter) who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancée, Leila (Sarah Roemer, “Disturbia”), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history.” Underwood plays the president, and the show will also feature fine acting/always creepy Željko Ivanek. At 10 will be another new show, Chase, from Jerry Bruckheimer, who will try to work his formulaic C.S.I. magic on NBC. I’ll let the network describe it, since it’s too good not to let them: “Kelli Giddish (“Past Life”) stars as U.S. Marshal Annie Frost, a cowboy boot-wearing deputy whose sharp mind and unique Texas upbringing help her track down the violent criminals on the run.” Here’s hoping she also takes off her sunglasses a lot and says things like “looks like these boots aren’t made for walking anymore.”

Tuesday

Nothing new here, as the night will be filled with The Biggest Loser (presumably for two hours) and Parenthood, a show that has steadily improved since it’s only okay beginning.

Wednesday

Wednesday kicks off with Undercovers, the highly touted show from J.J. Abrams (it’s in fact the first pilot he’s directed since Lost). Undercovers is about two former CIA spies (Steven Bloom and Samantha (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who retired when they fell in love and got married, but are thrust back into action when one of their spy friends goes missing. The show has gotten some of the biggest buzz because of Abrams involvement, which unlike with Fringe, has him as a co-writer on the show. Fans mourning the end of Law and Order can rejoice in the knowing the rest of the night will be filled with its spin-offs, starting with Law and Order: SVU and followed at 10 by the new Law and Order: Los Angeles. Wondering who is going to be on LO:LA? So is NBC. Apparently, they picked up the show before a script has even been finished, let alone a pilot. I’m going to guess it has hard nosed cops and lots of helpless wannabe actresses getting killed. Just a hunch.

Thursday

NBC’s comedy night has had a perfect lineup this year, so naturally, NBC is going to mess with the formula. Kicking off the night again will be Community, which will be followed by 30 Rock, an hour before it’s current air time, with The Office going into its possible final season in its normal 9:00 slot. It will be followed at 9:30 by a new comedy, Outsourced, which is about a guy who has to go to India to train the outsourced workers, and tries to inject a little American life into their working habits. The show is an adaptation of the charming indie film of the same name, though it appears the show will have little to nothing in common with it, other than the the premise of a guy going to India to train the staff of his company. The good news about it is that it’s being produced by Ken Kwapis, who despite a lot of fairly boring movies, has done well with The Office. At 10 will be Love Bites, a show about the last two single girls in a group of friends that are all married. Their story will anchor the show which features different stories each week that feature guest stars as couples. Noticeably missing is Parks and Rec. More on that in a bit.

Friday

The least watched night of television will probably stay that way for NBC, who will feature the lame Who Do You Think You Are? returning in the fall, followed by Dateline and a new show, Outlaw, which features Jimmy Smits as a recently-resigned Supreme Court justice that returns to private practice. The fact that NBC has put it at 10 on a Friday indicates to me that it probably doesn’t have high hopes for the show.

Sunday

Football will once again dominate NBC’s Sunday nights all fall, and in the Spring, Dateline, Minute to Win It, and Celebrity Apprentice will return.

Midseason Replacements

Harry’s Law, the new show from David E. Kelly, features Kathy Bates as a former high powered attorney who (I kid you not) opens up a new law firm in an old shoe store with a wacky former teacher and a former student of his. Perfect Couples is about three couples and the ups and downs of relationships. The show’s only saving grace is that it features  the very funny Mary Elizabeth Ellis, better known as The Waitress from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The Paul Reiser Show is a return to TV for the Mad About You star, in which he plays Paul Reiser trying to get back into the game. Friends With Benefits features Party Down‘s Ryan Hansen as a guy trying to find his ideal woman with the help of his friends. Without Hansen and the involvement of producer Brain Grazer, this show would be as boring as they come. The last new show is School Pride, a Cheryl Hines produced reality show where the crew comes in and transforms a run down public school.

Other Notes

First off, there is no Parks and Rec in the fall. It will show up in January, and apparently has nothing to do with Amy Poehler’s pregnancy. NBC has moved their best comedy to the Spring in order to make room for Outsourced. This is incredibly stupid to me, as the show is currently in production for its second season. It was already going to lose creative momentum when Poehler has her baby, but now that it won’t even be on until January has me worried, not to mention that it’s unlikely that the show will gain more viewers in 8 months as opposed to three.

Overall, NBC was pretty ambitious with their fall lineup, but I’m honestly not sure how much of it will be any good. Chances are that NBC is banking on shows like Law and Order: Los Angeles and Chase as a way to just grab viewers, just as CBS did a few years ago with the C.S.I. and NCIS franchises. Undercovers has to me the biggest potential, and The Event could be good if it doesn’t fall into the usual problems that NBC dramas have had in recent years. Overall, the fallout from the Leno Debacle is still effecting programming, and NBC has a lot riding on this next season after spending much more than usual on development. Here’s hoping the Peacock doesn’t disappoint.