Renewals & Cancellations (2012 - 2013 Season)

So upfronts, that time of year where networks present their planned schedule for the next television season to prospective advertisers, has come and gone. And with that some of our favourite television have miraculously lived on, and others have been cruelly cancelled. Below you'll find my thoughts and feelings about some of the decisions networks have made.

ABC:

Unsurprisingly, two of this seasons biggest hits, Revenge and Once Upon A Time were renewed. Not wanting to make ABC queen Shonda Rhimes unhappy, not only did Private Practice join it's parent show, Grey's Anatomy, in the renewal pile, but her new political drama Scandal, was picked up for a second season. Body of Proof is also sticking around along with ABC's other crime procedural, Castle. On the comedy side of things, Modern Family, The Middle, and surprisingly, Happy Endings, were renewed, as well as the freshman comedies, Suburgatory, Last Man Standing, and Don't Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23, while ABC has palmed off Cougar Town to TBS.

Joining Charlie's Angels, Work It and Man Up! in cancellation, are also GCB, Missing, Pan Am, and The River, majority of them high concept dramas that failed to produce the ratings they needed for the network.

CBS:

There wasn't much renewal news for CBS to announce this year, having picked up 2 Broke Girls, The Big Bang Theory, Blue Bloods, Criminal Minds, CSI, The Good Wife, Hawaii Five-0, How I Met Your Mother, The Mentalist, Mike & Molly, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles and Person of Interest all the way back in March, showing its content with its shows. The only shows joining them, long time CBS comedy staple Two and A Half Men, and CSI: NY.

Comedies How to Be a Gentlemen and Rob were cancelled, as well as the three freshman dramas A Gifted Man, NYC 22 and Unforgettable. Surprisingly, the long-running CSI: Miami was also cancelled.

The verdict is still out on the comedy-that-could Rules of Engagement.

NBC:

Joining Grimm, which was renewed in March, NBC also renewed Law & Order: SVU, and critical darlings Parenthood and Smash. In a surprising move the network renewed many of it's on-the-bubble comedies including 30 Rock, Community, Parks and Recreation, as well as the long-running The Office. Freshman comedies Up All Night and Whitney were also renewed.

Other freshman comedies Are You There, Chelsea?, Bent, and Best Friends Forever didn't fair so well and were cancelled. As were the dramas Awake, The Firm, and Harry's Law, which joined Free Agents, The Playboy Club, and Prime Suspects, which had been cancelled previously.

Fox:

As well as its dominating animations American Dad!, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy and The Simpsons, Fox also renewed Bob Burgers, as well as the comedies Glee, New Girl and Raising Hope. In the drama department Bones and Touch were both renewed, and surprisingly Fringe is receiving a shortened final season.

Not so lucky were Alcatraz, Breaking In, The Finder, Napoleon Dynamite and I Hate My Teenage Daughter, which joined Allen Gregory and Terra Nova as the shows the network cancelled.

The CW:

Long running-series/ staples 90210, Gossip Girl, Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries were all renewed as well as freshman series Hart of Dixie. Nikita, surprisingly, was also renewed.

The CW's other two freshman series, Ringer and The Secret Circle, didn't fair so well, and were cancelled.

Overall, there's not a whole lot television fans have to complain about after this years upfronts. Pretty much all of the shows that were cancelled were new series, eleven of which premiered in the fall as mid-season replacements. Some may argue that shows that premiere in March/ April don't get a fair chance, and while that may be true, I don't think we're going to be hearing too many complaints about the cancellation of Rob.

The surprise cancellation of the lot would have to be CSI: Miami, and while it was likely that either it or CSI: NY would be cancelled, it's still always a little discerning when a network decides to axe a show after ten years of hard work. The show that I'm most heart-broken over its cancellation is Alcatraz. Many instantly put in on the 'trying to be like Lost' pile, which is a shame because I actually thought that it was one of the few high concept dramas I've since that perfectly balanced it procedurals elements with it's mythology.

As for the renewals, I was most surprised by Nikita's, which was also, along with Alcatraz, one of the shows I most wanted to be renewed. I thought for sure The CW would renew The Secret Circle or possibly even Ringer over this.

It will be interesting to see what dramas networks will deliver next season after the failure of what so many people thought would be sure-fire hits. High-concept/ genre-bending dramas (The River, Awake, Alcatraz and Terra-Nova), the Mad Men inspired attempts (Pam Am, The Playboy Club), and shows that were expected to take over ageing gems (The Finder, The Secret Circle, and all of Fox's freshman animations), all failed, so it will be interesting to see what we get next.

So did any of your favourite shows get cancelled? Which ones are you most glad are sticking around? And as we all know, the other side of cancellations is pick-ups, meaning new shows! Over the next week I'll be previewing the pilots each network has green lit, so stay tuned.