Partners — An equally terrible show, for vastly different reasons, this sitcom from the creators of Will & Grace is performing fairly poorly in the ratings (by CBS sitcom standards, anyway) and has the added un-benefit of being abjectly awful. It was a semi-noble, GLAAD-appeasing effort on CBS' part to add some gays to their roster, but this wasn't the right show to use as diversification tool. Though Partners has significantly higher numbers than, say, most comedies on NBC, we're talking the Eye here, the big leagues. Just-OK doesn't cut it there.
Some professional prognosticators believe that The Good Wife could be on the bubble, which is a terrible thought. But the truth is the show has been floundering in the ratings, especially in 18-49ers, and potentially could be in serious danger by season's end. Say it ain't so, Kalinda!
FOX
The Mob Doctor — Though we keep pleading with you guys, you are just not watching this actually kinda entertaining medical/mob mashup. It's been a loser all season, so much so that it's surprising it hasn't already been axed. There's probably nothing that can be done to save the show at this point, not even adding a monkey. We all know how that flies these days. It's a shame, really. Hopefully this strong cast will find gainful employment elsewhere. Oh and, Zach Gillford (who's looking at his second failed show in as many years), if you need a place to crash, you know where we are.
Ben & Kate — This show isn't in near as much danger as most of the other series on this list, but it's the weakest and least-hyped of Fox's suddenly strong comedy lineup, so could lose a spot on next year's roster in favor of something a bit more promising.
Remarkably, everything else on Fox's slate is in pretty good shape for now. The Mindy Project needs to hold on pretty tight to its numbers to earn another full season, but it seems like Fox likes the show, so we're sure the network will give it lots of help to ensure its survival. Oh, and The X-Factor isn't doing great, but it's reality, so operates differently.
THE CW
Hart of Dixie — Since The CW's ratings standards are so different than other networks, it's hard to tell with any certainty what's going happen with any given show, but seeing as this show's second season renewal was something of a miracle, and that it hasn't improved much since its fall premiere, we don't see this thing limping along much longer. It's too bad, it's one of the network's only shows about actual, honest-to-goodness adults.
Emily Owens, M.D. — This'd be another actual adults show on the network, and given its less than auspicious debut earlier this week, we'd say it's equally in trouble, if not more so. It's a charming little thing, but it doesn't have much energy behind it, and despite often low ratings, CW shows can live or die by their buzz. In a season of CW surprises — modern-gothic superhero/monster tales Arrow and Beauty and the Beast are remarkably faring decently — this quiet show's likely quiet demise is, sadly, not come as much of a shock.
Those are the shows that seem to be on the cancellation radar right now. For the really fervent ratings followers among you, TV By the Numbers has a handy cancellation index thingie that they update each week. The rest of us will have to watch from a distance, looking in dismay (or joy, in some cases) as our DVRs tells us there are no new episodes of that show scheduled to record.
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.