'A to Z' and 'Bad Judge' Canceled by NBC, Will Each Air All 13 Episodes - Report
After the first cancellation of the 2014-2015 broadcast season came last week, in the form of ABC's Manhattan Love Story, NBC has delivered the second and third cancellations this year: A to Z and Bad Judge.
A to Z, featuring Mad Men star Ben Feldman and How I Met Your Mother alum Cristin Milioti, pretty much tanked at 9:30 PM, as did the Kate Walsh-starring Bad Judge. So NBC has decided to pull the plug; however, there is a twist.
Both shows will remain on Thursday night at the 9:00 PM hour, as they will both be allowed to finish their initial 13-episode orders. While neither show will continue beyond those thirteen episodes, they will at least get to finish telling whatever stories they've been setting up. And if they don't have a finish in mind? Well, they'll have time to write on, since Bad Judge still has three more episodes to film, while A to Z has two.
Of course, why NBC would cancel a show just five episodes in continues to puzzle me. Do they have some better show lined up to take its place? I don't really see the use in announcing a show's cancellation this early. Just let the shows run for their full 13 episodes, and if the numbers are still garbage afterwards, then cancel it. Announcing its cancellation early will just kill any chance either show might have had of finding an audience since, "Well, it's ending anyway, so why bother getting invested in it?" That said, it wouldn't surprise me if NBC rethought these decisions if ratings picked up, but it's looking really unlikely at this point. And that's a shame, since A to Z was a genuinely good show, in my opinion. I suppose being pitted against The Big Bang Theory hurt it, and also the show deciding to take the "Will they?/Won't they?" potential off the table by answering that question in the pilot.
Ultimately, I think NBC's decision to ax both comedies comes as a result of The Blacklist's midseason move to Thursdays at 9:00 PM. It's a move that's been planned since May of this year, which leads me to wonder if they ever planned on A to Z or Bad Judge succeeding. But even without The Blacklist move, I think NBC has faith in the comedies -- both new and returning -- that they have in store for midseason. Not only do they have the final season of Parks and Recreation, they have the Ellen DeGeneres-produced lesbian comedy One Big Happy, Craig Robinson's Mr. Robinson and Tina Fey's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Naturally, there's no guaranteeing any of these shows will do better than Bad Judge or A to Z, but NBC is more of a star-driven network when it comes to its first-year shows, so they'll devote the full promotional push to a star-driven show in its first year than a freshman comedy featuring actors who aren't as headline-grabbing. Case in point, The Blacklist move, which takes it away from its Monday night timeslot (where it's been a PROVEN performer for the network!) in order to prop up State of Affairs, which features Katherine Heigl's return to television after Grey's Anatomy. My problem isn't really with Heigl, so much as NBC's inflated sense of her worth as a star who can, feasibly, headline a show. She's a good actress, but I'm not sure her return to dramatic TV is the event NBC seems to think it is. Maybe she's a star, but I really don't feel she's that kind of star. And even if she is, is she really more valuable than the guy who's voicing the lead villain in what's probably going to be the biggest movie of summer 2015?
Ah well, I'm no TV executive, so all I can do is guess at what their reasons are, since I doubt I'll ever really understand the thought processes that lead to these kinds of decisions. I can understand wanting to give certain shows a leg up while cutting bait on shows that aren't working, but this doesn't feel like an atmosphere where anything is really given a chance. What if State of Affairs IS a hit? Will it even make it ten episodes into its second season before it's moved to a different night to give some other show the big Monday night slot after The Voice? It's Revolution, all over again. And that didn't end well.
Hopefully, NBC's decisions pan out. I don't trust that they will, but I genuinely hope they do. Network TV needs more genuine success stories.
Credit: NBC