Is nice-guy spy “Chuck” about to fade into the trivia books?
Are the good-looking aliens of “V” being shipped to deep space?
Will fans ever get a satisfactory ending to “The Event”?
The answers, with no guarantees, are: afraid so, probably and unlikely.
Keep your fingers crossed for your favorite shows: It’s nearing decision time in the network executive suites as the final touches are put to TV’s fall prime-time schedules.
If I had to guess, I’d say buh-bye to “Brothers & Sisters” on ABC. (Frankly, as a viewer, I did so last season.)
Catch what may be the last of “Mad Love” and “$#*! My Dad Says” on CBS.
Consider “Bob’s Burgers” a tossup on Fox.
And figure “Outsourced” on NBC will go the way of the short-lived “Paul Reiser Show.” Deservedly, in both instances.
The 2011-12 network slates will be announced in New York at “upfront” presentations to advertisers (when ads are sold in bulk ahead of the season) in coming weeks. Meanwhile producers, writers, actors and, not least, fans anxiously await renewal notices. Or pink slips.
Some of the programming decisions will go down to the wire, and nail-biting cast and crew members will wait with bags packed in case they get the call to appear in New York for the pre-fall push. Others are already clear.
So who’s on the bubble?
Among the shows up in the air — i.e., their fate could go either way:
“Chicago Code” (Fox), “Detroit 1-8-7” (ABC), “Harry’s Law” (NBC), “Human Target” (Fox), “Lie to Me” (Fox), “Off the Map” (ABC), “One Tree Hill” (The CW), “Outsourced” (NBC), “Shedding for the Wedding” (CW), “The Event” (NBC), “Traffic Light” (Fox) and “V” (ABC). Only “Harry’s Law” should get a reprieve. The bubble deserves to burst for the rest.
Clear goners include the following low-rated entries (some are short-timers, others are long in the tooth but declining in ratings; some are already officially canceled; and all are unworthy of continued life — or even bubble status:
“The Cape” (NBC), “Chase” (NBC), “Life Unexpected” (The CW), “Live to Dance” (CBS), “Lone Star” (Fox), “The Good Guys” (Fox), “Medium” (CBS), “My Generation” (ABC), “No Ordinary Family” (ABC), “Off the Map” (ABC), “Running Wilde” (Fox), “Perfect Couples” (NBC), “Smallville” (The CW) and “The Whole Truth” (ABC).
In some cases, like “Medium” (2005-2011) and “Smallville” (2001-2011), we can say the shows had good runs and bid their longstanding characters a fond adieu.
Newer series, like Dana Delany’s “Body of Proof” and “Happy Endings,” both on ABC, hardly had time to post disappointing ratings before the eulogies were written.
In the case of “No Ordinary Family,” a fledging show with little promise, the guessing game is easy because cast members have been picked off and are signed to appear in forthcoming series.
For now, the networks are whittling down their lists of pilots, knowing that only one in 10 will make the cut. Maddening for all concerned, but that’s the way the expensive, unpredictable system works. As network boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) lamented on “30 Rock” recently, “We produce more failed pilots than the French Air Force” (followed by a high-five with Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon to acknowledge the cleverness of his quip.)
We’ll be able to quit the guessing game when the major broadcast networks make their lineups known, amid the usual fanfare and impossible promises, the third week in May.
That’s when the next round of guessing begins.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
