A month into the 2018-2019 TV season and we already have some winners and losers. Five new shows have already been picked up for full seasons, and some stalwarts are beginning to show signs of age in the ratings.
This season, networks went all-in on reboots, but most of them have failed, unless you happen to be Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing. New sitcoms like Single Parents and The Cool Kids have already been embraced by fans and critics alike. Dick Wolf has also proved his magic works on other networks, after FBI got a full season from CBS.
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Scroll on for a look at the biggest winners and losers of the new TV season.
Photo credit: Fox
Winners: Original Sitcoms
This season has already seen a bundle of strong original sitcoms. While NBC’s I Feel Bad has faltered with audiences, ABC has a surefire hit on its hands with Single Parents.
Fox also found success with the retirement community-set The Cool Kids, which airs right after Last Man Standing. Both Single Parents and The Cool Kids have been picked up for full seasons.
Loser: The Walking Dead
The biggest loser of the season is AMC’s The Walking Dead. Even though AMC did everything in its power to make sure everyone knows Andrew Lincoln is leaving during season nine, it has not worked.
Instead, audiences are leaving in droves. The Oct. 14 episode was the lowest-rated episode ever, with only 4.9 million viewers and a 2.0 18-49 rating.
Winner: Dick Wolf’s FBI
Dick Wolf has already brought two major franchises to NBC: Law & Order and the Chicago universe. Now, he’s taking his talents to CBS with the very-CBS-like procedural FBI.
The series was the first new show on CBS to get a full series order.
Loser: Reboots
After ABC saw jaw-dropping numbers for Roseanne, the reboot craze went into hyperdrive this season, especially on CBS. The eye network revived Murphy Brown and rebooted Magnum P.I., while The CW brought back Charmed.
None of these shows have really taken off with audiences. Charmed in particular was blasted by fans of the original show.
Winner: Last Man Standing
While Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing did not return to Roseanne-like numbers, the show has averaged about 8 million viewers a week. That is even more viewers than it had during its final season on ABC.
Last Man Standing is easily the most-watched show on Fridays for Fox and is even doing well in the 18-49 demographic.
Winner: The NFL
President Donald Trump might not like to hear it, but ratings for the NFL are going up this season. NBC’s Sunday Night Football has averaged 20.2 million viewers so far and NFL viewership is up 2 percent over last season so far, reports EW.
That does not sound like a lot, but it could be enough to put those “the NFL is dead” columns to bed.
Winner: New Amsterdam
Are we in the golden age of medical dramas? Every year, we see new TV doctors come and go, but last season ended with two new shows – Fox’s The Resident and ABC’s The Good Doctor – getting renewed.
This season, we have NBC’s New Amsterdam, which is notching almost 10 million viewers a week and has already been picked up for a full season.
Loser: Lethal Weapon
Lethal Weapon has taken a lethal fall this year, without Clayton Crawford. The actor was fired after clashing with the cast, crew and star Damon Wayans, which led to Seann William Scott being brought in as a replacement.
Fans followed Crawford out the door and Wayans is too (although, he is probably going out a different door).
Loser: Alec Baldwin
Talk shows are for after 11:30 p.m. ET, a fact that networks try to prove wrong every now and then. This year, ABC took a stab with a Sunday 10 p.m. talkshow featuring Alec Baldwin.
The show only had 2.1 million viewers for its season premiere, so ABC might be on the lookout for something else to fill that Sunday slot.
Winner: Manifest
Most Lost-esque shows seem to fail, but NBC’s Manifest has earned a full season. The show has averaged 8.4 million viewers through its first four episodes.
The show centers on the passengers of a flight that landed five years too late. While they have not aged a day, they now have to get used to 2018 while the mystery of what happened unfolds.
