FALL PREVIEW 2017: The Sophomore Class

The 2017-18 season is very close but before doing a night-by-night preview this week, I will take a look at the sophomore shows coming back for a second season. As I have done every year, here are stats on the returning shows for the big four networks (I didn't include CW until last year so their stats are not included).

2010-11
40 new shows, 10 returned for Season 2 (25%)
4 still on the air entering Season 8: Blue Bloods, Hawaii Five-0, The Voice, Bob's Burgers

2011-12
47 new shows, 20 returned for Season 2 (43%)
3 still on the air entering Season 7: Once Upon a Time, Scandal, New Girl

2012-13
33 new shows, 9 returned for Season 2 (27%)
2 still on the air entering Season 6: Chicago Fire, Elementary
** also Nashville on CMT and The Mindy Project on Hulu

2013-14
43 new shows, 12 returned for Season 2 (28%)
7 still on the air entering Season 5: The Blacklist, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Chicago PD, Mom, The Goldbergs, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Masterchef Junior

2014-15
40 new shows, 16 returned for Season 2 (40%)
8 still on the air entering Season 4: Empire, Gotham, How to Get Away with Murder, Scorpion, NCIS: New Orleans, Madam Secretary, Black-ish, Fresh Off the Boat

2015-16
45 new shows, 17 returned for Season 2 (43%)
10 still on the air entering Season 3: Chicago Med, Blindspot, Lucifer, Quantico, Code Black, Superstore, Life in Pieces, Little Big Shots, Shades of Blue, The X-Files (season 2)
** also Supergirl on the CW

2016-17
48 new shows
20 returning for Season 2 (42%)
And here they are!

THIS IS US (NBC) - The buzziest sophomore show (and it's not even close) is NBC's breakout hit This is Us. Originally slated for a move to Thursday nights, NBC reversed its decision in the summer and will leave the family drama in its Tuesday 9pm slot it had last year. There is already a ton of buzz about its return and I wouldn't be surprised to see it return to a series high. The question is if it will sustain the ratings or pull an Empire and still be a top show but have a consistent decline during the season. I think it will hold up better than Empire has because it seems less of a flash in the pan. It is already renewed for 2018-19.

GREAT NEWS (NBC) - The sophomore getting the biggest vote of confidence is NBC's Great News. After a very low rated 10 episode run late in the season, NBC is giving the Tina Fey produced sitcom a great chance by airing it after the heavily hyped return of Will & Grace. This season will feature appearances by Fey herself and it seems to be a show that NBC really wants to make work. However, I'm a little skeptical because NBC seems to be the only people into this show. It had such little interest from viewers in both live and delayed viewing and very little buzz online.

AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE (ABC) - Another sophomore getting a show of faith from its network is ABC's American Housewife. After airing on Tuesdays at 8:30pm this past season, the show moves to ABC's premier night of comedy, Wednesdays, and will air after their top comedy, Modern Family. But this show needs to be careful what it wishes for. In 2013, Suburgatory seemingly got an upgrade by moving to the same slot but it lost all its mojo there. I'm a little surprised that ABC is moving this show here especially with The Middle ending because it could have been groomed as a Tuesday anchor. But I still view it as a sign that the network is definitely behind this show.

KEVIN CAN WAIT (CBS) - A show that was in the news quite a bit this summer was Kevin Can Wait. After a guest appearance by James' former King of Queens co-star Leah Remini to end last season, it was announced that Remini would become a series regular. Then the real shocker happened when the show announced it was letting James' on-screen wife Erinn Hayes go. Then we found out the show planned to kill off the character. That's a lot of drama for a mundane CBS sitcom. The show clearly wants to capitalize on the chemistry between James and Remini and it will probably be the most different show in season 2 compared to season 1 this year.

THE GOOD PLACE (NBC) - NBC's quirky sitcom starring Kristen Bell and Ted Danson was a pleasant surprise last season but capped its run in January at 13 episodes. Now it will return almost nine months later after a big twist to end last season. The show will get some extra love from NBC by having its season premiere after the season finale of summer's top show America's Got Talent. But then it settles back into its Thursday 8:30pm. It didn't set the world on fire in the ratings but it constantly seemed to outperform expectations. We'll see if it can do it again.

SPEECHLESS (ABC) - ABC kept finding its family comedy mojo last season with both American Housewife and Speechless. Speechless will return in its same Wednesday 8:30pm slot. It was a show that consistently did just a bit worse than its lead-in, The Goldbergs, throughout the season. It seemed to lose a little of its critical luster as the season wore on and there's a little bit of me that thinks it might be a disappointment this year even though the circumstances are the same.

DESIGNATED SURVIVOR (ABC) - Designated Survivor was one of the most anticipated freshman shows last year, but it went through some growing pains during its first season. It's now on its fourth showrunner already and there is a plan to transition it more to a West Wing-style show. If it's done well, that might be a great thing. However, this show has suffered a lot from tonal whiplash so I hope if they go in this direction, they choose to keep going that way. It returns to the same Wednesday 10pm timeslot.

THE MICK (FOX) - The Mick was a midseason entry for FOX that didn't do all that well but was no worse than any of FOX's other live action sitcoms and stronger than a few of them. It will get another chance anchoring the 9pm hour on Tuesdays nights. FOX really wants this show to work as evident by how they treated it during its first year. FOX comedies have a pretty low bar, it seems like The Mick has a decent chance to clear it.

STAR (FOX) - FOX is giving Star the treatment everyone thought it would get last year, airing after Empire. Last year, Star served as the winter replacement for Empire and while it kept the lights on, it was nothing compared to a show that is still one of TV's top draws even though it is far past its hot start. I think this might be too little, too late for FOX, which should have paired Star with Empire at some point last year. At this point, Star can probably only hope for similar ratings to last year, even with the lead-in. Still, that's more than most sophomore shows can aspire to.

BULL (CBS) - It's hard to believe but around this time last year, there were questions of whether Bull or This is Us would prevail in the Tuesday 9pm slot as Bull seemed like the more sure thing. Well of course This is Us exploded, but Bull did not do terribly. It fit with its NCIS lead-in by being strong in total viewers but skewing old. It seemed like it had a chance when This is Us was going to be sent to Thursdays, but now it has to face it again. I'd expect similar results where Bull can eke out total viewer wins but gets trounced in the demo.

MACGYVER (CBS) - Probably the most improbable show on this list in terms of expectations going into last season, MacGyver defied the odds by debuting surprisingly well and proving to be a good fit with the CBS Friday lineup. It will return to the same slot with its Friday night buddies, Hawaii Five-0 and Blue Bloods. This show showed a little less spunk late in the season before ending its season early to make room for The Amazing Race. It will be interesting to see how it comes back. It might have less timeslot competition with ABC's Once Upon a Time likely being less of a crossover audience than their now cancelled comedies.

SUPERIOR DONUTS (CBS) - CBS's midseason comedy entry was one of many CBS sitcoms picked up for a second season. It is a little bit of an odd show out in the CBS lineup as it doesn't have a natural pairing in the lineup and it will air on Mondays at 9:30pm but not until late October. This seems like the lowest priority comedy on the CBS lineup besides Man with a Plan, which is held for midseason. So the best bet for this show would be one of the three new CBS sitcoms tanking in the ratings.

LETHAL WEAPON (FOX) - FOX's high action reboot was a solid Wednesday player last year as a lead-in to Empire. When Rosewood moved away from Empire, it completely fell apart last year but there's reason to believe that won't happen for Lethal Weapon, which is moving to Tuesdays. It seemed to be more independent of a diminishing Empire so I think it can hold its own on Tuesdays. It won't be great, but it could be an improvement in the hour for FOX.

THE EXORCIST (FOX) - A big surprise renewal came from FOX and The Exorcist, which quietly aired just 10 episodes last fall on Friday nights. It didn't do well at all, but it wasn't expected to given its timeslot. FOX must have been happy with its creative direction because this can't be a ratings or syndication inspired move. It will return to the same Friday 9pm slot and expectations will be low again so perhaps it can defy the odds again.

THE TOY BOX (ABC) - Another surprise renewal (but you never know with these unscripted shows) is ABC's The Toy Box. The show bombed on Friday nights in the fall, even losing to another low priority reality show in the same slot, NBC's First Dates. But FOX is bringing it back and moving it to Sundays at 7pm, the slot that was home to America's Funniest Home Videos for many years. We'll see if this even more family friendly hour can help this show, but I doubt it. I don't really understand this renewal even if it's cheap to produce.

RIVERDALE (CW) - The only CW renewal for a freshman last year was given to Riverdale if only because it didn't bomb as hard or as quickly as other freshmen No Tomorrow and Frequency. Riverdale has posted a couple ghastly repeat numbers this summer, but the CW still seems to be behind the show. It will air on Wednesdays at 8pm as a lead-in to their heavily promoted reboot of Dynasty. This has a small cult following but it is small and I don't see it helping its night or its lead-in.

MAN WITH A PLAN (CBS)
TAKEN (NBC)
TIMELESS (NBC)
TRIAL & ERROR (NBC)
THE WALL (NBC)
All these shows will air at some point during the season but are not on the fall schedule!

Check back tomorrow for my Monday preview!