TV Heartbeat! Finales for Letterman and Mad Men!! The ORIGINAL Jamie/Fraser on Outlander! A Round Up on Renewals & Cancellations!
It’s a busy, busy time in the world of TV! A huge chunk of shows are signing off for the season with a handful of landmark finales! The networks also finalized their TV lists for the next year so we have the final word on who is back and who is dead.
Can you believe David Letterman is signing off from The Late Show? His last show is this Wednesday and the guest list until the end is quite starry indeed. Look for George Clooney, Oprah and a rumored appearance by Jay Leno. Out of respect, Jimmy Kimmel is airing a re-run which is actually quite a tribute when you realize its sweeps time. Farewell Dave!
Mad Men is also completing its run with the series finale of the landmark show. Mad Men give birth to original programming on AMC and it gave us long look at how society has evolved (or not). To celebrate, AMC is re-running the whole series starting Wednesday night and, during the finale, all of AMC’s sister networks will air non-original programming to also lure more live viewers. Raise that glass one last time to Mad Men!
Otherwise, we have a slew of season finales for shows which are all returning, except The Following and Stalker which just got their cancellation papers. The Vampire Diaries, however, will be losing its leading lady for next season since Nina Dobrev is not coming back.
M. Night Shyamalan makes his network debut with Wayward Pines which seems to be a riff on Twin Peaks – outsiders come into a small town filled with interesting character to investigate a crime. Shyamalan can usually make a decent trailer, but has issues coming up with something longer than 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Let’s see what he does with 10 hours… or not! (I kind of hope there’s a big exposition scene to a house plant a la The Happening…)
Tonight: Arrow season finale (The CW), American Idol season finale (Fox), The Middle season finale (ABC), The Goldbergs season finale (ABC), Nashville season finale (ABC), CSI: Cyber season finale (CBS)
Thursday: Wayward Pines debut (Fox), Vampire Diaries season finale (The CW), Reign season finale (The CW), Grey’s Anatomy season finale (ABC), American Crime season finale (ABC), Scandal season finale (ABC), The Odd Couple season finale (CBS), Elementary season finale (CBS)
Friday: Grimm season finale (NBC), Shark Tank season finale (ABC), Amazing Race season finale (CBS)
Saturday: Bessie (HBO), Saturday Night Live season finale (NBC)
Sunday: Mad Men series finale (AMC), The Simpsons season finale (Fox), Family Guy season finale (Fox), Brooklyn Nine-Nine season finale (Fox), America’s Funniest Home Videos season finale (ABC), 2015 Billboard Music Awards (ABC), Call the Midwife season finale (PBS), Mr. Selfridge season premiere (PBS)
Monday: The Following series finale (Fox), The Bachelorette season finale (ABC), 2 Broke Girls season finale (CBS), Mike and Molly season finale (CBS), Stalker series finale (CBS), NCIS: LA season finale (CBS)
Tuesday: The Flash season finale (The CW), Dancing with the Stars season finale (ABC)
Wednesday: Late Night with David Letterman’s final show (CBS), Supernatural season finale (The CW), Masterchef season premiere (Fox), 500 Questions debut (ABC), Celebrity Wife Swap season premiere (ABC), Modern Family season finale (ABC), Black-ish season finale (ABC), Survivor season finale (CBS)
Outlander this week
This is the episode that sooooooooo many people have been waiting for! Black Jack is back! This episode will NOT be for the faint of heart so make sure you grab a friend to watch. Or that someone calls you after the episode is over to make sure your heart is still working.
Also, the original Jamie Fraser is making his appearance! Sort of. In a wonderful bit of symmetry, the actor who inspired Diana Gabaldon to write Outlander will make a cameo in Wentworth Prison as Sir Fletcher Gordon. See the actor, Frazer Hines, once played a fetching Highlander name Jamie in an episode of Doctor Who and let’s see Diana found it rather inspiring. Love seeing this come full circle!
Health check
ICYMI, the networks are pitching their new TV line ups to advertisers which is why we got a slew of news on which shows are renewed, which are cancelled and which new shows we’ll see in the fall. Here’s a round-up on who made it and some interesting tweaks for the next season:
Cancelled:
- A to Z (NBC)
- About A Boy (NBC)
- Allegiance (NBC)
- Bad Judge (NBC)
- Backstrom (Fox)
- Battle Creek (CBS)
- Constantine (NBC)
- Cristela (ABC)
- CSI (CBS) – Cancelled, but there will be a movie to send this show off properly.
- The Following (Fox)
- Forever (ABC) – Sadness! Not unexpected, but a shame. See Ioan Gruffudd’s classy farewell to the show below.
- Gracepoint (Fox)
- Hart of Dixie (The CW)
- Manhattan Love Story (ABC)
- Marry Me (NBC)
- The McCarthys (CBS)
- The Messengers (The CW)
- The Millers (CBS)
- The Mindy Project (Fox) – Fear not Mindy fans! She may be getting two seasons on Hulu to make enough episodes for synidcation.
- Mulaney (Fox)
- One Big Happy (NBC)
- Red Band Society (Fox)
- Resurrection (ABC)
- Revenge (ABC)
- Selfie (ABC)
- Stalker (CBS)
- State of Affairs (NBC)
- The Taste (ABC)
- Weird Loaners (Fox)
Renewed for next season:
- 2 Broke Girls (CBS)
- The 100 (The CW)
- Agent Carter (ABC) – ABC passed on the other spin off show so welcome back Carter! She’s headed to LA next season.
- Agents of SHIELD (ABC)
- American Crime (ABC) – Some cast members will return, but as new characters since the second season will be about an entirely different crime.
- American Idol (Fox) – Next season will be its last so expect a lot of return appearances from former Idols and judges.
- Arrow (The CW)
- The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
- Black-ish (ABC)
- The Blacklist (NBC)
- Blue Bloods (CBS)
- Bob’s Burgers (Fox)
- Bones (Fox)
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox)
- Castle (ABC)
- Chicago Fire (NBC)
- Chicago PD (NBC)
- Criminal Minds (CBS)
- CSI: Cyber (CBS) -Ted Danson’s CSI character will jump to this cast.
- Elementary (CBS)
- Empire (Fox) – Expanded to 18 episodes split between fall and spring so Cookie Monsters don’t have to wait so long!
- Family Guy (Fox)
- The Flash (The CW)
- Fresh Off the Boat (ABC)
- Galavant (ABC) – Surprise!!!
- The Goldbergs (ABC)
- The Good Wife (CBS)
- Gotham (Fox)
- Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
- Grimm (NBC)
- Hawaii 5-0 (CBS)
- How to Get Away with Murder (ABC)
- iZombie (The CW)
- Jane the Virgin (The CW)
- The Last Man on Earth (Fox)
- Last Man Standing (ABC)
- Law & Order: SVU (NBC)
- Madame Secretary (CBS)
- The Middle (ABC)
- Mike & Molly (CBS)
- Modern Family (ABC)
- Mom (CBS)
- The Mysteries of Laura (NBC)
- Nashville (ABC)
- NCIS (CBS)
- NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)
- NCIS: New Orleans (CBS)
- The Night Shift (NBC)
- New Girl (Fox) – Pushed to a spring debut since ratings have been falling and Zoey is pregnant.
- The Odd Couple (CBS)
- Once Upon A Time (ABC)
- The Originals (The CW)
- Person of Interest (CBS) – It’s back for 13 episodes in the spring only so this may be the final season.
- Reign (The CW)
- Scandal (ABC)
- Scorpion (CBS)
- Secrets & Lies (ABC)
- The Simpsons (Fox) – Renewed for two seasons
- Sleepy Hollow (Fox) – Moving to Thursdays
- Supernatural (The CW)
- Undateable (NBC) – All shows will be broadcasted live
- The Vampire Diaries (The CW)
- The X-Files (Fox) – Look for this 6-episode, limited season in January 2016. The truth is out there!
Notable new shows for next season:
The trend of making movies into TV shows continues! Also, we’re seeing a slew of medical shows when you factor in Chicago Med and Heartbreaker which were mentioned in last week’s TV Heartbeat.
- Best Time Ever (NBC) – Neil Patrick Harris gets a variety show
- The Catch (ABC) – The latest show from Shonda Rhimes
- Code Black (CBS) – Marti Noxon is producing this series about a busy ER.
- Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (CBS) – Focuses on American citizens overseas
- DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (The CW) – Lasted DC/CW show which will feature The Atom (Brandon Routh), Sarah Lance’s been-dead-all-last-season Black Canary (Caity Lotz), Heat Wave and Captain Cold (the Prison Break brothers) and Rip Hunter (Doctor Who’s Arthur Darvill).
- The Frankenstein Code (Fox) – This modern story features Rob Kazinsky (True Blood, Pacific Rim) as a 75 year old reborn as his younger self (no bolts in his neck).
- Heroes Re-born (NBC) – I liked the first couple of episodes of the first season and then got so frustrated when this show became obsessed with great teasers and non-nonsensical plots and characters. Let’s see if they can re-set this correctly.
- Limitless (CBS) – Inspired by the move, Bradley Cooper will make an appearance in the pilot and a few additional episodes, but the main character is a crime solver for the FBI. This is CBS, everyone must solve crimes!!!
- Lucifer (Fox) – Based on characters by Neil Gaiman, this story is about Lucifer (Tom Ellis) living as a man about town in modern LA. The pilot is directed by Len Wiseman and the cast also features Lauren German (Shay from Chicago Fire) and Lesley-Ann Brandt (Spartacus, The Librarians).
- Minority Report (Fox) – This series continues the story of Dashiell, one of pre-cog twins, after the events in the movie.
- The Muppets (ABC) – I really hope they get the humor right since it’s been off in the recent movies.
- Rush Hour (CBS) – The offensive, but succesful movies are getting a TV treatment and I can only hope it’s less cringe-worthy than the films.
- Scream Queens (Fox) – From Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story), this show is a about someone seeking 20 year old vengeance for a sorority prank gone wrong. In a bit of fun, the show stars the original scream queen, Jamie Lee Curtis.
- Supergirl (CBS) – From same producer as Arrow/Flash, but no clue if the show takes place in the same universe for more crossovers.
Stay tuned!
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Thanks for the recap! Isn’t MTV doing Scream the TV series soon? It stars two Teen Wolf alums Tyler Posey and Holland Roden.
Yes, I was just focusing on the broadcast networks since the list is already a bit lengthy! Scream is coming out on MTV in the fall, I think.