Training Day, Ransom, Pure Genius canceled by CBS; Hunted still unclear
While it’s hardly a surprise to see these three shows canceled, it’s still a bummer given the fact that Ransom in particular never got much of a shot. It premiered on New Year’s Day, and then aired the majority of its season in a Saturday death slot. Given that it was a co-production and CBS didn’t have to foot that much of the bill for it, there was still a certain hope that the network would bring it back since they didn’t have to invest all that much in it compared to some other series.
As for the other shows, Pure Genius was an excellent concept stuck on the wrong network, since CBS kept trying to change the show to fit their brand rather than allowing it to breathe properly. Meanwhile, Training Day had an tragic end thanks to the death of star Bill Paxton, and eventually the show was relegated over to the Saturday death slot. Its finale is going to be airing this weekend.
Now, there’s the mystery of the reality show Hunted. It was virtually ignored by the network this morning — it wasn’t officially canceled, but it also wasn’t confirmed to be coming back. This is odd, to put it lightly — even if you exclude its big debut after the AFC Championship Game, the show still drew higher ratings in the key 18-49 demographic than Elementary and Madam Secretary, which are both on the fall schedule. Its numbers were also pretty comparable to NCIS: New Orleans in the demo, or any show airing on Friday night. It didn’t have the same number of total viewers, but CBS brought back The Amazing Race despite Hunted performing better by a pretty wide margin. Maybe this show was hard to shoot or more costly than some other properties. It’s not officially dead, so just keep it in the back of your mind for now.
What do you think about some of these assorted cancellations right now? Sound off in some of the comments below!
Meanwhile, be sure to head over here in the event that you missed the reveal of the CBS fall schedule a little bit earlier in the day. (Photo: CBS.)