‘Black Box’ canceled by ABC; surprised at all?

Here is some pretty predictable news that is coming in from ABC tonight: After a first season that failed to draw in big ratings, the network has now formally canceled “Black Box.”

When it comes to surprising news, this does not fit in there at all. The ratings for this show were never very good, so we therefore didn’t think it would be kept around at all. In the first place, the show was brought on the air for the Thursday-night lineup. Anytime that a show has aired at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time over the past few years, very bad things have come as a result. Just ask “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland,” “Zero Hour,” “Charlie’s Angels,” or many other shows that have aired around here. This is just a very tough timeslot given that you have “The Big Bang Theory” (which even repeats very well), and during the season, you also have The CW’s biggest hit in the demo in “The Vampire Diaries.”

The next show to really get a chance in this timeslot is one that really should be well-equipped for in “Grey’s Anatomy.” After all, the Shonda Rhimes series has been on the air for over a decade now. The strategy here is that in putting this show on, diehard fans may actually follow it to the spot, and choose to record Sheldon Cooper and company instead … maybe. We don’t want to make any big guarantees when it comes to this timeslot based on history. We’ll just have to see how it goes.

What do you think about this news, and are you sad to see “Black Box” off of the air now? Share some of your thoughts with a comment, and head over here to get some more news on all we cover via our newsletter.

Photo: ABC