What ‘Rush’ – ‘Satisfaction’ decision means for ‘Graceland’ season 3, ‘Royal Pains’ season 7 hopes

Today, USA made a very big decision when it comes to the future of “Rush” and “Satisfaction.” Namely, they renewed “Satisfaction” (which Universal owns), while they canceled “Rush” (which comes from an outside studio).

This is the first move in what is most likely a series of very complicated decisions that the network has to make in the next few weeks, as the majority of their shows other than “Suits” have a little bit of uncertainty coming up. Let’s take a look at three that will particularly be under the microscope.

• “Royal Pains” – Its ratings plummeted this summer, and in between the pieced-together finale and all the in-show advertising space they started including, we wonder if the end is here. Still, we give it hope because Universal does own the show, and they’ve invested so much that it deserves a worthy final season. USA has given this to many of their other long-running shows.
• “Covert Affairs” – Most of what we said about “Royal Pains” could seemingly apply here, since its ratings are lower and Universal also owns this. What we wonder about mostly is cost. While “Covert Affairs” appears on the surface to be more expensive with all the action sequences, that may not be the case given that it shoots primarily in Toronto, while “Royal Pains” actually films on Long Island. We learned from the “White Collar” decision that filming in New York is not cheap.
• “Graceland” – This is where things get tricky. “Graceland” has fewer total viewers typically than either of the other two shows, but its 18-49 numbers are typically close to “Royal Pains.” It’s earlier in its run, and typically that means lower costs. However, USA does not own the show entirely like it does the other two.

In theory, the “Rush” cancellation could mean that all three of these shows could come back, and we at least feel like two of them will. It wouldn’t surprise us if one is canceled, but seeing two go would leave us a little speechless.

Now that you’ve seen all this information, what do you think will happen next? Share in the comments.