‘American Crime’ renewed for season 3; ‘The Catch,’ ‘The Real O’Neals’ also returning

ABC has made some big cancellations today, opting to end shows like “Agent Carter” and “Nashville” that have some devoted followings. However, they’ve also made some renewals that we were not fully expecting in some ways.

Let’s begin here with “American Crime,” which is officially coming back for a third season. This was a show that did not have fantastic ratings at all over the course of season 2, but likely a mixture of critical acclaim and it being appreciated among the higher-ups at ABC got it another go.

Moving along, we have another interesting case here in “The Catch,” which could have been heavily aided in part by, bizarrely, the announcement that “Scandal” star Kerry Washington was expecting her second child. Thanks to this, there may be an opening in the schedule. It’s a show that has generated okay numbers, but ones far below most of the other series on ABC that are executive-produced by Shonda Rhimes.

Finally, also coming back is comedy series “The Real O’Neals,” which had a good shot all along. For now, it’s a little early to suggest what this means for other comedies, but we’ll likely know more soon.

As we were writing this article, ABC made another stunning decision in ending “Castle,” which had been an institution for them for so many years, after eight seasons. That may go down as the biggest stunner of them all, given all of the turmoil the network already dealt with regarding headlines of Stana Katic’s departure and so much more.