Ratings: Talking ‘Mistresses’ season 4, ‘The Fosters,’ and renewal odds

So where do a pair of still-on-the-bubble shows stand following Monday night’s primetime lineup? We figured we’d go ahead and give you a quick breakdown now based on some of the just-reported numbers that are out there.

“Mistresses” – First things first, let’s get through the good and bad news when it comes to ABC’s soapy drama, one that still desperately needs to lighten things up in a fourth season relatively short on fun. The show last night drew a 0.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic, a number that is equal to the week before. Yet, we still have a relatively hard time envisioning that this show is a lock for renewal. Its ratings keep dropping, and it is losing such a huge chunk of its “Bachelor in Paradise” lead-in that the network may be able to find something better elsewhere.

We wouldn’t be surprised if it took a few weeks following the finale for the show’s fate one way or another to be clear.

“The Fosters” – As for another drama, the Freeform series managed its second-best rating of the entire summer in a 0.4 for its midseason finale on Monday night. As of right now the show is barely down at all in the demo versus season 3; if it stays relatively steady in the winter, it could end up passing its season 3 average. The main issue here is that there are typically a smaller pool of viewers around for the winter half of the season; we’ll see how the show fares when we get around to it.

In general, though, we do feel fairly optimistic that this is far from the end of the road for the show, and that there’s going to be some sort of renewal coming up in the near future.