Will The Good Doctor be first fall 2017 show with season 2 renewal?

One of the things that we do always love to track this time of year are the fall success stories, and right now, The Good Doctor is a big one. This is a show that, through the first two episodes, has generated some very impressive ratings for ABC. It’s pulling in above a 2.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic at a time in 10:00 p.m. Eastern where it is very difficult to do that these days.

As a matter of fact, look across the board to see where some of the other network shows are that are getting this sort of ratings success. Here’s a hint — there aren’t any. The Good Doctor is at the moment the top-rated 10:00 p.m. show on the schedule and it’s really not even close. Maybe you can make a case for Chicago Fire as one of the best performers trailing the show, but it’s good a pretty substantial lead on it and it’s doing that while also surpassing its Dancing with the Stars lead-in.

Should the Freddie Highmore series be the first one this fall to get a season 2 renewal? At the moment, we’d argue yes — and we also think it’ll happen before the end of the year provided that the show retains at least 80% of its audience over the next two months.

One piece of evidence that this could happen is that The Good Doctor is the first drama series this fall to get a full-season pickup. The next is that it’s airing on a network in ABC desperate for another hit. It’s other top-rated show is Grey’s Anatomy, another medical drama but one that’s been on the air for almost a decade and a half. They need some fresh blood, and this show is significantly outperforming any show ABC has had in this timeslot since Castle was in its heyday (otherwise known as before the last couple of seasons).

Could you make a case still that Young Sheldon will get the season 2 pickup before The Good Doctor judging by its monster premiere ratings? Sure, but here’s the thing — Young Sheldon has only aired one episode so far, and it was somewhat polarizing and it’s also on a big break from now until November 2. Who knows how many of those viewers are going to be around for the next episode? It probably will be okay and we easily can see it getting another season, but The Good Doctor right now is the safe bet. It was the show we at CarterMatt were the most confident in entering the fall thanks to its star and easy-to-understand premise, and it’s ratings to date are delivering in a way ABC sorely needs. Highmore is getting set to be the face of the network for a rather long time.

Do you think that The Good Doctor will get that season 2 renewal before any other fall show?

Sound off right now in the comments, and be sure to look at our Facebook Page to get some more updates on this and other shows we cover at CarterMatt. (Photo: ABC.)