Fam season 2 renewal debate: Will the Nina Dobrev show return?

Is there a good chance at a Fam season 2 renewal on CBS? In the wake of tonight’s season 1 finale, what better chance to discuss it than the present? This article is all about looking at the board and with that, trying to also gauge if there is hope yet for Nina Dobrev and the rest of the cast to come running back with new episodes in the future.

What we knew entering this finale was that Fam was going to come with a unique set of challenges. For starters, there aren’t that many shows out there with a title so short that doesn’t really tell you anything about the show itself — other than family. It’s also not a show that had an enormous promotional campaign behind it and in 2019, sitcoms aren’t exactly busting down doors. The Big Bang Theory, the biggest one in the world, is ending. Last Man Standing and Mom are probably two of the only highly successful, traditional sitcoms still out there, and you can really make the argument that the latter does a lot in order to try to break the mold.

The case to renew Fam – If CBS does want to keep the format alive, there are some merits to trying to keep Fam around. Let’s start with the fact that it’s got a tremendous cast — think along the lines of Dobrev, Tone Bell, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Sheryl Lee Ralph. The show even had Gary Cole for a generous amount of episodes! It’s a great crew of talented comedy performers and a cast many other shows would beg for.

Ratings-wise, Fam isn’t setting the world on fire … but there are worse fates than averaging a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic and over 5.6 million viewers. It actually performed better in the demo than CBS’ revival of Murphy Brown in the fall and it’s performed better in viewers than Happy Together, which is unlikely to return. It’s been fairly comparable to date to Man with a Plan.

The case to cancel it – CBS has a tendency to have higher expectations for its comedies than many other networks out there, and because of that, a lot of shows get cut earlier than you’d think. Since we don’t foresee Fam being the sort of show that will add to its audience between season 1 and season 2, they could opt to just cut their losses and try something new.

Our current renewal verdict

It’s really 50-50, but we’re giving Fam a chance because it does offer something in terms of its cast that many other CBS shows lack — youth. It’s a little like God Friended Me that way, and it also brings more diversity to a genre that before this season, didn’t have all that much on CBS.

With The Big Bang Theory ending after this season, we are at this point where the network may opt to keep more comedies than usual. Fam could be one of them, provided that creatively, there is a path forward and it’s able to leverage its young cast to at least keep the ratings steady for season 2.

Do you want to see a Fam season 2 renewal happen at CBS at some point in the future? Let us know in the poll below, and share your thoughts in the comments. (Photo: CBS.)