Cast your vote before it’s too late to Save Our Shows
USA TODAY’s 23rd annual survey gives viewers a say on networks’ “on the bubble” series.
TV fans seem to love NBC’s playlist. “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist,” the musical drama that stars Jane Levy, Skylar Astin and Lauren Graham, has jumped ahead in USA TODAY’s 23rd annual Save Our Shows poll, which asks readers to vote on which of 19 endangered network series should get new seasons. (This year, the COVID-19 pandemic’s shutdown of Hollywood means those seasons might come later than usual.)
Three more dramas – NBC’s sci-fi tinged “Manifest,” ABC’s action thriller “Stumptown” and CBS crime drama “S.W.A.T.” – are among other top votegetters, listed in alphabetical order. (Look for final results after the poll closes this weekend.)
But with more than 40,000 votes already cast, time is running out. So make your voice heard now before executives make decisions about your favorites. One show on the list, CBS drama “God Friended Me,” was canceled after USA TODAY’s poll published; its final two episodes aired April 26.
“Zoey’s” – about a woman who hears the thoughts of those around her through musical performances that only she can see – airs its first-season finale Sunday (9 EDT/PDT).
“A lot of people were surprised at how emotional the show makes them, and that often while watching they cry,” Levy says. (Zoey’s father, played by Peter Gallagher, suffers from a debilitating illness, and in Sunday’s episode, her family reluctantly began preparing for his death.) But “the pain is more catharsis,” Levy says. “Right now, crying is a really healthy thing. People say to me that they have not laughed so hard and then cried within such a short amount of time.”
The current work stoppage won’t save a marginal show from extinction. Networks will rely as usual on TV ratings, profitability, ownership, international sales and digital viewership to make their decisions.
In past years, broadcast networks have announced their fall schedules (and which current shows have been renewed or canceled) at splashy presentations to advertisers in New York in mid-May.
SERGEI BACHLAKOV/NBC
But uncertainty about how quickly Hollywood studio gates will reopen after shutting down production on pilot episodes for new series has upended those plans. The presentations are being replaced by more tentative, less detailed video updates, so the fates of some “on the bubble” series may not be decided as quickly as usual.
That shouldn’t stop you from weighing in on what you’d like saved; NBC’s “Timeless” won the Save Our Shows poll in 2017 and 2018, leading the network to renew the low-rated series for a second season and then to air a two-hour finale movie. And last year’s winner, CBS drama “Madam Secretary,” was renewed for a final, 10-episode season.