Cancellations

When considering the future of some shows on Fox and the CW, in the case of the former, there are only a couple of programs on the fence. Fox, overall, has had a strong year highlighted by the success of 'Glee,' which trumps nearly any disappointment execs might have over already cancelled shows like 'Sons of Tucson' or 'Past Life.'

On the other hand, the CW has a few hours teetering on the brink amid some solid, if not spectacular, already renewed shows like 'Vampire Diaries' and 'Supernatural.' To check the threat assessment for the Fox and CW programs on the bubble, read on:

The past season was a tumultuous one for NBC, what with the Jay Leno experience turning the primetime schedule into a whirl. The fact that Leno's ten o'clock show was a disaster resulted in NBC scrambling to fill in during the second season. Fortunately, at least one legit hit has emerged -- 'Parenthood.'

Still, as the network contemplates the future, there's really six programs that could be called on the bubble, teetering between a pick up or a cancellation. So what is the likelihood that NBC will renew these shows? Here's our take:

For the past two years, ABC has expressed interest in picking up 'The New Adventures of Old Christine' if CBS decided to drop it. This year is no different. According to Deadline.com, if CBS cancels 'The New Adventures of Old Christine,' ABC will snap it up. The network even has a plan for where to program the Julia Louis Dreyfus sitcom. It'll be paired with Patricia Heaton's 'The Middle,' leading in to 'Modern Family' and 'Cougar Town.'

That would make for a very solid night of comedy, likely Wednesday again, which is what worked so well this season for ABC -- with the exception of Kelsey Grammer's woeful 'Hank,' which was mercifully axed by ABC last November.

A few years back, a bold co-production initiative was launched with Canada. So far, it's produced underwhelming ratings performers like 'Mental' and 'Defying Gravity.' Meanwhile, thanks to BBC America, US fans are falling in love with new UK shows, only to find ourselves frustrated when the powers-that-Beeb pull the plug. It's a lot like foreign fans of US material must feel when we cancel shows on them: powerless.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Most recently, BBC America finished running the first and second series of the BBC post-apocalyptic drama 'Survivors,' back-to-back. Before it finished, the BBC announced that they weren't going to commission any more episodes, due to slipping ratings in the UK. 'Survivors' wasn't failing miserably, but BBC programming doesn't get advertising revenue like shows in the US, so expectations are different.

I don't know if US ratings were considered for the show, but I know it was one of the more popular series on BBC America and that it has a pretty loyal and faithful following on both sides of the pond. Could US support have saved it?

For the most part, CBS has had a very good year. New series like 'Undercover Boss' and 'NCIS: LA' lived up to expectations and emerged as hits, and even though it's fallen off a bit lately, 'The Good Wife' is also a success.

But as the May upfront approaches, when the network has to make difficult decisions about what new shows to order and which programs to axe, it's a good time to assess what might happen. Here's our look at what's Tiffany network shows are on the brink ... and how it might play out.

We told you earlier this week that the syndicated action show 'Legend of the Seeker' had been canceled. ABC Studios still won't comment officially on the status of the show, but multiple sources, including Entertainment Weekly, say that because of the number of stations around the country that dropped the show and the state of sci-fi/adventure shows right now, the studio is just not going to do a third season. (The show is currently in its second season.)

Overseas sales of the show aren't strong, either -- a surprising fact, considering that a lot of syndicated action shows do better overseas than they do in the United States.

'10 Things I Hate About You' has officially been canceled, ABC Family confirmed today.

Executive producer Carter Covington broke the news earlier today on Twitter, saying, "Sad news ... ABCFamily canceled the show :( Thanks 2 our AMAZING fans - U R the reason I do this! Enjoy the last 5 eps - they're fantastic!"

At the beginning of April, Covington tweeted that '10 Things' was "on the bubble and we need all the eyeballs we can get!"

More info over at Inside TV.

It's been a tumultuous few months for ABC's daytime drama 'One Life to Live.' Recently, we reported that Tuc Watkins is returning, and they are bringing in a former scribe to be the associate headwriter, and the gay couple -- Kyle and Oliver -- were dumped. All that hubbub had us speculating about the future of 'One Life to Live' in an era when longtime soaps like 'Guiding Light' have been canceled and another legendary daytimer, 'As the World Turns' is ending it's run in September.

Well, fans are concerned, too, especially after the story emerged last week about ABC Daytime developing a talk show for Tori Spelling. TV Guide went to the Jori Petersen, the head ABC Daytime PR, to ask if the Spelling show might threaten the future of 'One Life.'

Sorry, 'Legend of the Seeker' fans. It looks like the syndicated fantasy show couldn't cast a spell over enough viewers to earn a third season, as the Ausiello Files is reporting that Sam Raimi's swashbuckling series has been canceled.

'Seeker' was having a tough time pulling in decent numbers for local stations associated with its distributor, Tribune Stations Group. Apparently, not even a steamy girl-on-girl kiss between 'Buffy' alum Charisma Carpenter and hottie Tabrett Bethell could generate enough interest to keep the show alive. A number of Tribune stations dropped 'Seeker' last month, and the networks have shown no interest in picking it up, leading to its cancellation.

Now is not a great time for action-oriented cult TV shows. With 'Seeker' on the chopping block and last year's cancellation of 'Stargate Atlantis,' it seems like the tube is being scrubbed clean of light, fun, geek-friendly series. It's definitely not the '90s anymore, when shows like Raimi and Robert Tapert's 'Hercules' and 'Xena' could go for six seasons. Let's hope one of the better action-packed shows to debut this year, Fox's 'Human Target,' can beat the current trend.

From the very first commercials for Fox's 'Sons of Tucson,' it was hard to imagine the show lasting. It looked like a vehicle designed for Jack Black that fell in Tyler Labine's lap - three kids hire a bearded, chubby slacker to pose as their dad when their real father goes to prison. Labine even says, in the debut episode, that he is going to "rock it hard."

It was your standard non-standard family unit (undoubtedly with heart) that has been the bread and butter of sitcoms for decades. Precocious kids, a funny guy with a bit of a beer tummy - how could it fail?

There's been a lot of talk lately about whether or not FOX would renew '24' for another year or if NBC could pick up the show if FOX didn't want it. Now here's the answer to at least the first of those questions: '24' has been canceled.

Star Mary Lynn Rajskub announced on Twitter that this is the last season of the long-running show. No word yet on if NBC still wants the show or if FOX is still interested in the big-screen movie that they were interested in doing at one point. I'm sure we'll hear more about all of this in the coming days.

Update: NBC won't pick up the show, but they're making a big-screen film.

Show of hands, who is mourning the cancellation of MTV's 'The Hills?' Yup, the network has finally canceled the reality show that wasn't really a reality show. The final season starts on April 27.

I think the only bad part about this cancellation is now that cast members like Heidi and Spencer won't be filming the show anymore that means they'll have time to make appearances on other shows. So MTV, maybe you shouldn't cancel this show after all. We need them to stay on the show so we have a better chance of avoiding them. Besides, Heidi needs cash for that eleventh plastic surgery I'm sure she wants to have.

This is rather sad, as far as TV show cancellations go: 'At The Movies' is going away after 30 years on the air.

The show that Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel started so many years ago is a victim of the modern age. People get their movie reviews from so many places now, half-hour syndicated shows like this aren't as plentiful as they used to be, and this show went through so many changes in the past few years that it was easy to see that it would be gone soon.

It's actually a miracle that the show survived the whole Ben Lyons debacle, so we should be glad that we got a year with Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott.

If you're a fan of 'Scrubs' and were holding out hope that the show was going to return... well, you weren't paying attention to the signs. ABC burned off the final two episodes unannounced this month; the season finale aired before a night of Wednesday comedy reruns. Then a number of show writers and producers took to their Twitter and Facebook feeds to mention that last week's episode was the "series finale" and not the season finale.

But if you need to find an "official" word that the show is done, you pretty much can't get any more official than Zach Braff himself. He told his Facebook fans that "it appears that "New Scrubs", "Scrubs 2.0", "Scrubs with new kids", "Scrubbier", "Scrubs without JD" is no more. It was worth a try, but alas... it didn't work."