FOX: Do Not Disturb, King of the Hill, MADtv, Prison Break, Sit Down Shut Up, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
ABC: According to Jim, Boston Legal, Cupid, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, In the Motherhood, Life on Mars, Pushing Daisies, Samantha Who?, The Unusuals.
NBC: America's Toughest Jobs, The Chopping Block, Crusoe, Deal or No Deal, ER, Howie Do It, Kath & Kim, Kings, Knight Rider, Life, Lipstick Jungle, Medium (moved to CBS), Momma's Boys, My Name is Earl, My Own Worst Enemy.
CBS: Eleventh Hour, Harper's Island, The Ex List, The Unit, Worst Week, Without a Trace.
CW: Easy Money, Everybody Hates Chris, The Game, In Harm's Way, Privileged, Valentine.
FOX:
King of the Hill -- the most disappointing cancellation from the Fox Network, especially considering that will leave almost an entire season of episodes that won't see the light of day until syndication or DVD release. Even that is questionable because usually there's a "must air on network first" clause in the contract. It will take some time and restitution before that clause is negated.
MADtv -- No real surprise here. It was actually going to be cancelled last season. When they switched the format (to save money) from a live-to-tape format to a setup-sketch-setup format with most everything pre-recorded, the flow and feeling of the program changed dramatically. The show is being shopped around to cable networks. Possible pickup from Comedy Central, who currently holds the off-network syndication rights.
Glee -- I watched the pilot last night. I don't see how this program stands a chance. I found it amusing, but considering all the hype, I was somewhat disappointed. My thought is that once this show gets cancelled, someone will definitely be losing their job over suggesting the hype and advertising that went into this show. Every episode of American Idol, which, now that the SuperBowl is on NBC, commands the highest advertising revenue of any program on the network, has no less than one 30 second and one 15 second commercial for this show per half hour. That's adds up to lost advertising revenue. Don't get me wrong, I did still enjoy the program and I plan to watch it when it airs this fall, but I don't see this show having a huge reach, and it's possible that even I could get tired of it after a while.
The Cleveland Show -- Are you serious!? This is the equivelant of spinning Phyllis off of the Mary Tyler Moore Show (like Phyllis's move from Minnesota to California, Cleveland also abandons his home in Quahog and lays roots somewhere in Virginia). The show lasted a few seasons, but it was a disaster. It certainly didn't live up to Rhoda's example. But, that was a time when networks could afford to give a show a shot. I haven't seen pilot, but I just can't imagine Cleveland's character being weighty enough to carry a whole program. Of course, the fact that FOX has already placed a half order (13 episodes) for a second season before the first season has even premiered is a good sign. This means that no less than 35 episodes will be made, so even if the show tanks, I think it's safe to say there will be a DVD release.
ABC:
Eli Stone, Samantha Who?, and Pushing Daisies - What is Steve McPherson thinking?! All three of these shows became ratings disasters solely because of the network's treatment of them. Placing a show on hiatus for 8-20 weeks, especially with serialized programs such as these, does not create a ratings breeding ground. Even worse is when you return them to the program schedule in a disastrous place. Lately, NBC has been the worst offender of pregnant-hiatus syndrome, but the 2008-09 season, that award definitely went to ABC. The viewers are now left with 1) unaired episodes (although they will burn off this summer), and 2) unresolved plot lines. This is happening too frequently, and that is why network ratings are falling. Viewers don't bother getting attached to shows because they are afraid they will be left in the dark.
Life on Mars -- I'm not entirely disappointed in this cancellation because, even though I liked this show, I think it was best served as a one-season program. Luckily the producers were warned far enough in advance that they could wrap up the series. The results of that wrap up.... well, it was strange, and unexpected... I'm still undecided as to whether or not it was a satisfying end, but as time has passed, I've grown to accept the results more now than I did at the time. ABC treated this show poorly as well, but, overall treated it more kindly than the previous three mentioned and I thank them for it.
In the Motherhood -- Never stood a chance, especially up against NBC's Thursday night comedy programming block. Not even Megan Mullally could save this show.
NBC:
Deal or No Deal -- A victim of overexposure, for certain. I don't think anyone would disagree. Howie Do It was a strange combination of Candid Camera, Punk'd, and Mandel's own creepy persona. I am not sad to see it go.
ER -- It's time had come. It was actually supposed to leave last season, but the writers strike changed the plans.
Kath & Kim -- I really enjoyed this show at first, then it got a little boring. I still believe the show should have been given a second chance, especially considering what a disaster Parks & Recreation turned out to be. That show won't make it past the mid-season mark, if it gets that. Back to Kath & Kim, at least the "season finale" ended on a somewhat final note. Kath & Phil are getting married at some point, Kim and Craig are moving in with Kath & Phil, and I'm sure hilarious antics would ensue should there have been a second season, but the fact that their house burned down and there was no "hanging chad," so to speak, gave this series some sense of finality.
The Jay Leno Show -- From a programming standpoint, this is BRILLIANT! Low production cost, big name draw, and the fact that Leno's audience is getting older (and presumably going to bed earlier) makes his move to 10pm in a "new show" absolutely what NBC needs right now. Less money wasted on dead & expensive dramas.
CBS:
Medium -- When NBC decided to cancel Medium (which came as no surprise, considering it only got half a season anyway), CBS quickly snatched this show up, which also wasn't a surprise. Since CBS Paramount Television produces the show, and since it's just a few episodes shy of the infamous "100-episode" syndication mark, CBS is looking at this to be an off-net revenue juggernaut. Lifetime has already been airing existing episodes off-network, and depending on contract negotiations, I can see this airing on multiple networks (including TNT and possibly even USA Network, owned by the show's former network, GE's NBC Universal) in the future.
CW:
Everybody Hates Chris -- While I didn't watch this show, it's worth noting the program'spossible syndication value. Viacom's Nick at Nite has already announced that the program will be joining their fall 2009 schedule. If this proves successful in syndication, it could be one of the few syndicate-performing programs to come off of the CW network (the show is produced by CBS Paramount Television for CW), even though the program originated on the now defunct UPN network in 2005. Unlike most cancellations this season, executive producer and creator Chris Rock himself opted to cancel the series, even though that leaves the program at sub-100 numbers (only 88 episodes have been produced). One more full 22 episode season would have allowed the show to hit that magic number and made it more likely to bring in syndication revenue. At only 88 episodes, a single episode per day stripping format will mean the show recycles every 17 weeks and three days, or roughly, every 4.5 months. This will lead to full series rerun cycles almost three times per year. Adjusting for a double episode stripping format, as is the current trend for cable off-network programming (as opposed to affiliate off-network programming) makes this even more repetative. Overexposure could be the result. If I were Chris Rock, I'd have opted for one more full season, and I'm certain CBS Paramount would have agreed, possibly for first-run syndication, even if CW (who is jointly owned by CBS and Warner Bros.) didn't want to air the program.
The Game -- Another case of CBS Paramount possibly finding a home for this show due to potential syndication revenue. BET signed an off-net deal with CBS/P, the show's producer. What makes this less likely is the fact that there are only 66 episodes, making the show 1.5 seasons (or 34 episodes, to be exact) from making that 100-episode mark. I would imagine CBS and BET both would prefer to wait and see how the show performs before making a decision. The problem with that is some of the cast may be signed to other projects in the mean time, making additional episodes nearly impossible to create.