ABC, Fox, CBS and NBC still struggle to launch hits for Fall 2015

The 2015-2016 TV season is a month old already and the networks still haven’t produced any breakout hits. Yes, a few new shows have earned full seasons, but no show has done what Empire did last year. Now that it’s October, let’s look at how each network has done so far.

ABC

So far, the only ABC show to get more episodes beyond 13 is Quantico, which airs on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. The network also gave Fresh Off The Boat a full second season.

The network hasn’t seen The Muppets take off as well as it should, or at least hoped it would. The show is the lead-in to Fresh, so it is a little concerning that they extended that show but The Muppets hasn’t been given the Back 9. In a perfect work, ABC would have been able to greenlight a full season right after the show debuted, but that didn’t happen.

CBS

There really isn’t much to say about CBS as the eye network had so little new programming debuting in the fall. They now have even less, since Jane Lynch’s Angel From Hell has been delayed until midseason so 2 Broke Girls can come back sooner. Life in Pieces was its only new comedy.

Limitless will probably get a full season. As AdWeek notes, the show’s most recent episode earned a 1.7 18-49 rating, but that’s actually good for a CBS show. It looks to be the rare CBS show that’s drawing some younger viewers. Having Bradley Cooper pop in every now and then helps.

CBS’ schedule will undergo a major change at the end of this month when it finishes airing Thursday Night Football. The Big Bang Theory will be back on Thursdays and Supergirl will be swooping in to save Mondays.

Fox

There’s good news for anyone who likes Grandfathered and The Grinder (which includes me). Yesterday, Fox put in script ordered for more episodes of the comedies. That means that Fox has some confidence in the shows, but just wants to see how the ratings go before giving the greenlight.

Empire has been plugging along for Fox with great ratings and the lead-in, Rosewood with Morris Chestnut, isn’t doing too badly either. That one will likely get picked up for a full season. Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens, on the other hand, is seen as a limited series, so don’t expect that to be around for 22 episodes.

Fox has also cut Minority Report down to 10 episodes, which the network will probably just run through before cancelling it.

NBC

The No Fun Network (because it has Sunday Night Football and only one night of comedies, which no one watches) already picked up Blindspot for a full season. The show has been averaging a 2.7 18-49 rating, which is fantastic... but likely has The Voice to thank for it.

NBC really doesn’t have any other new shows that have a shot. The Player with Wesley Snipes isn’t attracting viewers, but it will probably stay on air unless NBC finds something else to put in its place.

All four networks have once again struggled to create a new show that the public decides they need to see. It doesn’t look like many of the midseason shows will change that, since many are either returning (Fox’s New Girl) or based on movies (ABC’s Uncle Buck). And the reboots will start again with Fox’s limited The X-Files return.