ABC waited nearly two months before it made the first cancellation of the 2014 Fall TV season with "Manhattan Love Story." NBC has now added two more failed comedies with "Bad Judge" and "A to Z."
The Thursday comedies struggled to corral enough viewers to earn a renewal, according to Deadline. "A to Z" received positive reviews from critics, but both shows suffered from their poor lead-in, "The Biggest Loser."
NBC will air all 13 episodes that it ordered for each series. "Bad Judge" has completed filming on 10 episodes and "A to Z" has finished 11. Both have aired five episodes so far.
The network will replace the comedies at 9 p.m. with new episodes of "The Blacklist" starting after the Super Bowl. NBC's other comedy, "Marry Me," has benefitted with its strong lead-in of "The Voice."
"Bad Judge" starred Kate Walsh in her first series since her "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off "Private Practice" ended in 2013. "A to Z" starred Cristin Milioti, who played the titular mother during the last season of CBS comedy "How I Met Your Mother."
Poor ratings also led to the demise of "Manhattan Love Story." The show aired four episodes, and will be replaced by reruns of ABC's other new comedy "Selfie."
In between ABC and NBC's cancellations, CBS renewed four of its freshman series including "Madam Secretary," "Scorpion," "Stalker" and "NCIS: New Orleans." It's only other new fall series, "The McCarthys," premiered on Oct. 30.
The network did cut the episode order for season 15 of "CSI" from 22 to 18. CBS citied inventory and the franchise spin-off "CSI: Cyber," which will slide into the "CSI" timeslot on Sundays at 10 p.m., for the cut, according to TVLine.
Fox also cut down its order for the new comedy "Mulaney."
Broadcast networks have waited much longer than usual to cancel its struggling programs. They may have wanted to analyze the new DVR ratings to better judge how many viewers watch live plus how many cue up their favorite series at a time more convenient for their schedules.
