Can a TV sitcom like TBBT be pulled off the air prematurely?
I'm curious as to whether a (once?) hugely popular and liked sitcom that is/was The Big Bang Theory be pulled off the air before its final season. The show's longevity was confirmed in March of last year by The Hollywood Reporter
CBS has handed out a hefty three-season renewal for The Big Bang Theory.
The pickup takes TV's No. 1 comedy among adults 18-49 through season 10 and extends the series through the 2016-17 season.The deal marks the second time the series, […] , has earned a massive three-season renewal.
However, according to the website Rotten Tomatoes, the audience ratings for the show are not as high as they once were.
Season six the meter scored 67% among TV critics, and 81% among viewers
Season seven (2013-2014) the ratings rocketed to 100% and 85% respectively.
Season eight (2014-2015) the TV critics seemed to pan the show, only 67% gave a positive review while 71% of RT users who reviewed the show thought it was still good.
- Season nine (2015-2016) so far 84% of the critics have given the sitcom a positive rating while a staggering all-time-low 54% of viewers/fans have praised the show.
Q1. In light of these figures, and I'm sure there must be others similar, how realistic is it for CBS to go ahead with the production scheduled for season 20016-2017?
Also consider the amount of money each episode of TBBT costs to pay three actors' salaries alone.
After months of negotiations, the trio [Galecki, Cuoco, and Parsons] finally banged out new, three-year deals on Sunday that will triple their current $350,000 an episode salary.
Now, the CBS stars will be raking in $1 million paychecks per episode for 72 episodes in the upcoming seasons 8-10. […]
All in, I hear Parsons, Galecki and Cuoco are poised to make at least $90 million dollars each over the lives of the deals ...Source: Business Insider
Q2. Has there ever been a show which has been pulled off the air despite its contract being extended the previous season or two?
Best Answer
Yes, Any network could change their decision and cancel a show after renewing it or (more likely) order a small number of episodes. For example The Brink starring Jack Black. HBO renewed the show for season 2 then reversed the decision
From this
HBO Cancels The Brink
The network has reversed its Season 2 renewal
HBO has cancelled The Brink after its first season, changing its tune on the freshman series after initially renewing it. The Tim Robbins and Jack Black comedy was halfway through its debut run when word first broke that HBO had picked up the show for Season 2.
While it is unclear what changed the cable network's mind in the months since, HBO did release the following statement:
"After evaluating our schedule and our programming needs, we unfortunately decided we cannot give The Brink the attention it deserves for a second season. We are proud of the first season and wish everyone involved in this show the very best."
But it's unlikely something like that happens to TBBT since it's the highest rated CBS show
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Answer 2
Sure it can. If one of the main stars say or do something stupid, any show can get canned. For example professional Blowhard Donald Trump racist remarks resulted in Univision and NBC from dropping his shows. http://starcasm.net/archives/320385
“At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values,” begins a statement issued by the network earlier today. “Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBC Universal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump.”
The statement reveals what the end of their relationship with Trump means. “To that end, the annual Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants, which are part of a joint venture between NBC and Trump, will no longer air on NBC,” the network says. “In addition, as Mr. Trump has already indicated, he will not be participating in The Apprentice on NBC.”
The Food Network also dropped Paula Deen cooking show after her racist remarks.
Answer 3
Max Headroom was cancelled partway into its second season, when it was put up against Miami Vice, on one network, and Dallas, on another, and basically died in the ratings due to it's time slot. The final episode makes ironic reference to this in a speech the character gives:
"We will fight them on the beaches of Miami," said Max with the fervor of Winston Churchill. "We will fight them on the sidewalks of Dallas. . . . And if the ratings system lasts for thousands of years, men will turn and say, this was Max Headroom's finest hour!"
Ironically, shows that have one of the main actors die, such as Dan Blocker on Bonanza, or Peter Duel in Alias Smith and Jones, or Redd Foxx in The Royal Family, etc., tend to trundle on until the end of the season, trying to survive without the main character, but tank. This is usually due to contractual agreements and threats of lawsuits.
Also, it's rather rare for a cable network to cancel a series they paid for; the cost structure is much different for network television shows, which tend to not do their own production, but the networks are also the ones with the biggest contractual disputes, since they know the show can't go on, but they in insist on the show going on, in the hope that the production company will eat the loss, instead of them eating the loss.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Max Vakhtbovych, Max Vakhtbovych, Pixabay, Andrea Piacquadio