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Why was Tommy canceled after just one season?

By Alexandria Ingham

"There Are No Strangers Here" - Tommy works to keep her officers in line when one of their own turns up dead and some want to take extreme measures to find the perpetrator. Also, Mayor Buddy Gray and Deputy Mayor Doug Dudik are concerned about what damaging information Arturo Lopez (Arturo Del Puerto), a recently arrested acquaintance of Buddy's, may have on him, on TOMMY, Thursday. Feb. 13 (10:00-1:00 PM ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured L-R: Russell G. Jones as Donn Cooper, and Edie Falco as Abigail "Tommy" Thomas Photo: Patrick Harbron/CBS ©2019 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved
"There Are No Strangers Here" - Tommy works to keep her officers in line when one of their own turns up dead and some want to take extreme measures to find the perpetrator. Also, Mayor Buddy Gray and Deputy Mayor Doug Dudik are concerned about what damaging information Arturo Lopez (Arturo Del Puerto), a recently arrested acquaintance of Buddy's, may have on him, on TOMMY, Thursday. Feb. 13 (10:00-1:00 PM ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured L-R: Russell G. Jones as Donn Cooper, and Edie Falco as Abigail "Tommy" Thomas Photo: Patrick Harbron/CBS ©2019 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved /
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It’s easy to hate CBS for canceling a favorite show, but there are many business reasons to make a decision. Why did CBS cancel Tommy after one season?

You want to hate CBS for canceling Tommy after just one season. I get that. It was a good show. But there are many business reasons CBS makes the decisions it does.

Why was Tommy canceled after just one season? I’d put this down to a ratings problem. There just weren’t enough people tuning in each week to watch.

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According to TV Series Finale, the show was the lowest-rated drama on the network that wasn’t already confirmed to be ending. It pulled in a 0.49 demo rating average, which was on the dangerous side. Had it not been a weird year of bubble shows skirting through anyway, this show would have been a top pick of being in danger of being canceled. While the total audience was better, it still sat in 22nd place out of 26 shows.

The thing working against the ratings was that Evil was renewed despite being the lowest-watched drama on the network. It was also only just above Tommy in the demo. So, there may have been something linked to cost of production as well as the ratings. CBS would need to know it was gaining enough from the advertisers to justify a show.

There are only so many shows that can be renewed. Despite not seeing pilots, CBS would order some to series. CBS would have to work out a risk assessment. There’s the need to figure out whether Tommy‘s likely drop in the ratings for the second season would be larger than the audience for a new show.

CBS is struggling on Thursday nights and the timeslot was certainly something that worked against Tommy. The show may have stood a better chance on Tuesdays following FBI instead of FBI: Most Wanted. Sadly, the show just wasn’t meant to be.

Next. 10 best TV crime dramas on CBS All Access. dark

Tommy is available to stream on CBS All Access.

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