The 2016-2017 TV season has been notable in several ways, and one of the bigger reasons for that is how networks have been so adamant about not directly cancelling any shows, especially when it comes to disappointing freshman efforts. ABC, in particular has been extremely wary of announcing doomed fates for its programming, but the network is apparently okay with pretending as if certain shows don't really exist anymore. That appears to be the case with the never-likely-to-be-renewed freshman dramas Conviction and Notorious, as both of which appear to have been cancelled.
To be expected, ABC hasn't actually come out and said Conviction and Notorious have been cancelled, since networks are never really excited to go public with failures. But the writing has been on the wall for both shows for a while, and SpoilerTV reports that the duo have indeed gotten axed. While it's reported there that ABC also removed the dramas from its website, the network does indeed still host dedicated pages for Conviction and Notorious, but neither is distinguished as part of the "current shows" lineup. However, the pair have been fully vanquished from ABC's press site, which is a more telling sign that the end has arrived.
Rising from the ashes of Heyley Atwell's Marvel drama Agent Carter, the legal drama Conviction was received lukewarmly by critics and audiences when it debuted in October, and following the mild viewer turnout for said premiere, the ratings only dipped lower from that point on. Those numbers were enough to cause ABC to back off on adding the back nine episodes to Conviction's 13-episode order, which itself was as good a sign of a cancellation as anything else. Following the final episode's airing in January, the network kept mum about it, and the only real news that came out was that both Atwell and co-star Emily Kinney landed new projects that could likely have conflicted with the courtroom drama in some way, had it lived on. No problems now, though.
Notorious traveled down a very similar path. Based on the life of defense attorney Mark Garagos and TV news producer Wendy Walker, the legal drama starred Piper Perabo and Daniel Sunjata (among others) as a media mogul and lawyer, respectively, and set them in the middle of murder cases and other problematic situations. After debuting in September, Notorious didn't do so terribly with ratings, but it was pummeled by critics and had its episode order cut from 13 to ten, and after it wrapped up in December, nobody was talking about it. And they won't be for a lot longer now.
Assuming Conviction and Notorious have indeed gone the way of the dodo bird, they will join the only other series that ABC has officially cancelled this season, the murder mystery The Family. Thankfully, those should be the only shows, old or new, to get exiled this season at that network, though the just-premiered comedy Imaginary Mary does seem destined for an early removal.
While we might never see Conviction or Notorious making their way back to ABC in the primetime hours, there are more than enough other shows out there to keep your attention buoyed, and you can check out exactly what's coming in our midseason premiere schedule and our summer TV guide.
