Now That Big TV Shows Are Getting Cancelled, I’m Uncomfortable With Where ABC Is With Renewals

Spring has sprung when it comes to the 2026 TV schedule across the major networks, as this is the season to start keeping an eye out for which shows will be renewed and which will be cancelled. CBS was ahead of the curve on renewals, with the full lineup with only two exceptions renewed before the end of January. ABC still hasn’t confirmed the fates of several shows, however, and I’m starting to get nervous after the cancellations of two other network series. What’s next, now that Watson and DMV have been cut?

Admittedly, the sky isn’t falling on ABC just because CBS axed its two lowest-rated scripted shows, but there were reasons to think that both might have what it takes for another season. For one, DMV starred the one and only Tim Meadows of SNL, many sitcoms, and Mean Girls fame. For Watson, the show took the deep dive of introducing Sherlock Holmes this season to pick up steam from Season 1. If these two shows that are big in their own ways could be cancelled from network TV, can I be blamed for starting to worry about some of those on ABC?

At the time of writing, only half of the network’s lineup has been guaranteed for the 2026-2027 TV schedule. Check out the shows that already got the good news ahead of their finales this spring:

• 9-1-1 (renewed for Season 10)
• 9-1-1: Nashville (renewed for Season 2)
• Abbott Elementary (renewed for Season 6)
• Grey’s Anatomy (renewed for Season 23)
• High Potential (renewed for Season 3)

That leaves five scripted shows that have not had their futures confirmed one way or the other by ABC, not counting The Bachelorette, which I think is likely to return at a later date with a new lead after the Taylor Frankie Paul controversy. Cross your fingers, hope for the best, and check out the projects that are still in purgatory:

• R.J. Decker
• The Rookie
• Scrubs
• Shifting Gears
• Will Trent

So, to make myself feel better (or worse), I did some digging. Of these five, four of them made the Top 20 in Live+7 day ratings for the first week of March, with Will Trent Season 4 at #9, The Rookie Season 8 at #13, and R.J. Decker's Season 1 premiere at #16. Shifting Gears’ omission isn’t meaningful with this set of data, as the Season 2 finale ended without a renewal back in February. The highly-anticipated Scrubs reboot is the only one missing.

Last year, the in-limbo Shifting Gears got renewed in early April, as did Will Trent and The Rookie, the latter of which prompted a heartfelt response from Nathan Fillion. If The Rookie is renewed for Season 9, it will have officially beaten Fillion’s previous record of eight seasons of Castle.

So, I’m guessing that any renewal or cancellation news is likely to be announced over the next week. It’s harder to predict what’s ahead for R.J. Decker and Scrubs, as both are freshman shows. Scrubs of course has the power of bringing back beloved characters for a do-over of the original show’s disappointing final season circa 2010. I personally haven’t seen much buzz for R.J. Decker, but the series premiere evidently did quite well to start out March. A lot may depend on streaming data, although that’s rarely announced unless a show is doing exceptionally well.

On the whole, I’m most nervous about the future of Shifting Gears, Will Trent, and The Rookie. Admittedly, part of that is to do with the fact that I’m not attached to R.J. Decker, but it’s nerve-wracking to wait more than a month for any news about Tim Allen and Kat Dennings’ comedy, and the cancellation of DMV means there's already one less comedy coming back.

As for Will Trent and The Rookie, I may just still be traumatized by ABC deciding to hold both of those cop dramas' current seasons until early 2026 rather than bringing them back in the fall… not to be dramatic or anything.

In all seriousness, all we can do at this point do is wait for news and hope for the best. The seasons aren’t over yet, and you can always catch up on any ABC episodes you’ve missed so far streaming with a Hulu subscription now.