As any TV lover knows, it can be soooooo hard when you find out your favorite show is ending. No matter how many seasons it was granted, or, sometimes, even if you’re not as into the series as you used to be, it can feel like losing good friends. Fans of S.W.A.T., Blue Bloods, and Young Sheldon will soon go through this, as the 2024 TV schedule will see the end of all of those series. However, even with those shows being canceled by CBS, they’re all still getting final seasons, and now we know why.
Why Are Canceled Shows S.W.A.T., Blue Bloods, And Young Sheldon Getting Final Seasons On CBS?
While facing the end of a series you’ve loved watching, possibly for many years, can be difficult, what’s even worse is when the show is canceled and it ends unexpectedly with unresolved cliffhangers and other dangling story threads. Luckily, those who rely on Young Sheldon, S.W.A.T. and Blue Bloods for some of their entertainment needs won’t have that problem with the 2024 CBS schedule. CBS Entertainment President, Amy Reisenbach, spoke with Deadline about pulling the plug on those series, but allowing them all a final season, and said:
I’ll speak as a TV fan first, which is I hate when we don’t get to give shows proper endings. And I think that also speaks to our feeling of, let’s try to plan long-term as much as we can. It is a function of having a really strong schedule that we have to refresh and that means in order to refresh, shows have to eventually end.
Ah, yes. The circle of life applies to pretty much everything, even TV shows. It’s worth noting that all of the mentioned series have had respectable, long lives on the network. And, this does really explain why Reisenbach and others at the broadcaster have changed the standard tactic on canceling a show and simply ripping it from the schedule, no matter how the previous season ended, or whether it even officially ended at all.
For instance, S.W.A.T. was preparing to air its Season 6 finale in just a few days when word came down in early May 2023 that it didn’t survive the chopping block. Star Shemar Moore was very outspoken about the decision being a mistake, and while we don’t know how much impact his words had on it, the police drama was un-cancelled and given a seventh and final season.
The ever-popular Blue Bloods, starring Tom Selleck, Donnie Wahlberg, and several others, was hit with budget cuts in the spring of 2023 that made some worry about its future, but it was granted a Season 14 renewal. Then November of the same year revealed that the long-running police procedural/family drama would be ending with the 18 episodes of its upcoming season. The Big Bang Theory prequel spinoff, Young Sheldon, is television’s #1 comedy, and while it was axed, it was also given Season 7 and a one-hour finale to wrap things up.
Reisenbach continued, and noted that there’s definitely a “goal” in mind when they decide to end a long-time favorite, and said:
Our goal is to always end them respectfully so that the audience gets the ending that they absolutely deserve because they’ve put in the time and they love these characters, as well as the cast and crews and writers.
See? Even TV executives realize how hard it is to see the show you love ride off into the sunset, and many CBS fans will benefit from that knowledge in the coming weeks.
