Fall’s New Shows: Which Could Be Renewed? Which Have Us Worried?

'Happy's Place,' 'Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage,' 'Poppa's House' & More new series ratings
Casey Durkin / NBC; Robert Voets / CBS; Robert Voets / CBS

The 2024-2025 TV season is in full swing, bringing with it several new titles for viewers to latch onto, but will all of them succeed?

In today’s TV landscape, ratings can make or break a new show (or even old favorites). While new shows continue to find their audiences, we’re taking a look at how their initial ratings could influence chances for renewal. Ranging from the already-renewed Fox animation series Universal Basic Guys to buzzy early favorites Matlock and High Potential, we’re breaking down everything you need to know so far.

Scroll down for a closer peek at how the new titles stack up.

'Universal Basic Guys'
FOX Media Inc.

Universal Basic Guys

Premiered: Sunday, September 8th

Prediction: It might be one and done for Celebrity Weakest Link at Fox.

The series revival moved from NBC to Fox for its celebrity version, and the ratings have taken a dip.

Average (thirteen episodes): 0.49 rating, 1.741 million viewers

Joan Vassos from 'The Golden Bachelorette'
Disney/Gilles Mingasson

The Golden Bachelorette

Premiered: Wednesday, September 18th

Prediction: A renewal is all but imminent for this crowd-pleaser.

The Golden Bachelorette has the benefit of being platformed by a long-adored franchise, and it certainly shows as the series saw fairly consistent increases in viewership over its run with 3.455 million viewers tuning into the finale which was a 26.67 percent increase over the prior week’s ratings.

Average (nine episodes): 0.31 rating, 2.815 million viewers

Jason Ritter, Kathy Bates, and Skye P. Marshall from 'Matlock'
Sonja Flemming / CBS

Matlock

Premiered: Sunday, September 22nd

Prediction: Early buzz and intrigue pointed to a promising future for the series which has since been renewed for Season 2.

Matlock‘s arrival stirred up plenty of attention in its debut, and has remained fairly consistent at retaining its audience all season long.

Average (eight episodes): 0.37 rating, 6.479 million viewers

Robbie Magasiva and Arielle Kebbel in the series premiere of Rescue: Hi-Surf
Zach Dougan/FOX

Rescue: HI-Surf

Premiered: Sunday, September 22nd

Prediction: Things are not looking good for a renewal.

Rescue: HI-Surf‘s debut delivered big numbers following an NFL lead-in with 4.772 million viewers and a 1.11 rating, but that number has dipped majorly, decreasing most weeks with its most recent installment pulling in less than half the amount of viewers with 1.089 million and 0.17 rating.

Average (fourteen episodes): 0.25 rating, 1.996 million viewers

Zachary Quinto from 'Brilliant Minds'
Rafy/NBC

Brilliant Minds

Premiered: Monday, September 23rd

Prediction: It doesn’t look good, but we’re not calling it yet.

Brilliant Minds has delivered somewhat consistent viewership since its premiere, but small dips over the weeks have delivered smaller audiences than were tuning in at the beginning.

Average (thirteen episodes): 0.23 rating, 2.967 million viewers

Kaitlin Olson from 'High Potential' Season 1
Disney/Carlos Lopez-Calleja

High Potential

Premiered: Monday, September 23rd

Prediction: As one of Fall TV’s buzzier new shows, our high hopes were rewarded with a Season 2 renewal.

High Potential has arrived with a modest start, the show’s 2.28% viewership increase to 3.675 million between the premiere and second episodes hinted at the potential for growth, which has been seen in viewership for the most part. Upon the show’s midseason reutrn, High Potential saw a 69% increase in viewership over its fall finale with a total of 5.685 million tuning in.

Average (thirteen episodes): 0.36 rating, 4.343 million viewers

Rossif Sutherland in 'Murder in a Small Town'
Kailey Schwerman/ FOX

Murder in a Small Town

Premiered: Tuesday, September 24th

Prediction: The show delivered a solid audience, leading to a Season 2 renewal.

As far as new shows go, Murder in a Small Town has a small audience, but it’s a consistent one, as the show maintained relatively steady viewership.

Average (eight episodes): 0.18 rating, 1.997 million viewers

Sean Teale, Phillipa Soo, and Joshua Jackson in 'Doctor Odyssey'
Disney / Tina Thorpe

Doctor Odyssey

Premiered: Thursday, September 26th

Prediction: Buzz could keep this campy cruiseliner afloat, even if it isn’t the season’s biggest ratings winner.

Doctor Odyssey may not deliver TV’s biggest audiences this fall, but it is stirring up plenty of talk and has seen a recent rise in interest with its midseason finale with an 18.61 percent increase in viewership over the previous installment, delivering an audience of 3.085 million.

Average (eight episodes): 0.29 rating, 3.210 million viewers

Robert Culp and Becky Rawls from 'The Summit'
Sean Beale/CBS

The Summit

Premiered: Sunday, September 29th

Prediction: The format works in this show’s favor.

Will The Summit be able to hold on? It’s a little too soon to tell for certain as ratings remained lower but consistent through its run. Can it follow in the footsteps of CBS’s other competition series? Only time will tell.

Average (ten episodes): 0.24 rating, 2.079 million viewers

Austin Stowell in 'NCIS: Origins'
Greg Gayne/CBS

NCIS: Origins

Premiered: Monday, October 14th

Prediction: The show doesn’t have its flagship’s success, but the franchise name worked in its favor as CBS renewed the series for Season 2.

NCIS: Origins started fairly strong in its debut week, but has dropped on and off in ratings each week since, suggesting that it may take some time for stats on a consistent audience to emerge.

Average (twelve episodes): 0.36 rating, 5.294 million viewers

 

Emily Osment and Montana Jordan in 'Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage'
Robert Voets / CBS

Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage

Premiered: Thursday, October 17th

Prediction: The series had already been given a full season order at CBS hinting at the strong possibility of a renewal that finally arrived in February 2025.

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage follows in the footsteps of two hit comedies and seems to be continuing that streak with the best ratings for a new show this TV season, so far.

Average (ten episodes): 0.44 rating, 6.386 million viewers

 

Reba McEntire in 'Happy's Place'
Casey Durkin / NBC

Happy's Place

Premiered: Friday, October 18th

Prediction: Reba McEntire is a bonafide hit on NBC, and her long-awaited return to headlining her own scripted show has yielded promising results as the series was renewed for Season 2.

While Happy’s Place may not be the biggest show this season, but it’s comfortably running at the middle of the pack with a consistent set of ratings.

Average (fourteen episodes): 0.28 rating, 3.380 million viewers

Damon Wayans Jr. and Damon Wayans in 'Poppa's House'
Robert Voets / CBS

Poppa's House

Premiered: Monday, October 21st

Prediction: The father-son team-up at the center of this new CBS comedy is sure to suck in viewers as the season unfolds, but as one of CBS’s yet-to-be-renewed newbies, the outlook isn’t great.

Poppa’s House may have seen a few dips in ratings, but it has maintained a decent audience compared to its fellow freshman series and only time will tell if that will pay off for renewal chances.

Average (eleven episodes): 0.34 rating, 3.480 million viewers

Wendi McLendon-Covey in 'St. Denis Medical'
NBC

St. Denis Medical

Premiered: Tuesday, November 12th

Prediction: This new comedy has built up its audience since debuting later this past fall, leading to a Season 2 renewal.

This mockumentary comedy from NBC delivers laughs and has a strong cast.

Average (twelve episodes): 0.33 rating, 2.748 million viewers




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  1. C

    CyanFish

    Loved high potential. Exciting, interesting and different. Great individual episodes and long term theme concerning lost husband. Great cast too.

  2. G

    Greg Sargent

    After 3 episodes, I really love Rescue: Hi Surf. The first episode was iffy, but episodes 2 & 3 were great. And I expect each future episode to get even better. Sometimes it just takes a while for a series to build. It is my favorite new series so far. Once you get past the first episode, you will appreciate it more. You see a side of Hawaii you did not see in other Hawaii based series.

  3. G

    GoldSubmarine

    Rescue Hi-Surf, Dr Odyssey and Brilliant Minds are great!! Do you not figure the reason some people did not watch was due to a power outage from the storm? Sounds reasonable to me. Don't be too quick to be discouraging. In my state alone (not FL) there are thousands that are still without power from the storm. I'm sure they would have preferred to have power and been able to watch TV rather than sitting in the dark and hoping not to be flooded out of their homes. Get real and wait another episode or two before judging new shows.

  4. L

    Laurel Nevans

    I am living in a state of emergency right now, and literally have missed everything because of it. I have missed too many premieres I'll have to stream later. I know we're a small slice of viewers, but many folks do not have new TVs to watch yet.

    1. N

      Nat

      Sorry to hear this, hope you and your loved ones are safe, tv's can be replaced but loved ones can't. Hang in their and I will be thinking about you and hoping that you are ok and safe.😢🙏

    2. B

      BlueProcessor

      Be safe and sound sorry for what y'all are going through 🙏🏼

      1. L

        Laurel Nevans

        TY Sherry and Nat. I am going to have a LOT to catch up on streaming...lol.

  5. B

    BlueBeer

    High Potential and Marlow Murder Club for me. Much as I love Reba, I can't watch the Isabella character.

  6. R

    RedSushi

    Love St. Denis Medical, but it is not consistently shown. The cast, the writing, and the entire show, are amazing, and refreshing.

    Laughed so hard, with the first episode.

    Hard to build a following, if the show is not on the air.

  7. G

    GoldHammer

    Hard to judge and say yes or no after just one or two shows. Football and baseball seasons are ongoing. I enjoy all of them I have seen so far.

  8. G

    GreenElephant

    Production Weekly posted Murder in a Small Town Season 2 today.

  9. C

    CyanController

    Murder in a small Town is the only show I'd love for them to renew.

    Bring on season 2

  10. O

    OliveBox

    CBS, again, gets there most viewers. They have a strong studio. Cancelling NCIS Hawaii for Origins was a bad move

  11. A

    Antonio Montealegre

    Nice to know "Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage" is doing so well!

  12. P

    PurpleCar

    Obsessed with Brilliant Minds please renew 🤞

  13. R

    RedBulb

    Dr Odyssey = bad sound, too bad.

  14. G

    GoldCorn

    Matlock is the only show I care about being renewed. It obviously has the best numbers on this list, and it's a just-plain-good show.

  15. C

    CyanTree

    Dr Odyssey will be tested by return of SVU in Live viewers but may easily grab lots of later views...

    I hope Hi-Surf sticks around for Hawaii views but you wonder how many different stories they can tell??. It will also be doomed vs NCIS.