Much has happened this past year in terms of TV. After the eighth season of “Castle,” it was canceled. Beloved ITV’s “Downton Abbey” had its final show in March. The teen drama “Pretty Little Liars” is ending with its seventh season. But what about new shows? TV’s new drama “Designated Survivor” has very high ratings.
The hit TV show “Castle” ran for eight seasons. The show ended because Stana Katic, who played the lead female role, Katherine Beckett, wasn’t coming back for season nine. Among the rumors of why Katic wouldn’t be returning to the show was producers didn’t sign her up for another season. The show was falling behind in ratings in its last season, but the final episode was the season’s high.
“I mean I love ‘Castle,’ but it was a little bit repetitive,” sophomore Gabriella Grodsky said. “Beckett and Castle were just a little bit weird. It was kind of just their love story which is the same thing over and over again.”
Another well-loved show that was canceled was “Downton Abbey.” It was canceled in 2015, but the series finale aired last March. The five-season series won three Golden Globe Awards. Producers said the show ended because Maggie Smith, who played Lady Violet Crawley, quit the show.
“I think after awhile ‘Downton Abbey’ gets recycled a lot because they run out of plot ideas where it’s like they kill off everyone,” senior Alice Fahy said. “So, they have to start a whole new cast and I’m like, ‘You should just end it.’ That’s what they did with ‘Downton Abbey.’ Eventually they were like, ‘It’s enough,’ and they just stopped.”
Freeform’s teen drama “Pretty Little Liars” is on its final season. The series finale will be a two-hour “movie,” as creator Marlene King called it. The seven-season series was Freeform’s 2016 most-watched show.
“I was kind of upset about that, but the last season wasn’t that good,” freshman Madison Bloch said. “I think if it went another season then it would’ve gotten a little bit repetitive.”
What about the new shows? The fate of the new ABC show “Designated Survivor” is uncertain. ABC has yet to announce to the public if the show is being renewed or canceled. The concept is centered around an American cabinet member who is chosen to not go to the State of the Union Address. He is sworn is as president after all of the national government officials go to the address, which becomes the target of a terrorist attack.
“I watch ‘Designated Survivor.’ That came out late last year,” Grodsky said. “I think that it will
come back. It is really good, and it involves America, which is really insane.”
Much has happened in the previous year of the ever-changing world of TV and next year, many suspect, will be no different. “Pretty Little Liars” will be missed, as well as “Castle” and “Downton Abbey,” but “Designated Survivor,” if renewed, has the capability of being a show that runs for many seasons.