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Canceled TV Shows 2015: ‘Scream Queens’ Hits Ratings Lull In Finale Revealing Red Devils, Show Could End Up Getting Axed

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 04:47 PST, Dec 11, 2015

Scream Queens just ended its first season with a bang, but despite a big reveal for the season-long mystery, it could end up on the list of canceled shows for 2015 due to sinking ratings.

The show’s finale aired on Monday, but though it was a high point for the show in that it revealed the mystery of the season’s killers, it was not a huge hit with viewers.

In fact, ratings numbers compiled by the Zap2It blog TV By The Numbers noted that Scream Queens finished dead last in its time frame, behind The Voice, NCIS, The Flash, and The Muppets.

As the report noted, the numbers were a bit disappointing, but might just be enough to keep the show going another season.

“The two-hour finale of FOX’s Scream Queens drew ratings in line with its recent outings, averaging a 0.9 in adults 18-49. It may have done well enough with younger viewers to make it to a second season, but it was hardly the breakout FOX was hoping for this fall.”

The decision to cancel Scream Queens, or bring it back for another season, could be close. The blog, which compiles ratings for all major network shows and uses both the hard numbers and network history to predict which shows will get axed, rated Scream Queens as a “toss up” to join the list of canceled shows in 2015.

While it may have slipped in ratings, the show generated plenty of buzz in its finale. Scream Queens just ended its season of mystery by revealing the Red Devils and doling out some appropriate punishment. For those who may need a catch-up, io9 gave a quick rundown.

The recap also noted that while Scream Queens wrapped up many of its loose ends, the show also closed on an open-ended note.

“And while Scream Queens may have stopped following the pattern of 1980s slasher flicks many, many drawn-out episodes ago, it does end on one last appearance from the killer, as the Red Devil appears in the asylum to torment Chanel a final time. Will she die, finally? We’ll never know, and we don’t care. Sayonara, Scream Queens!”

The show has been in trouble since its early weeks, falling sharply after the first episode to grab just 3 million total viewers and a 1.2 rating in its second week. After its premiere, the show fell 25 percent and 29 percent in the next two weeks, TVLine reported.

Buddy TV‘s Kartik Chainani wrote that the show’s very format could create longevity problems. While he noted that creator Ryan Murphy had a good approach to the murder-mystery show, the very nature of revealing an identity of the killer at the end of Season 1 created a drop-off for any subsequent seasons.

This was the difficulty for shows in the past, including Desperate Housewives, which ended its first season by revealing the mystery of the suicide of main character Mary Alice Young. From there, the show shifted into more of a primetime soap opera, but was never able to find the same ratings as the beginning. The first season opener drew 21.6 million viewers and its finale had 30.6 million, but by the show’s conclusion in 2012 it had just 9.9 million for the premiere and 11.1 million for the finale.

Scream Queens could have some important backing by Fox, keeping it off the list of canceled TV shows in 2015. After the premiere, Fox Television Group Chairman and CEO Dana Walden said in interview with The Wrap that they were already looking into renewing it for a second season.

[Image via Twitter/Scream Queens]

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