‘Training Day’ Canceled? Will Bill Paxton’s Death Cause CBS To Cancel Show?

Training Day canceled? Star Bill Paxton died over the weekend, putting the future of the CBS show at risk. It has left many fans asking whether Training Day will be canceled or whether producers will try to replace one of the main characters for future episodes on CBS?

A report by TV By The Numbers gave updated numbers for the Training Day ratings on Thursday nights. Four episodes have aired on CBS and viewers haven’t been giving the show big numbers. For the February 23 episode, an estimated 3.67 million viewers tuned in, showing that the program was already in trouble moving forward. Those aren’t good numbers for a Thursday night program on any of the main networks.

In a report by the New York Times, news of actor Bill Paxton’s death has come in, with the cause being linked to complications of surgery. The news has led to many posts from fans on social media, noting work he did in films like Titanic, Twister, Weird Science, True Lies, and The Terminator. Paxton also received a lot of critical acclaim for his lead role on the HBO show Big Love.

So will Bill Paxton’s death cause CBS to cancel Training Day? News that could affect that decision by the network is that the first 13 episodes have already been filmed. This means that Paxton has already fulfilled his contract with the program, possibly even wrapping up the storyline of that particular character in the process. It is certainly something that the network will have to address in the coming week. In addition to Paxton, the Training Day cast included Justin Cornwell, Drew Van Acker, Katrina Law, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.

A report on the Training Day ratings shows that the program has lost viewers in each successive week. The series premiere aired on February 2 but only turned in an estimated 4.726 million viewers. That’s not a good number for a drama on CBS, putting the show in a difficult position before a second episode had even aired. In successive weeks, the Training Day ratings dropped to an estimated 4.44 million, 3.83 million, and 3.67 million viewers.

As for the key demographic of young adults from 18-49, the series premiere had a 0.88 mark and had dipped to just 0.69 on episode 1.4 from February 23. In comparison, its chief competitors from Thursday nights all did better. On NBC, The Blacklist: Redemption drew an estimated 4.2 million viewers and a 0.8 rating in the key demo. On ABC, How To Get Away With Murder had an estimated 4.95 million viewers and a key demo rating of 1.5 to easily win the time slot.

While this was the first week that the spinoff for The Blacklist aired on NBC, it was not a good sign that the Training Day ratings dipped again. CBS was already trailing the ABC programming by quite a bit, so this two-hour episode of How To Get Away With Murder didn’t help matters either.

If the intent by CBS and producers Antoine Fuqua, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Warner Bros. Television is for the show to grow past its lead character, then Bill Paxton’s death may not be a cause of Training Day getting canceled. The inherent problem, though, is that if the first 13 episodes already filmed with his character surviving and having a huge impact on the season finale, then the entire team behind the show will have a huge problem to deal with in season two.

Many television critics had already been stating that it was going to be difficult for the show to survive its first full season with low viewership. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, CBS already canceled Doubt after just two episodes, with the show pulling in similar viewership numbers to Training Day. Fans who have stuck with the show may want to come to terms with the fact that with Doubt getting canceled, Training Day likely won’t be far behind.

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