The fall TV season isn't that far along right now, and most shows are just settling into their primetime grooves. Everything just got a lot rockier for ABC's new drama Conviction, as the Hayley Atwell-starring legal drama will reportedly not be picked up for any more new episodes this season, keeping the current count at 13. With more potential changes to come, the atmosphere surrounding the show's shot at Season 2 just got a lot gloomier.
ABC has decided not to give Conviction an order for a back nine episodes, according to Deadline, though all of the 13 ordered episodes are planned for airing, so no one has to worry about the drama getting axed after its just-aired fifth episode. Still, the decision to limit Conviction's Season 1 episode count doesn't bode well for the future of Hayes Morrison and her fellow CIU partners, and it's apparently up in the air where the show will end up on ABC's schedule, with its current spot not cemented.
Note that this is not an outright cancellation by ABC. The imagination doesn't have to come into play to envision a Season 2 for Conviction if the network decides to turn this into a summer series, where 13-episode seasons are the norm. It's possible the first big story arc wrapped up by the end of this first 13 and there will be some retooling before moving forward with a new batch of episodes. But that's being optimistic.
Pragmatic thinking falls along the lines of: Conviction really isn't doing as well as a network drama should be on a Monday night, and it's got to go. Even though the show has only been around for five episodes, the numbers dipped to below 4 million viewers for Monday night's episode, which isn't a good sign, despite an uptick in the key demographic. Perhaps it will move to a new night, where it can build a bigger audience.
This is potentially good news for the future of the Marvel series Agent Carter, though, since Hayley Atwell's involvement in Conviction played into the reasons why that drama got a cancellation instead of a much-desired third season. The actress' role as Peggy Carter indeed lives on beyond the live-action role, but if ABC or any other network decides like this is the time to strike for another year of Agent Carter, no one will complain.
Conviction can still be found on ABC on Monday nights, and everyone that wants to see more of it in the future should watch the hell out of it while simultaneously convincing others to check it out. And believe it or not, there are still shows that haven't yet premiered this fall, and you can find them here, with our midseason schedule giving you all you need to know about the shows coming in early 2017.
