Every season the TV landscape becomes cluttered with shows that have been abandoned by their networks or audiences. Sometimes, when you’re caught up in your favorite program, it can be hard to gauge just how popular it really is. Well, two shows have now gotten a hint of their actual popularity, because the network is showing them no love.
Fox has decided to move Sleepy Hollow to Fridays when it returns for the spring, and Bones has been left without a scheduling spot at all. And, this does not bode well for either show.
Bones has been on the air for a whopping eleven seasons. Series star David Boreanaz has gone on record recently and said that this will likely be the last season for the Fox staple. I doubt, though, that Bones fans or the stars of the show would like to go out by just falling off of the network’s radar all together. Everyone wants a clean end to their show, whether that means that every storyline is tied up neatly or not, the goal is always getting a chance to actually finish the story and getting to watch while that ending is told. For a fan favorite to simply disappear in the middle of the eleventh season, it would pretty much be unheard of.
Sleepy Hollow is in its third season right now, and it’s been moved a few times over the past seasons. After a mega-hit first season that saw it get picked up for a second season after only a few episodes had ever seen the light of day, the 2014-2015 season saw its critical reception and audience appreciation dip. The creative direction of the show was retooled for the current season and it hasn’t quite rebounded from that or the second season slip-ups. For the show to get pushed to Fridays is basically a death sentence. Very few shows can make headway on Friday night. And networks usually stick shows there in an effort to bump them off quietly. It’s like the mob arranging for a person to hit their head while falling on an icy patch of sidewalk, instead of shooting up an entire restaurant to get to them.
Now, Bones has had a very good run. It wouldn’t be unfair to say that one of the goals of the series was to get their leads together, and since the show took care of that a few years ago, it could easily go out leaving fans sort of happy, even if it doesn’t come back in the Spring. But, Sleepy Hollow fans deserve better than a slow, quiet death for their favorite witnesses. I don’t know if there’s anything worse than having a mythology heavy show give an unintentional swan song. If Fox was going to do this, they should have ended at the second season, which felt like a natural conclusion to Sleepy Hollow anyway.
Any TV show that lasts more than half a season should get a chance to wrap things up properly. But, that doesn’t always happen. Let’s hope that all the Bones and Sleepy Hollow fans unite and pray to the TV gods for a well-planned and peaceful end to their shows, whether that comes sooner or later.
