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Forbes
Forbes
13 May 2024


So Help Me Todd

The fans are committed in their quest to reverse CBS' decision to cancel legal dramedy "So Help Me ... [+] Todd." Pictured: Marcia Gay Harden as Margaret and Skylar Astin as Todd. (Photo by Bettina Strauss/CBS via Getty Images)

CBS via Getty Images

Three weeks ago, CBS announced the cancellation of the sophomore So Help Me Todd to both the surprise and dismay of many fans. The now series finale is slated for this Thursday, May 16 at 9 p.m. ET, and the cause of cancellation is a “dilemma” any outlet would be happy to face: too many hit shows and not enough room on the primetime schedule.

Next season, CBS has announced that the long-delayed reboot of Matlock, starring Kathy Bates, will inherit the So Help Me Todd time period (into returning Elsbeth at 10 p.m. ET). Specifically, the Eye network has decided to cancel the legal-themed dramedy and replace it with the same genre.

To-date, the current petition on the change.org website, “Renew So Help Me Todd for a 3rd Season,” has exceeded the initial goal of 25,000 signatures. There are now over 27,000 fans giving their “John Hancocks” in the quest for a renewal by CBS or a pickup by another outlet. A second petition at change.org is also now live, suggesting that The CW step in and order a new season of So Help Me Todd. To-date, that is nearing the 5,000 signature mark. And, combined with a third petition, the signature tally is nearing 53,000.

For The CW, which has shifted to a breeding ground for acquired international programming, the arrival of So Help Me Todd has a built in advantage: a dedicated audience. According to data from Nielsen, the next-to-last episode of So Help Me Todd (out of Young Sheldon) on CBS last week scored 4.41 million viewers on May 9. Comparably, that placed it first in the time period in total viewers (above 4.12 million for NBC’s Law & Order: SVU, 3.07 million for Grey’s Anatomy on ABC, and 2.03 million for the competition series Farmer Wants a Wife on Fox). Lovers and Liars, a relationship/reality series on The CW, meanwhile, trailed with a platry 159,000 viewers (out of 245,000 for Patti Stanger: Matchmaker). Translation: The CW could use a face lift on the night.

As a footnote: Elsbeth, which followed So Help Me Todd last week, dipped to 4.19 million viewers at 10 p.m.

Logically, CBS’ modest streaming partner Paramount+ could potentially benefit by acquiring So Help Me Todd (as would other streaming services or ABC, perhaps, now that Station 19 is heading into its final season). Keep in mind that former CBS supernatural drama Evil shifted to Paramount+ after its inaugural season and the now fourth season will begin on May 23.

Of course, it is up to CBS, of any other outlet - broadcast or digital - to save So Help Me Todd. But the message by the fans is loud and clear. It worked for Star Trek and Cagney & Lacey (at a time when there was no social media). And it did for other more recent dramas like Lucifer, Sense8, Nashville, Designated Survivor and Timeless. If the fans have their say, it will work for So Help Me Todd too.