In a year when laughs have been rare, here’s good news: CBS has renewed “Ghosts” (shown here), “The Neighborhood” and “Bob (Hearts) Abishola” for next season.
That follows the renewal of “Young Sheldon,” so there are only two CBS comedies to worry about – “The United States of Al” and “B Positive.”
No comedies have soared lately, but the renewed CBS ones lead in tota viewers. Nielsen ratings show “Young Sheldon” averaging 7.1 million viewers, doubling most non-CBS comedies; “Ghosts” has 5.7 million, with 5.4 million apiece for “The Neighborhood” and “Bob (etc.).”
In ages 18-49 – the number advertisers prefer – Fox’s “The Simpsons” is still No. 1, with “Young Sheldon” second. The three newly renewed comedies are in a close race for third, alongside ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” Fox’s “Call Me Kat” and NBC’s “Young Rock.”
The season started with only 10 non-cartoon comedies in prime time on the broadcast networks. ABC had four on Wednesdays; CBS has “Neighborhood” and “Bob” on Mondays, with the other four on Thursdays.
Since then, a few more have trickled in: NBC put comedies from 8-9 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, ABC added 9-10 p.m. Tuesdays and Fox took 9-10 p.m. Thursdays. Among newcomers, however, only “Ghosts” has done fairly well with young viewers and total viewers.