Left, Jack Rowand/CW; right, Nathaniel Bell/FOX Mamie Gummer, left, in “Emily Owens, M.D.†and Jordana Spiro in “The Mob Doctor.â€Medical dramas are one of television's oldest and most reliable staples, but based on Nielsen ratings from this season viewers may be growing tired of the genre. Two first-year-resident programs, “The Mob Doctor†on Fox and “Emily Owens, M.D.†on the CW network, were effectively fired on Wednesday after dismal fall performances.
While Fox was careful not to use the word “canceled†when it announced that “The Mob Doctor†would not be getting an additional episode order this seaso n, the decision to burn off some of the remaining episodes on Saturdays in December and the show's average total viewership, at 3.7 million, strongly suggest that the program will not return.
But “Emily Owens, M.D.†was officially canceled by CW. The news came as no surprise, as the show averaged only 1.3 million viewers. Like “The Mob Doctor,†all 13 episodes from the network's initial order will air.
Those programs are joined by other medical shows with low audience totals, like ABC's “Private Practice†(at 5 million average viewers for its final season), “Hart of Dixie†on CW (1.4 million), and the hospital-set comedy “The Mindy Project†on Fox (3.4 million).
The only show that seems immune to this malady is ABC's “Grey's Anatomy.†Currently in its ninth season, that program frequently ranks as the No. 1 drama on television in the advertiser-beloved 18-to-49 category while averaging 9.9 million total viewers.
