More bad news: final year for “Bob”

CBS viewers have found the adage is true: Bad news does come in threes.
Earlier, the network announced this will be the final season for “Young Sheldon” and “Bue Bloods.” Now the same is true of “Bob (Hearts) Abishola” (shown here).
That show will start its season Feb. 12 (the day after the Super Bowl) and end it May 13. The other two start that same week, with different farewells: “Young Sheldon” has an hour-long finale May 16; “Blue Bloods,” with more episodes, will pause for the summer and end in the fall.
This will be the 14th season for “Blue Bloods,” which is a genre (cops and crimes) that’s a CBS favorite. The demise of the other two shows, however, marks a down note for:
— Situation comedies in general. At the peak, a single network had 16 and 18. The current post-strike plans of the big-four networks total only 10 – four CBS, three ABC, two NBC and one Fox.
— Sitcoms filmed in front of an audience. That style has worked for decades, from Lucy to Archie Bunker to “Friends,” “Frasier” and “The Big Bang Theory.” But “Bob” is one of a dwindling group, alongside CBS’ “The Neighborhood,” ABC’s “The Conners” and NBC’s “Night Court” and new “Extended Family.”
— Chuck Lorre productions. At his peak, Lorre was rushing around in his golf cart between hit CBS shows – “Big Bang,” “Mom,” “Mike and Molly” and “Two and a Half Men.” Last year, however, the network cancelled his “B Positive” and “United States of Al.” Now his other two shows, “Bob” and “Young Sheldon,” are leaving. He does have a new streaming show; “How to Be a Bookie” starts Thursday (Nov. 30) on Max.
“Bob (Hearts) Abishola” began as a tribute to hard-working immigrant families (a theme that was also in “United States of Al”). Once Lorre settled on Nigerians, it also became his first show with a strong inter-racial approach.
Bob, a regular-Joe sort of Detroiter, fell for his hospital nurse, Abishola. That soon pulled him into her extended Nigerian family – aunt, uncle, mother, son, co-worker, more. He even began attending her virtually all-Black church.
Ratings have been solid, but there was a sign this year of CBS cutbacks: Only the show’s two stars were guaranteed 13 episodes; the others would be paid per-episode, and could do as few as five.
Occasionally, a network will order a full, 22-episode season – as it apparently did for “Blue Bloods.” More often, however, it orders 13 at first, then adds the “back nine.”
In this strike-shortened year, 13 episodes are enough. That’s when many shows will end their seasons – and “Young Sheldon” and “Bob (Hearts) Abishola” will end their runs.