ABC’s The Family received ratings and viewership numbers on par with what it has been experiencing the last few weeks.  Last Sunday’s episode received an 0.8 rating, with just shy of 3 million viewers tuning in.  Shows with better ratings this season have already failed to gain renewal by ABC (Blood & Oil) but The Family continues to trudge along.with no word of renewal or cancellation, or whether or not its order of episodes will be cut.\

One interesting fact noted by Tim Surette of TV.com in an article written back on March 28th is that The Family does have strong DVR numbers.  One episode that he noted, when including the DVR numbers, had its ratings increase 100% to a much more appealing rating of 1.6.  I am not quite sure why this show does so well with DVR as it is in a time slot that seems like it would allow fans to watch episodes as they premiere, but it is interesting to see if this will have an impact on whether or not ABC decides to bring it back for a second season.

Another week, another abysmal performance by Cooper’s Guide.  The show received a 0.4 rating for its new episode “How to Survive Your Parents’ Visit” last Sunday, which marks the third week in a row that the show received a rating of 0.5 or lower.  Furthermore, barely over a million viewers tuned in to watch.

There is still no official word on whether or not the series has been cancelled or not, but it is very possible that this episode was the last that will air.  The other three unaired episodes have been preempted by FOX for now and if they do air at all, it will not be for weeks.  The finale of the series was originally scheduled to air on May 8th.  Now, the time slot for the show on May 8th is instead going to a rerun of The Simpsons, meaning that all three episodes that have yet to air would be airing after the original scheduled date of the finale.

ABC’s The Family received another mediocre rating of 0.8 for its new episode this past Sunday, with 3.15 million viewers.  The viewership total was very similar to the week prior, with only a slight uptick.  However, it still marks the highest rating and viewership total for the show in four weeks, and progress is progress, despite the numbers still being significantly lower than they were for the debut episode.

There is still no word on whether or not the series will be cancelled or renewed.  This season is set to have a “season finale” rather than a series finale, and there has been no indication that the show was meant to last only one season.  Furthermore, the reviews for the show are still solid on many sites, such as the 7.4/10 it has on IMDb and the 7.6/10 it has on TV.com.  Time will tell if ABC decides to renew The Family, though with a mix of mediocre ratings but generally favorable reviews, its status really remains up in the air at this point.

The outlook for Cooper’s Guide has gone from bad to worse.  The show received another dismal rating this past Sunday, with a 0.5 rating and 1.09 million viewers.  However, that’s not the worst news regarding the show.

The next new episode of the show is set to air at its regular time at 7:30 next Sunday.  After that, its future is bleak.  The episode that was set to air on April 24th has instead been pre-empted by Fox in favor of a Simpsons re-run to lead into a new episode of The Simpsons.  The following week, on May 1st, Fox will be airing the American Country Countdown Awards from 8-10PM with a lead-in of animated series such as Bob’s Burgers.  That means the next new episode of Cooper’s Guide may not air until May 8th, if its even airs at all.  Fox could very well scrap the comedy by then, resulting in three episodes that were produced but could never air.  At this point the writing seems to be on the wall for the show, and cancellation seems likely, if not imminent.

The Family received a slight uptick in its rating, going from a 0.63 the previous week to a 0.7 for the episode that aired on April 3rd.  The viewership also increased from 2.61 million to 3.13 million viewers.  While these two increases are positive, the overall totals the last three weeks are still lower than the first three weeks–especially when compared to the series premiere.

However, a very positive thing that the show has going for it is its social media buzz.  Its number of followers on Twitter has increased to almost 18,000, and fans are speaking amongst themselves using the hashtag #TheFamily.  Apparently the plot twists in the show lead to much speculation and discussion, as most of the fan tweets seem to be reactions to these twists.  The tweets containing the hashtag get a decent number of retweets and likes as well, showing that fans of the show seem to look up the hashtag and interact with other fans, collectively sharing their reactions to the show.

This last week was not kind to Cooper’s Guide.  In its new time slot, the show posted an abysmal 0.4 rating, with a measly 0.97 million viewers.  After coasting at a lowly but not quite as awful 0.8 rating for several weeks in a row, with a previous low of about 1.7 million viewers, the ratings absolutely nosedived, and the prospects do not look good from here.

TV by the Numbers has updated its Renew/Cancel standings, in which Cooper’s Guide previously held a 2 out of 5 rating.  Given the ratings nosedive, its standing was lowered to a measly 1 out of 5.  According to the site, this rating indicates the show is a “sure bet to be canceled by May 2016.”  It singles out Cooper’s Guide and fellow FOX disappointment Bordertown as two shows that are likely to be one-and-done.

Two new episodes of the show are set to be aired the next two weeks, so there are finally no more strange hiatuses between new episodes.  The performance of these two episodes will be critical; more ratings like last week would surely indicate cancellation.

ABC’s The Family has been experiencing a steady ratings and viewership decline with each episode since its debut.  It started with a rating of 1.48 and 5.7 million viewers for its debut episode on March 3rd and those numbers dropped with every single episode, until eventually its most recent episode that aired on March 27th received a rating of 0.60 with 2.61 million viewers.  It will be interesting to see if this trend continues this coming Sunday or if it will finally experience an uptick in its rating for the first time.

Critics were initially skeptical about the series, though apparently the content is becoming more interesting as the writing gets more bizarre.  Perhaps this shift in the content of the show will lead to more interest, or perhaps it is too late to salvage the show and it will get cancelled like Blood & Oil, the previous show that failed to find its footing for ABC in this time slot.

Cooper’s Guide is still undergoing another hiatus until April 3rd, so I decided to check in on its social media.  It has barely gained any more followers on Twitter, as its total currently stands at 2,424 followers.  Its tweets mostly consist of gifs and pictures from the show that attempt to humorously reflect relatable situations.  They do not receive very many shares or likes. It also has 4,902 likes on its Facebook page, which posts less often than its Twitter but still somewhat frequently.

There is no more recent news about whether or not the show will be renewed or cancelled.  With how often the show is experiencing periods without new episodes, and with the fact that it got moved to a less attractive time slot, I cannot anticipate that it will get renewed.  However, even if it is renewed, it could be possible that it gets cancelled during its second season unless it experiences a dramatic turnaround.

Cooper’s Guide seems to have found a consistent general rating that it has been hovering around for its new episodes, though it is awfully mediocre.  For its two episodes that aired on March 6th and 13th, both received a 0.8 ratings, with viewing totals of 1.85 million and 1.95 million, respectively.  The previous newest episode to come out had also received a rating of 0.8.

In more significant news, Cooper’s Guide was moved to a new time slot that represents a downgrade for the program.  Seemingly losing some faith in the show, FOX moved it from 8:30 to a less appealing 7:30 time slot on Sundays, switching it with Bob’s Burgers.  While both shows average a similar numbers of ratings and Bob’s Burgers averages an only slightly higher 1.3 average rating compared to the 1.2 average of Cooper’s Guide, perhaps FOX is simply showing more faith in the continued success of a show that is currently in its sixth season over a lackluster newcomer.  Furthermore, the next new episode of Cooper will not air until April 3rd.

The Family makes its sneak peek premiere tomorrow night before settling into its usual time slots on Sunday nights.  ABC teased the series three times during the Academy Awards ceremony, showing that it is seriously attempting to promote the show.  The promotion worked at least in terms of social media, as the show is now up to over 70,000 likes on Facebook and over 7,500 followers on Twitter, which both represent increases.

However, the promotion did little to help the fact that The Family has received some scathing reviews from critics, including Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter.  I am a bit disappointed that Goodman’s review spoiled a couple things for me, but I am intrigued by just how awful he claims the first two episodes were.  Still, the show has a 6.7/10 on IMDb so there are people who believe it is good or at least adequate.  Common viewers like me can find out for ourselves tomorrow night on ABC.