TV Death Watch
A look at shows facing cancellation before the fall

The networks have started working on new fall series, which means pink slips are coming for some of your old favorites. Here's what could be on the chopping block.

NBC
Did you ever imagine the day when Law & Order would be canceled? We're not saying it's going to happen — it probably won't. But costs on the show have risen while its ratings have dropped, which means its renewal is no longer automatic every year. NBC's other middling crime dramas — Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Crossing Jordan and Medium — are more vulnerable. The network has also yet to decide on another season for The Apprentice.

Stick a fork in Studio 60. It held little of the audience from its lead-in, Heroes, and began to slip even further in its last two airings. Prospects are better for Friday Night Lights, which has a small but steady following and is a favorite with critics (it also doesn't hurt that NBC owns it).[ On the comedy side, the network has to decide if it's willing to show patience with the funny but struggling 30 Rock. Word is it will swap time periods with Scrubs later this season to see how it does with The Office as a lead-in.

ABC
The network's comedies continue to get clubbed by competition from American Idol. So it could be the end for According to Jim, George Lopez, In Case of Emergency and Knights of Prosperity. What About Brian has failed to grow its audience, but insiders put its chances of returning at 50-50. While Men in Trees doesn't hold much of Grey's Anatomy's audience, it's a favorite among ABC execs and could survive to a second season. Remember, you can't cancel everything.

CBS
Second-year crime drama Close to Home has been an underachiever between Ghost Whisperer and Numbers, and CBS will look hard for an upgrade in the time period. With mid-season comedy Rules of Engagement working, it's uncertain that The Class will graduate to a second season. Jericho will also have to get closer to the ratings it scored in the fall to survive.

Fox
Brad Garrett's sitcom 'Til Death will get a shot after the American Idol results show before the network decides on its fate. Producers are looking to cast Michael Rapaport in new shows, which means The War at Home might be over. With Standoff banished to Friday nights, the chances of it being rescued from cancellation are slim.

CW
It's goodbye to the Gilmore Girls unless stars Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel decide to sign on for another season. Veronica Mars will likely solve her final case this spring. Monday sitcoms All of Us and The Game are vulnerable. If 7th Heaven doesn't get canceled after this season, you'll know that the CW's new-show development is lousy.

Veronica Mars will likely solve her final case this spring.

The next two episodes of NBC’s “30 Rock” could help determine whether the critically beloved but low-rated sitcom will return for a second season.

“Rock” will go on a six-week hiatus after next week’s episode, leaving the Thursday 9:30 p.m. timeslot to the new show “Andy Barker, P.I.,” before returning in April. These two weeks are important because “Rock” will air against reruns of powerhouse timeslot competitors “Grey’s Anatomy” on ABC and “CSI” on CBS.

Networks are in pilot mode now, beginning to narrow down which new and returning shows will make their fall schedule. NBC is only expected to pick up one of its freshman series for next fall, either “Rock” or “Friday Night Lights.” (A third rookie, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," looks all but dead.) "Rock" and "Lights" have similar season averages, and so NBC will be looking for growth potential when it decides which to bring back.

Airing against original episodes of “Grey’s” and “CSI” the past month, “Rock” actually has been shrinking, not growing. When the show took over the Thursday slot in late November, its first three episodes against minimal competition averaged a 2.9 adults 18-49 rating.

Its three most recent episodes have averaged a 2.5, a decline of 14 percent. If it can grow again over its next two outings, that might help convince NBC the show has potential much like “The Office,” which was renewed two years ago with similarly low ratings.

It doesn’t hurt that recently critics seem to have adopted “Rock” as the new “Arrested Development,” a similarly smart but low-rated show. Publications from TV Guide to Entertainment Weekly to countless blogs are championing its renewal.

The competition isn’t entirely light tonight. “Rock” will face a new challenge in Fox’s smash “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader,” which had the network’s best debut in 18-49s in more than 14 years earlier this week.

In tonight’s “Rock,” guest star LL Cool J plays a hip-hop producer who helps Jack (Alec Baldwin) launch a new line of champagne.

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