This time of year used to be a big deal for television fans as it brought the Upfronts, when the broadcast networks made a big deal about unveiling their schedules for the upcoming season. In addition to the new lineups, it also brought plenty of cancellation and renewal announcements along with pickups for new shows. But as the old-school networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and The CW) have continued to slide in relevance and significant programming output, the Upfronts have become much less of an event each year. Once major productions that offered plenty of spectacle, now they offer little more than network execs or some celebrity bullet-pointing the highlights for their upcoming lineups.
As expected, the 2026 Upfronts delivered little in the way of glitz and glamour, and very little of interest to sci fi and fantasy fans. The broadcast networks have shied away from genre programming over the past few years, and have actually cut back on scripted programming in general. Reality shows, game shows, news programs, and sports are either cheaper to produce and/or deliver higher ratings than scripted entries, and the networks have heavily shifted their schedules in that direction. That continues to be true for the upcoming season, and I do not believe we will see a significant move back to scripted programming on these channels any time in the near future.
The number of sci fi and fantasy entries on the broadcast networks has continued to drop over the last few years, and for Fall 2026, there is exactly one half hour of genre programming currently on the schedule (less than one percent of all shows). That would be the new supernatural comedy Eternally Yours on CBS which comes from the same creative team that brought us Ghosts. Here is the official description for the show:
Eternally Yours is a family comedy centered around Charles (Ed Weeks) and Liz (Allegra Edwards)—a vampire couple whose once-passionate romance has devolved into a pulseless marriage after 500 years together. Living in present-day Seattle with their oddball coven, they have settled into an eternal rut until their daughter’s earnest human boyfriend unexpectedly enters their lives and forces them to confront whether their love can survive forever … or if forever is a life sentence.
It has not received an official premiere date, but it is part of the Fall lineup and should arrive in late September or early October.
Apart from that, Ghosts will be held until midseason (though it is still set to get a full 22 episodes for its sixth season along with a Halloween and Christmas special), and Fox’s animated fantasy Krapopolis will also be arriving sometime around January 2027 (there is no word on the episode count for that). So three half hours in total are currently set for the 2026-27 season on the broadcast networks—with nothing in the pipeline—and none of these really count as strong genre entries. That is not surprising considering the recent scheduling trends from these networks, and fans have been much happier with what the streaming services and cable channels have been delivering as far as sci fi and fantasy entries.
To see the full analysis showing how scripted programming and sci fi and fantasy entries have dropped significantly over the past ten years, sign up for the free Axiom’s Edge Sci Fi Email Newsletter below. You will then be able to access the article at this link.
Remember when Doctor Who landed in those reality shows? Sound familiar?