It’s a good day to be a freshman series on CBS, as the network has just given full-season orders to three of its new shows. The lucky winners are the rebooted MacGyver, the Doctor Phil-inspired Bull, and the Kevin James revival Kevin Can Wait, with all three now getting 22-episode orders. This comes from Deadline, which points out that all three have done well in the ratings, especially Kevin Can Wait and Bull, which have the benefit of airing after The Big Bang Theory and NCIS respectively.
Still, MacGyver seems like the real hero here. The show doesn’t have the benefit of a good lead-in, received mostly bad reviews, didn’t have very good buzz due to behind-the-scenes retooling, and is a reboot of a show that young people probably don’t remember or care about, but its premiere still managed to top Friday ratings in the all-important “adults 18-49” demographic. Granted, Bull is the most-watched new show of the season and Kevin Can Wait is the most-watched new comedy, but those seemed like much more predictable hits than MacGyver did. Who knows—maybe this means the show will have a chance to actually improve.