On paper, The Good Doctor should be in for a longer run. Premiering in 2017, the series follows Freddie Highmore as Shaun Murphy, a brilliant doctor who balances his tough surgeries with his autism as he aids his colleagues in medical emergencies. The series has won praise for Highmore’s performance and has been a consistent success for ABC.
That’s what makes it baffling that the network announced the coming seventh season will be the last for the series. Given Grey’s Anatomy is about to enter its 20th year, it’s not like fans are tired of medical shows, and The Good Doctor retains some top ratings for ABC. It’s worse as, thanks to the 2023 strikes, the final season will be curtailed to only 13 episodes.
As it turns out, there are some complex reasons why The Good Doctor is among other series ending after seven seasons.
Money plays a huge part in some shows being canceled
By the seventh season of a series, the production costs have become pretty high, and most of that is on the network, with several reluctant to pay “full freight” for the costs. That’s added onto by the way the cast salaries increase and the networks having to pay more there. Also, at 116 episodes and counting, The Good Doctor is now ready for syndication, with those additional revenues cutting into things.
Ratings are no longer the make or break for a show’s survival, thanks to how the entire system has changed due to more folks watching online and in DVR playbacks. The Good Doctor still maintained its great ratings, which should have kept it on for Season 8, but various complications occurred.
Why is ABC canceling The Good Doctor?
The Good Doctor had been making moves to try and get an eighth season. It’s filmed in Vancouver, which cuts down on costs, and also how Highmore and Richard Schiff are the only original cast members left, cutting down on salaries.
However, Highmore’s contract was expected to run out at the end of Season 7 and it was likely a new contract would involve a higher salary. The Deadline article says Highmore was willing to continue the show and the producers would have put up with a reduced Season 8 episode order.
However, like the other networks, ABC was hurting without a regular fall schedule. Yet they did better by putting out more reality shows like Dancing With the Stars, The Golden Bachelor and that plays a part in their new strategy, which included getting 9-1-1 from Fox. It appears the network is going to be trying for lower-cost fare in both scripted shows and more reality/competition series along with sports.
In the end, it came down to ABC wanting to save money by cutting down on some shows that would require paying out more for production and salaries and The Good Doctor was one of the big ones. It’s possible without the strikes, the series might have continued longer, but the network’s new cost-cutting measures meant some casualties, and The Good Doctor was a victim.
A seven-season run to reach syndication is a good one for modern network TV, yet it’s a shame that The Good Doctor had to end sooner than fans would have wanted. But in the end, TV is a business and like Shaun Murphy, a difficult choice has to be made to save the patient.
