Almost Human Hasn't been renewed yet, should we be worried

Almost Human Hasn't been renewed yet, should we be worried

Fox’s sci-fi cop drama Almost Human wrapped its truncated freshman season earlier this week, and some of us are worried that the season finale, “Straw Man,” might be the last time we see the show on the air. The ratings haven’t been fantastic, the show has seen ups and down over the course of the first 13 episodes, and the future seems to be clouded by doubt. The network just announced that they are renewing a number of their young shows, but at the moment, Almost Human is not one of them.

There’s no need to panic just yet, Almost Human hasn’t officially been cancelled or anything like that. Still, you have to worry that we haven’t heard anything. While it is early in the process, given that the first season is now over, no news isn’t necessarily good news. If the network were really gung ho on the series, you’d think they’d have let us know by now. This wouldn’t be the first time that Fox has prematurely killed a promising sci-fi series. Joss Whedon’s Firefly is the prime example of this, but they also took Fringe from us too soon, as well as the likes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Futurama, and a ton of excellent non-genre programming.

Fox has been all over early extensions this season, which also makes the lack of Almost Human news troubling. Sleepy Hollow got the go-ahead for a second season some time ago, and the most recent batch of renewals includes Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Mindy Project, and The Following.

I’m happy about two of these new announcements. Brooklyn Nine-Nine doesn’t have stellar ratings, but winning a Golden Globe for best comedy is going to give you some additional clout. And it is fucking great, and this is coming from someone who actively dislikes Andy Samburg, which makes it doubly impressive. The Mindy Project is one of my favorite shows on TV, so I’m glad that one will be back, despite the fact that I may be the only one still tuning in week after week. The Following I stopped watching about halfway through the first season because it got annoying as shit. Hey, guess what, everyone is in the fucking cult.

J.H. Wymans’ latest offering, Almost Human is one of the most promising shows of this current TV season, even though the ratings have been on a steady decline since day one. It started a little bit too heavy on case-of-the-week style procedurals, but as the season progressed, the narrative has taken on more and more of a serial turn. The real strength of the show, however, is the chemistry between the two leads, grim detective John Kennex (Karl Urban) and his more-human-than-human android partner Dorian (Michael Ealy). Even though Fox seems to be doing its level best to fuck up the evolution of their relationship by airing the episodes in seemingly random, some may say idiotic, order, their relationship shines through.

All of us here really hope that the network pulls its head out of its own ass and renews Almost Human. It’s accessible for both sci-fi fans as well as those given to watching weekly cop shows. If they do cancel the show it will be another in a long line of great shows that they let go because they’re dipshits.