On Thursday, March 3rd, ABC surprised those who closely follow the television news cycle by issuing an early renewal to 15 of its series. The move was one of the first for new ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey and a far cry from that of her predecessor, as Paul Lee tended to hold renewal announcements, even those that seem like no-brainers, until the Friday before May upfronts. It was a smart move for Dungey, as it solidified the foundation of the network while she got her bearings and got people talking about the network’s successes rather than the sharp decline its ratings have taken this season; however, it left lingering questions about the shows that were left out of the mass renewal announcement, those that didn’t center around lovelorn fixers, ambitious FBI recruits, or a cavalcade of fairy tale characters.
The most glaring of the omissions was American Crime, John Ridley’s searing examination of the fallout from crime and how one act can have reverberations that destroy an entire community. Former ABC president Paul Lee was one of the show’s biggest proponents and with the network’s bridge show strategy up in the air and an eye toward a more procedural focus cast, what seemed like a probable renew earlier this year suddenly became all the more complicated. But while the show has never set the Nielsens on fire, thanks to its tough subject matter and unflinching portrayal of the raw emotions that come with criminality, it has enough factors in its favor that a third season renewal should be granted.
The biggest thing working in American Crime‘s favor is the fact that it’s an anthology. While the cast between seasons one and two mostly remained the same, the two seasons told entirely different stories and the type of characters the carryover actors played changed; this type of narrative flexibility allows the show to reinvent itself and fine tune to a larger audience while staying true to its advocacy-friendly core. For example, season two focused on the goings on at a Midwestern high school, with the primary crime involving teenagers, whereas season one was more adult-centric, centering on both an adult victim and (alleged) perpetrator. Therefore, a third season could further open itself up to a wider, younger audience by, say, choosing a less polarizing/taboo crime or finding a way to lighten its tone without sacrificing its artistic integrity. Additionally, due to the show’s status as a limited episode anthology, it’s prime territory for actors who want to do television but don’t want to commit to the long hours and creative unfulfillment that comes with producing 22 episodes of content per season. ABC already has an 
At the most recent Emmy ceremony, two of the 12 acting wins presented came from broadcast television. The first award was given to Allison Janney, her second Emmy for portraying an addict on Mom and her seventh overall, while the second belonged to Regina King for her portrayal of a devoutly religious woman fighting for her brother’s freedom in the first season of American Crime. The show has also maintained a presence at the Critics’ Choice Awards, Satellite Awards, NAACP Image Awards, and Golden Globe Awards, with its Metacritic rating staying in the mid 80s for the first two seasons, putting it in the upper echelon of modern television. While there’s no correlation between acclaim and ratings, or acclaim and money, American Crime could end up doing for ABC what countless low-rated shows have done for the likes of HBO, SundanceTV, and FX; keeping the show would help the ABC brand, which tends to skew similarly upscale, and solidify the network in the awards season conversation, where their only major contender is defending Emmy champion Viola Davis. It adds value to the network that might not come in advertising dollars or 18-49 demo points, given that it furthers their claim of being the most diverse broadcast network, a decree that began with Lee and a slew of family comedies (e.g. black-ish, Fresh Off the Boat, Dr. Ken, etc.), and allows them to make a play for audiences that wouldn’t normally watch something on ABC.
It helps that ABC’s drama brand, a hodgepodge of salacious soaps, musical dramas, light procedurals, and superhero ensembles, has been fairly elastic in recent years, therefore giving the network the leeway to nurture something that might not strike a chord with the traditional broadcast audience. Of the five broadcast networks, ABC is the most equipped to send a message to the creative community without sacrificing a prime spot on the schedule; they have the schedule latitude necessary to keep a show like American Crime and prove that they’re a network that will stand behind projects of creative and social value. In order to make the network an attractive place for creators and talent alike, ABC needs to indicate that this is a place where great drama, drama that can stand up to any other network, has a place and where shows that clash with the increasingly homogenized broadcast landscape don’t have to die a quick death. Cancelling a show like American Crime creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where broadcast believes audiences will only watch a certain type of product, yet audiences are afraid of watching anything beyond the broadcast comfort zone for fear of an untimely cancellation. It furthers this idea that broadcast is where creativity, edginess, and thought-provoking television goes to die, that outliers like American Crime were cut off at the knees before they even premiered in the first place. Not only is American Crime an important show to put on this type of platform, it’s a show that can almost serve as an ambassador for ABC, a symbol that the network is willing to stand behind projects it believes in and that prestige projects can still flourish on broadcast television.
And as such, ABC should do the right thing and renew American Crime for a third season.
The season finale of American Crime airs tonight at 10:00 on ABC. You can check out a preview of the episode below.
