(Photo: Michael Courtney/CBS)
Margaret and Todd’s time has run out. CBS has cancelled So Help Me Todd, so the series won’t return for a third year during the 2024-25 TV season.
A legal dramedy series, the So Help Me Todd TV show stars Marcia Gay Harden, Skylar Astin, Madeline Wise, Tristen J. Winger, Inga Schlingmann, and Rosa Arredondo. In season two, Heather Morris recurs, and Lisa Rinna and Sandra Bernhard guest. In the story, Margaret Wright (Harden) is a razor-sharp and successful attorney who is reeling from the recent dissolution of her marriage. Her son Todd (Astin) is a quick-thinking former private detective who’s fallen on hard times after his “flexible interpretation of the law” got his license revoked. Though Margaret’s high standards and strict adherence to the law are at complete odds with Todd’s scrappy and seat-of-his-pants methods, she asks him to join her firm as the in-house investigator. Working together as a mother and son team is a big first step toward mending their fragile and dysfunctional relationship. In season two, having regained his license, Todd decides to open his own private investigation business.
Airing on Thursday nights, the second season of So Help Me Todd currently averages a 0.34 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 4.47 million viewers. Compared to season one, that’s down by 4% in the demo and down by 3% in viewership in the live+same day ratings (includes DVR playback through 3:00 AM).
So Help Me Todd and CSI: Vegas (which was also cancelled today) are the network’s lowest-rated original scripted series in the traditional ratings. In the live+35-day multi-platform ratings, episodes typically draw more than seven million viewers.
Six of So Help Me Todd’s ten-episode second season have aired so far. The de facto series finale is scheduled to air on May 16th, and because the cancellation was not expected, the drama will reportedly end with a big cliffhanger.
In a post on Instagram, series creator Scott Prendergast reacted to the cancellation news:
“Thank you CBS for the phenomenal opportunity. CBS is truly a wonderful place to work. Everyone is so supportive, respectful and SMART. Every single executive I interacted with had only one goal in mind: how do we turn your idea into a great show on CBS? Working on this level, with this scope, with these actors, on these sets, with these writers, with this brilliant crew, this wardrobe, these editors, these composers, these creative executives who care so very much – has been the best professional experience of my life. What a privilege to stand on our huge stages and watch all these magicians at work. It is so extraordinary to get to dream up these ideas and characters and jokes and stories and then stand back as incredibly talented professionals bring them to life. WHAT LUCK! WHAT JOY! WHAT GREAT SUCCESS! I took a story about me and my Mom and hundreds of people came together to build it into something else, something huge, something beautiful, something funny. Thank you to everyone involved, and to all our viewers. One million thank yous will never be enough.
Thank you, thank you, thank Todd for you. And goodbye.”
What do you think? Have you enjoyed watching the So Help Me Todd TV series on CBS? Are you disappointed to hear the series wasn’t renewed for a third season?
I am terribly upset! This is my favorite show! Witty, fun, touching, but not too corny. How can you cancel it??? No!!!!!!!
I’m disappointed. I thought it was really well done, not something I can say for a lot of shows.
I am sad to see this show cancelled. I truly enjoyed the chemistry between Skyler Astin and Marcia Gay Harden playing mother and son.
I really like this show. Finally a decent line up fir Thursday. I am sad to see CSI LV leaving to. Two of my favorite shows. It seems the good ones get cancelled and the bad ones remain. Its a shame.
I do like this show, but season 2 has been extremely over the top. The episode with the opera singer was so bad that I had trouble finishing it. Season 1 was terrific, but its like they changed writers or focus for season 2. I’m sorry the show has been cancelled but its not been on par with the season 1 episodes.
What about Todd is my favorite show!!! The cast is incredible, the writing is fabulous and it has a great balance of a good plot and humor to make it one of the best shows ever. PLEASE reconsider keeping this show. Give it a chance – please. I don’t miss this show ever. There are too many stupid shows and this show is intelligent which we need more of. It is so entertaining – is there a petition out there that I can sign?????
well, another network cancelling a VERY VERY good show just because the rating were a little lower in the late hours of the morning. Guess what, I record my shows & sometimes I don’t watch them until the next day or evening or watch them on p plus! Maybe that’s why ratings are lower???? (smh)
I love this show! Please reconsider canceling
I am crushed by this news. Please don’t!
Please don’t cancel this show . Marcia Gay and Skylar Astin make such a great mother and son team . He always makes me laugh . I will definitely miss this show
I love So help me Todd. It is truly a different type of show. It is interesting and funny. This cancelation makes me very sad!!!
How many NCIS’s do we need???
Please reconsider bringing So help me Todd back!!!
Very very disappointing…a clever, well acted and well written show…I will miss it terribly. Hey somebody out there – this could be a great pick-up for one of the “independents” or streamers!
Please find Todd a new home on another network. It is my guilty pleasure each week. Love the cast. It is one of those shows that you can just sit back relax and enjoy. It seems like all the shows like this get cancelled, but you leave on violent shows and strong drama. Life is too short now to give us fun shows to watch. Bring Todd back.
Pardon my ‘constructive criticism,’ but sometimes the characters were a bit too silly and in situations too far-fetched to be believable. On the other hand, we need more light-heartedness on TV. I hate to see it get cancelled.
Can’t believe CBS is canceling So Help Me Todd! It’s one of the best shows! Who cares about dating shows, reality shows, game shows. Well, you are helping me to drop network TV and switch to APP TV.