ABC's BODY of PROOF May Rise From the Television Grave

With recent cancellations by ABC, we might soon be seeing a Body Of Proof mid-season comeback. Per Deadline the show could be brought back by network after it was cancelled in May after three seasons. The cancellation was a surprise to some as the drama was averaging 11 million viewers- the third largest for a drama on the network.

Though not a hit, it wasn't doing all that badly. To put it in comparison to the new ABC dramas unveiled this season, Body Of Proof did better in viewership than: Luck 7, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, and Betrayal. Not too shabby.

It's important to keep in mind that bringing it back it won't be as simple as cancelling it. The cast, crew, writers, and showrunner Evan Katz have all moved on to other projects, making a possible comeback seem unlikely. There is also the issue of financial incentive. The show's first season was filmed in Rhode Island, but after winning a California tax credit lottery locations switched to Los Angeles for the later two seasons. The tax credit no longer applies to the show if they bring it back, so producers and executives would have to get creative in engineering financial cutbacks to the show.

But why would the channel choose to renew a show they ax-ed, rather than make a newer, possibly better show? The answer is now becoming more and more common from network stations. After the cancellation back in May, the ill-fated Lucky 7 took over Body of Proof's time slot-and with than show being cancelled there is one less drama to fall back on for the network. Perhaps not wanting to risk pumping money into new content, ABC can revive their old audience?

It might not be so unlikely. The CBS series, Unforgettable went through the same cancellation, and after trying to sell the show to other channels to pickup (as was tried with Body of Proof) CBS gave it a summer season, which then resulted in another season pick-up.

Here's to hoping the show won't stay dead for long.