Fewer shows on verge of cancellation

0 Comments | USA TODAY, April, 2008 | by Gary Levin

The strike-hobbled TV season has one bright spot for producers: The fewest yet are enduring nail-biting weeks of uncertainty, waiting to see if their shows will come back for another season.

Just 11 series are left in limbo, half as many as last year's candidates, in USA TODAY's 11th annual Save Our Shows poll.

Five others considered "on the bubble" between renewal and cancellation were renewed just as the strike ended in February: ABC's Pushing Daisies, Private Practice and Dirty Sexy Money, and NBC's Chuck and Life. The theory: They weren't given enough of a chance to prove themselves, producing just nine to 13 episodes, which ran out by January.

NBC's early schedule announcement last week sealed the fate of three other maybes, Friday Night...