Why the Fate of ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Is Hanging by a Terrifying Thread, the Urgent Case for Its Survival, and the Heartbreaking Reality Behind Why Disney and ABC Might Be Hesitating to Anchor This High-Seas Phenomenon.

Why ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Hasn’t Been Renewed Yet (But Why It Should Be)

Disney/Ray Mickshaw

ABC has renewed almost all of its current scripted series, save for one: Doctor Odyssey. The cruise ship-set medical drama made a big splash when it debuted on the network last fall, premiering between proven procedurals 9-1-1 and Grey’s Anatomy. Yet, despite its buzzy arrival — with the teaser trailer becoming the most-viewed ever for a network show with 77.8 million views in two days — the show’s future is uncertain at this time.

We hear a decision is still being made by the network, but until any official announcement comes through, the soapy drama remains on the bubble.

So why is Doctor Odyssey currently on the bubble?

Well, ahead of the announcement of ABC’s renewals (for 9-1-1, Grey’s Anatomy, The Rookie, Shifting Gears, and Will Trent), Doctor Odyssey was reportedly being considered for cancellation due to a mixture of costs and lagging ratings.

Deadline reported that the expense of producing the show is giving the network pause — especially as the ratings took a slight dive from the premiere (down from 13.6 million cross-platform premiere viewers in the first week to an average of 3.5 million) — about launching another season. As such, the season finale is reportedly being made to potentially serve as a series finale. (Variety added some additional figures to the mix, reporting that Doctor Odyssey‘s pilot received 16.5 million cross-platform viewers in its first 35 days, with 5.96 million in the first week in September and 5.19 million for a more recent episode.) In other words, the show might be too expensive to make if the recurrent ratings don’t justify it.

Speaking to The Wrap, Craig Erwich, president of Disney Television Group, said, “Doctor Odyssey is not currently on our schedule. We’re continuing to have creative conversations with Ryan about what a next chapter would look like.” He also said it’s “an ongoing conversation” about how Murphy might want to continue the show and didn’t answer a question about whether it might move to Hulu. “We talk to Ryan all the time. He has a lot of shows across the Disney platform, so these conversations take on a variety of subjects,” he told the publication.

Why should Doctor Odyssey be renewed?

There’s a lot of promise to the premise of this series that you won’t find anywhere else on TV right now, and the show takes full advantage of it, too.

Fans of the show have expressed their hopes that ABC will send out an SOS for Doctor Odyssey. Meanwhile, series lead Joshua Jackson also expressed his hopes that they’ll launch a second series of theme week fun, telling Vulture, “I’m really hopeful the reception is strong enough for them to give us a second season. I try as best as I can, just for my own psychological well-being, to not dive in too deep.”

Given the flexible setting of the ship-based show and its sizzling drama elements, we’re in the camp of hoping for its renewal as well.

The theme weeks keep the new arrivals fresh.

Each week, there’s a new theme and coterie of new characters (with buzzy guest stars clearly having a blast) that bring unique energies, backgrounds, and prerogatives to the story. The cases have so far been anything but ordinary and certainly not repetitive thanks to that framework. (At the same time, as Shania Twain proved, guests can still be recurring, so there’s potential for lengthier story arcs if they work.) As the central storyline progresses, with the Max-Avery-Tristan triangle backdropping the entire screen adventure, the introduction of a bevy of new passengers keeps the waters from getting too muddy on the show.

The love triangle is as engaging as any TV ‘ship.

Typically, it takes even the soapiest drama show a couple of seasons to get anywhere near love triangle territory, but Doctor Odyssey dove in feet first — with a threesome and a resulting pregnancy and baby daddy mystery, no less! The Ody3 fandom came together quickly as a result, and many fans are very, very serious about that ‘ship.

That kind of no-holds-barred storytelling deserves to be rewarded. If we’re getting all this in the first few episodes, imagine what kind of twisty territory would be waiting at the next port of call for this show.

Disney / Tina Thorpe

We have to find out if there’s an otherworldly element to this.

The constant references to heaven and bright lights sprinkled into the show — plus the fact that the title boat is named after one of the greatest epics of all time — have justifiably convinced some fans there’s another layer to this ship than meets the eye. So far, that theory hasn’t panned out, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room to explore it more. And as Jackson told Vulture, the cast and creatives are open to it.

“The only person on earth who gets to make that decision will be Ryan [Murphy], but he likes the idea,” he said. “Our writers are also in those message boards and are tweaking people along the way, but maybe they’re just laying the groundwork. I really don’t know, but I will find out a couple of weeks before everybody else if it does go that way. I’m legitimately all for it. I think it would be hysterical because then you could do crazy things. Are we in Dante’s Inferno? Do we go through the seven circles? Are we in purgatory one season, then it’s hell, then we’re in heaven?”

Even if the season finale does go there, giving audiences a bit of satisfaction on that theory front, we would definitely want to see more of it than a last-minute confirmation.

It’s just plain fun.

The best part about Doctor Odyssey is that it’s just plain fun. It’s the definition of an escapist show, and goodness knows we need all we can get of that in this day and age.

Doctor Odyssey, Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC