CBS Diversity Showcase Cleans House, Second Co-Head Also Exits Program

After program co-head exited amid sexual harassment accusations, co-director Fern Orenstein has exited the CBS Diversity Comedy Showcase as the program takes on new leadership for the 2018 season.

Last month, CBS announced that “The Nightly Show” alum Grace Parra and “I’m Dying Up Here’s” Stephen Guarino were brought on to co-direct the annual program, which highlights a diverse group of comedy writers and actors before an audience of CBS executives, producers and casting directors.

Orenstein stepped away from producing the program (though she remains in her role as a casting executive at CBS) in October, after director Rick Najera left amid accusations of sexual harassment, which he denied. Orenstein and Najera ran the program together since its inception 13 years ago.

Also Read: CBS' Diversity Showcase Leaders Accused of Racist, Sexist Behavior

“It feels like it was a good move; it was a necessary hire,” an anonymous participant told Vulture. “The new directors are promoting a different culture. It just seems like they have the right intentions.”

A Vulture report published after Najera’s resignation featured 20 anonymous former participants accusing the workshop of racist and sexist behavior under his and Orenstein’s leadership. The participants said the program required black actors to play slaves in sketches, asked Latina actresses to “slut it up” and body-shamed performers of both sexes.

Rachel Bloom, who never participated in the program but works for CBS Studios as the co-creator, star and executive producer of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” told Vulture it was an “open secret” that the program was a “bad experience” and provided guidance for participants who wished to complain.

13 TV Shows With the Worst Audience Declines From Last Year (Photos)

We've already learned that just six entertainment (so, no sports or news programming) TV shows across the Big 4 broadcast channels were able to grow their audiences from Fall 2016 to this season -- but which ones are actually falling the hardest? TheWrap's got that answer for you today, and we've ranked them in order from bad-to-awful.

Unfortunately for Fox, the newest of the networks (again, we're leaving The CW alone here) owns each of the three worst year over year total-viewer drop-offs. All numbers in this story comes from Nielsen's "most current" metric, which includes a week's worth of delayed viewing where available.

Also Read: How Matt Lauer’s Firing Could Impact ‘Today’ Show in the Ratings
TheWrap
Rank: 13
Show: "NCIS: Los Angeles"
Net: CBS
Total-Viewer Average: 10.216 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -20%

"NCIS: LA" moved from Sundays at 8 after "60 Minutes" to Sundays at 9 after the recently scraped "Wisdom of the Crowd." You do the math -- or rather, don't bother, as we just did for you.

Also Read: Sorry, President Trump: ESPN’s Ratings Haven’t ‘Tanked’ With Jemele Hill on ‘SC6’
CBS
Rank: 11 (tie)
Show: "The Blacklist"
Net: NBC
Total-Viewer Average: 8.322 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -21%

"The Blacklist" moved from Thursdays at 10 to Wednesdays at 8. It's now up against Fox's "Empire" and in the dead spot previously occupied by "Blindspot."

Also Read: Can ‘CBS This Morning’ Survive Without Disgraced Co-Anchor Charlie Rose?
NBC
Rank: 11 (tie)
Show: "Kevin Can Wait"
Net: CBS
Total-Viewer Average: 7.946 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -21%

Kevin misses "The Big Bang Theory," which served as this sitcom's lead-in for six weeks last year. Not anymore.

Also Read: From ‘This Is Us’ to ‘Mom': The 6 TV Shows With More Viewers Than Last Year (Photos)
CBS
Rank: 10
Show: "Madam Secretary"
Net: CBS
Total-Viewer Average: 8.564 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -22%

"Madam Secretary" was sent to Sundays at 10 this season -- though with NFL football overruns, it rarely even finishes within the confines of East Coast primetime.

Also Read: 18 New Fall TV Shows Ranked by Premiere Viewers, From ‘SWAT’ to ‘The Good Doctor’ (Photos)
CBS
Rank: 9
Show: "Scorpion"
Net: CBS
Total-Viewer Average: 7.599 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -25%

"Scorpion" is mostly getting beaten-up by ABC's freshman drama"The Good Doctor." Bring back the good-old days when this batch of geniuses battled "Conviction." Plus, no one wants "Me, Myself & I" as a lead-in -- or in CBS' case, really, at all.

Also Read: 31 Highest and Lowest-Rated Shows of the Fall TV Season So Far (Photos)
CBS
Rank: 8
Show: "Black-ish"
Net: ABC
Total-Viewer Average: 5.641 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -26%

Leaving "Modern Series" and entering the "This Is Us" time slot is not exactly a recipe for TV ratings success. Unfortunately, no one told ABC that.

Also Read: 10 Lowest-Rated TV Shows of Summer 2017 (Photos)
ABC
Rank: 7
Show: "Once Upon a Time"
Net: ABC
Total-Viewer Average: 3.550 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -28%

Once upon a time this fairy-tale series had a cast viewers loved and a Sunday night time slot. Now, the Friday show has neither.

Also Read: 20 Highest-Rated Shows That Got Canceled Last Season (Photos)
ABC
Rank: 6
Show: "Speechless"
Net: ABC
Total-Viewer Average: 5.422 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -31%

"Empire" moving from 9 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays shook up a lot of the standings: "Speechless" was not immune.

Also Read: The 22 Lowest-Rated Shows to Get Renewed Last Season (Photos)
ABC
Rank: 4 (tie)
Show: "Blindspot"
Net: NBC
Total-Viewer Average: 5.217 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -33%

Worse than Wednesday at 8 o'clock on NBC? Friday at any time on any channel.

Also Read: ‘Megyn Kelly Today’ on Track to Deliver NBC’s Worst Sweeps Ratings Since 2000
NBC
Rank: 4 (tie)
Show: "Designated Survivor"
Net: ABC
Total-Viewer Average: 8.742 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -33%

New lead-in "American Housewife": you are no "Black-ish."

Also Read: 11 Top-Rated TV Shows of Summer 2017 (Photos)
ABC
Rank: 3
Show: "Empire"
Net: Fox
Total-Viewer Average: 8.099 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -36%

Sometimes 8 o'clock isn't better than 9 o'clock. Now a self-starter, "Empire" is sure helping companion series "Star," but who's helping "Empire"?

Also Read: 20 Lowest-Rated TV Shows of 2016-17 Season (Photos)
Fox
Rank: 1 (tie)
Show: "The Exorcist"
Net: Fox
Total-Viewer Average: 1.944 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -37%

We'd call it a sophomore slump, but the devil didn't exactly earn his due in Season 1 either. Time to exorcise this show, Fox.

Also Read: 25 Top-Rated TV Shows of 2016-17 Season (Photos)
Fox
Rank: 1 (tie)
Show: "Lethal Weapon"
Net: Fox
Total-Viewer Average: 5.902 million
Year-Over-Year Decline: -37%

As a freshman, "Lethal Weapon" benefitted in its final 15 minutes as viewers flocked to Fox early for "Empire." Now the action-drama is on its own for Season 2, and Murtaugh and Riggs are maybe already getting too old for this s---.

Also Read: ‘9JKL’ Evicts 43 Percent of Key Demo Audience Without ‘Big Bang Theory’ Lead-In
Fox
Don't gloat too much, "Man With a Plan" and "Chicago Med" -- you were only saved from this list by virtue of a lack of delayed-viewing data.

We'll see how bad those declines truly are (or are not) in a week or so.

Also Read: Cancellation Watch: 9 TV Shows That Likely Won’t Last Beyond This Season (Photos)
CBS/NBC

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Fox actually claims all three of the biggest drops from Fall 2016

We've already learned that just six entertainment (so, no sports or news programming) TV shows across the Big 4 broadcast channels were able to grow their audiences from Fall 2016 to this season -- but which ones are actually falling the hardest? TheWrap's got that answer for you today, and we've ranked them in order from bad-to-awful.

Unfortunately for Fox, the newest of the networks (again, we're leaving The CW alone here) owns each of the three worst year over year total-viewer drop-offs. All numbers in this story comes from Nielsen's "most current" metric, which includes a week's worth of delayed viewing where available.

Also Read: How Matt Lauer’s Firing Could Impact ‘Today’ Show in the Ratings

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13 TV Shows With the Worst Audience Declines From Last Year (Photos)

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