The Good Dish, which took Dr. Oz’s time slots after host Dr. Mehmet Oz left to run for the U.S. Senate, will not get a second season in syndication, according to sources, while NBCUniversal’s Judge Jerry, starring Jerry Springer, will not return for season four, NBCU confirms.
The Good Dish’s distributor, Sony Pictures Television, still hopes to clear the show on a different platform. Prior to launching in syndication, Sony had expected to get a streaming deal for it.
Sony Pictures Television declined to comment.
In order to bring The Good Dish back for a second season, Sony had to get it cleared on stations across the country. But over the course of its short run, it averaged a 0.4 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen, lower than its predecessor. Stations were paying the same license fees they had paid for Dr. Oz, which had declined along with the ratings over the years, and they were not willing to pay those same fees for an even lower-rated show, according to sources. Besides Fox, The Good Dish also aired on Hearst, Nexstar, Gray and Sinclair stations.
The Good Dish started as a segment in Dr. Oz hosted by his daughter, Daphne, as well as Top Chef’s Gail Simmons and Food Network’s Jamika Pessoa. When Oz announced in November that he was running for Senate, Fox immediately had to pull down the show on New York and Philadelphia TV stations in order to avoid running into the FCC’s equal time rules. Dr. Oz ended its run on Friday, January 14. The Good Dish debuted on Monday, January 17.
The Good Dish is distributed by Sony Pictures Television and executive produced by Amy Chiaro and Stacy Rader and Oz’s ZoCo Productions.
Judge Jerry, which is executive produced by Kerry Shannon, stars Jerry Springer and is currently in its third season. That show also has been averaging a 0.4 in households. Springer remains on television, however, via repeats of his long-running conflict talker, Jerry Springer.
Deadline first reported these two cancellations. ■
