While the Seth Macfarlane created Family Guy continues to pull in high ratings despite its controversial material, its spinoff The Cleveland Show hasn’t been so fortunate. As a part of Fox’s animated block, The Cleveland Show has been pulling in some of the lowest ratings, 3.3 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49 — and that includes seven days of DVR playback. Fox officials haven’t announced anything for sure just yet, but it’s not looking good for the spinoff.

Considering that the animated programs take the longest to produce, they are also usually confirmed for renewal early on. The Cleveland Show was supposed to be cleared for a new season months ago. That’s what happened with another one of Fox’s animations – the relatively new Bob’s Burgers, which was confirmed for its fourth season back in October.

A blog run by the leaders of The Animation Guild has outright declared the series dead in the water. However, while the chances of a renewal are looking grim right now, Fox animated series tend to be die-hard cult favorites. Sometimes the networks suspends a show and brings it back, like it did with King of the Hill and Family Guy, so you might want to keep your eyes on this story.

Seth Macfarlane
Seth Macfarlane - one is shows could be facing the axe