CBS is cancelling “CSI” after 16 seasons. There are many reports that they’ll come back with a two hour finale in the fall to wrap things up. But “CSI: Cyber,” which no one seems to like, will be back. After all, its star, Patricia Arquette, just won an Oscar. The show can be fixed. We want to see Patty Arquette on TV, no matter what.

CBS also cancelled “Battle Creek” with Josh Duhamel, which I always thought was about cereal. “The Millers” was already cancelled. “The McCarthy’s,” no one knew what that was. CBS will add shows based on the movies “Rush Hour” and “Limitless.”

CBS also has two interesting comedies: Angel from Hell with Jane Lynch, and Life in Pieces starring two time Oscar winner Dianne Wiest, the underrated ColinHanks, and England’s not yet crossed over star Rupert Graves.

On Fox, in addition to “The Mindy Project,” Kevin Bacon in “The Following” is gone. Kevin Bacon had better get back to movies. He has an Oscar in his future. Time’s a-wastin’.

And Poor Katherine Heigl. “State of Affairs” is gone. I like her a lot, and wish she’d get a decent show. She was not treated well in ShondaLand. Maybe now with the Patrick Dempsey thing happening, people will see that. NBC also chopped “About a Boy,” even though last year everyone was so excited about it.

So weird to watch all this network fussin’, when all the good shows are off-network.

Stay tuned for more…

The first death knell of “General Hospital” has wrung: Anthony Geary, who’s played Luke Spencer for 37 years and has won 8 Emmy Awards, is out. He tells TV Guide he’s quitting, but it’s quite obvious that budget slicing finally hit the show’s highest paid actor. The show is bringing back Genie Francis as Laura, Luke’s long time love, to see him off.

And then? “General Hospital” has been on a wild ride since producer Frank Valentini and headwriter Ron Carlivati came from the cancelled “One Life to Live” and saved it. They’ve employed dozens of returned veterans on recurring contracts and balanced a zillion story lines.

But all good things must come to an end. They’ve got two highly paid popular actors– Maura West, who just won the Emmy for Best Actress in that show– and Michael Easton, who are barely seen. They’ve got two more, same situation, Michelle Stafford and Roger Howarth, who cost a lot. Today they’re “killing off” one other legacy character. And so on.

ABC still wants out of soap operas. Pulling the plug on Geary is the best way to destabilize the audience. Geary lives in Holland, is not retiring, and may turn up elsewhere. And I don’t think ABC cares much one way or another. For 10 cents they could have another cooking show and be done with it. We’ll see what happens.

UPDATE The numbers were LOWER than previously thought– 2.1 in the demo, and 7.74 million total. In the finale next week, Meredith wakes up with pizza boxes spread all over  the bed and tells Derek, “I had a terrible dream after we ate all that pizza”– a reference to his famous Pizza Boy movie– “but you’re right here.”

EARLIER Yikes. The “Grey’s Anatomy” fans do not like the absence of Patrick Dempsey at all. Last night’s episode saw another drop in the ratings. The key demo is now 2.2, down from the previous week’s 2.5 in a big way. It was 2.8 the prior week, when Shonda Rhimes plowed an 18 wheeler into Derek Shepherd’s Porsche SUV.

Last week, the total viewers for “Greys” was 8.68 million. This week, only 7.88 million showed. Around a million “Grey’s”
fans either watched “The Big Bang Theory” season finale, which was number 1 and huge, or took a bike ride. Next week’s two hour season finale will really show what “Grey’s” can look forward to next season. The show was renewed for another season last night by ABC.

But I would guess the series finale is in the works for next year. Dempsey must be getting a kick out of this.

ABC has made its plans for fall 2015. “Resurrection” and “Forever” and “Cristela” are gone. Too bad, because Frances Fisher and Ioan Gruffud were welcome additions to night time viewing. Someone get them shows pronto.

As for renewals, the very good Ryan Phillippe comes back with “Secrets and Lies,” and so does “American Crime,” a show that requires paying attention. It’s worth watching carefully. There are some Emmy nominations in there. Tim Hutton, Regina King and Felicity Huffman head a very special cast. “Nashville” also returns. It’s low rated but Connie Britton is brilliant.

Meantime: Viola Davis, two Time Tony winner who should have an Oscar, will get an Emmy this fall for “How to Get Away with Murder.” She also deserves a parade with confetti.

DRAMAS

“CASTLE” (Season 8)

“GREY’S ANATOMY” (Season 12)

“HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER” (Season 2)

“MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.” (Season 3)

“NASHVILLE” (Season 4)

“ONCE UPON A TIME” (Season 5)

“SCANDAL” (Season 5)

“AMERICAN CRIME” (Season 2)

“SECRETS AND LIES” (Season 2)

“MARVEL’S AGENT CARTER” (Season 2)

COMEDIES

“black-ish” (Season 2)

“FRESH OFF THE BOAT” (Season 2)

“THE GOLDBERGS” (Season 3)

“THE MIDDLE” (Season 7)

“MODERN FAMILY” (Season 7)

“GALAVANT” (Season 2)