( EW.com ) -- More than any year in recent memory , the survival of shows this season did not hinge on ratings . You had Fox 's `` Fringe '' getting renewed for a final GTFO season with only 4.2 million viewers and slight 1.6 average rating . Then you had `` Terra Nova '' getting axed with 10.8 million viewers and a 3.6 rating . The biggest mitigating factor was a show 's cost -- which usually rises along with its age -- along with the difficulty of a time period , who owns the program , how intensely critics and fans feel about the series and , believe it or not , whether a network 's executives like the show . Here are the top nine highest-rated canceled shows this season : . 1 . `` Rob '' ( CBS : 12 million viewers , 3.7 adults 18-49 rating ) : A 3.7 ? If NBC had a freshman comedy with a 3.7 average , it would run the show five nights a week this fall ( `` Community '' was renewed with almost half this rating ) . Bully for CBS that their table scraps have these kind of numbers . The issue here was Rob Schneider 's comedy was shedding too much of its massive `` Big Bang Theory '' lead-in , and was trending the wrong direction . CBS suspects the time slot can do better . 2 . `` Terra Nova '' ( Fox : 10.1 million , 3.6 ) : Some in the industry feel Fox made a mistake not picking up this ambitious drama for a second season . I agree . `` Terra Nova '' managed the rare feat of delivering a sizable family audience to a broadcast drama , found its legs creatively in its final hours and there was nothing else like it on TV . Cost was a factor , but so was the network 's belief that midseason addition `` Touch '' would be the network 's next big hit ( it was n't ) . 3 . `` Alcatraz '' ( Fox : 9.6 million , 3.4 ) : The ratings on `` Alcatraz '' keep sinking while the show , unlike other J.J. Abrams-produced dramas , was n't hugely engaging for viewers . A second season would have likely seen a ratings drop into serious red-line territory . 4 . & 5 . `` House '' / '' Desperate Housewives '' ( Fox : 8.7 million , 3.3 / ABC 10.4 million , 3.5 ) : I almost did n't put these two on the list because their conclusions were more like dignified retirements than cancellations . Both respected long-serving solid veterans of the broadcast game whose cost/benefit scale finally tipped . Both were given time to craft series-ending storylines . Still , some dramas do manage to last longer , like `` Miami '' below . 6 . `` How to Be a Gentleman '' ( CBS : 8.7 million , 2.8 ) : Short-lived . Critics did n't like it , and it did n't pull its weight . 7 . `` GCB '' ( ABC : 7.4 million , 2.6 ) : Diving in the ratings , and ABC has several similarly soapy dramas like `` Nashville '' and `` Mistresses '' ordered for next season ( ABC 's new trailers here ) that could improve on these numbers . 8 . `` CSI : Miami '' ( CBS : 10.8 million , 2.5 ) : Viewers do n't really crave and holler for a real ending on procedural crime dramas like they do for serialized shows like `` Fringe . '' Personally , if I watched any TV show for a decade , I 'd want a final episode that gave a sense of resolution , some acknowledgement that a story is being told and not just a perpetual weekly reset . So I 'm bummed on behalf of those `` Miami '' fans who expected a true series finale . Hopefully CBS wo n't shortchange flagship `` CSI '' or `` The Mentalist '' when their time comes . ( And , yes , `` Miami '' cut for age/expense/ratings ; `` CSI : NY '' is slightly younger , and helping hold the fort on tough Friday night ) . 9 . `` Unforgettable '' ( CBS : 12 million , 2.5 ) : Maybe it was the title . Maybe the somewhat generic format . But this series was one of the most , well , forgettable on TV . Its ratings were n't terrible , but few viewers seemed terribly upset when it was axed . See the full story at EW.com . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved .
Rob Schneider 's `` Rob '' was shedding too much of its massive `` Big Bang Theory '' lead-in on CBS . `` House '' and `` Desperate Housewives '' were given time to craft series-ending storylines . `` Unforgettable '' ( CBS : 12 million , 2.5 ) was one of the most forgettable on TV .