This past week, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Knight Rider, two shows that were rumored to be heading for cancellation, were extended to full season orders.  Both shows are based on popular 1980s franchises and have been getting low ratings against tough competition.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles airs on Monday nights at 8pm against Chuck, Gossip Girl, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Dancing With the Stars, and Monday Night Football, which shares a similar demographic and takes a big chunk of the ratings.  Like a lot of other shows in the current season, Fox offers all the new episodes online, which makes it less important to see the show in its first run on television.  I think we’re finally seeing the full effect of airing episodes online for free with how many struggling shows we have this season.

Knight Rider airs on NBC Wednesday nights at 8pm against Pushing Daisies, Bones, America’s Next Top Model, New Adventures of Old Christine, and Gary Unmarried. While not nearly as competitive as Sarah Connor’s time slot, it still faces a tough variety of content; from Daisies stylized quirkiness to Bones’ intriguing cases and whatever the heck people see in Top Model. With rumors that David Hasselhoff will be guest starring in future episodes, I can picture a spike in the ratings, maybe even a big enough one to warrant a second season for the struggling action show.

Love them or hate them? Either way you have 9 more episodes to give them a chance.