It’s been a pretty lackluster fall television season on the broadcast networks. There haven’t been any runaway successes and even some surefire bets haven’t paid off as well as they probably should have. This year even things that are doing modestly well are getting full season orders and the ones that are doing dreadfully are still hanging around while the networks survey the carnage and try to figure out what they can salvage. So, with the bar set pretty low, here are the hits and misses so far for the freshman class of 2015.
The hits
This heavily hyped superhero show had the biggest debut of any new series this year, thanks to CBS’s gigantic marketing budget and a lead-in from one of the biggest shows on television, The Big Bang Theory. The first episode, which aired last Monday, scored almost 13 million viewers, making it the most powerful debut of the year. However, without its “bazinga!” lead-in, the numbers in week two tumbled 29% among adults in the 18-49 demographic that advertisers care about. That’s quite a fall. This was also the last show of the year to debut, so Supergirl might get a chance to soar again after a few weeks on the air.
This tattooed lady crime show had 10.6 million viewers tune in for its first installment, giving it the biggest bow of the year until Supergirl came along. However, unlike Supergirl, it didn’t have nearly as big of a drop off after its second week and still attracts more than 7 million viewers each week. Sure, it has The Voice helping it out, but if it wasn’t engaging its audience, they wouldn’t be sticking around. While these two shows duke it out for first year supremacy, the real winner is Greg Berlanti, the executive producer behind both of them.
This sudsy mystery show in the Shonda Rhimes vein had a modest-to-good premiere with 7.1 million viewers. It has slumped slightly each week, and was down to about 4.3 million with its most recent episode. However, where it really scores is in DVR playbacks, where its audience in the coveted 18-to-49 demo grows more than almost any other show on network TV. That’s pretty huge in this new viewing landscape. The high number of people watching this later in the week is probably due to the glut of great shows on Sunday night. Maybe moving it to a more forgiving slot would let the budding FBI agents really blossom.
For a show with zero buzz and dismal reviews, the premiere eked out 7.4 million viewers and it has stayed pretty strong, in the neighborhood of 5.5 million viewers. Starring Morris Chestnut as a pathologist in Miami, this show has the benefit of being on right before ratings powerhouse Empire. Let’s see how it fares on a more difficult night or when Empire is gone, but right now it’s here to stay – Fox has already ordered a full season.
All right, I confess that this isn’t a hit at all. Actually, it’s the opposite of a hit. This week the CW comedy had its best week yet with only 977,000 viewers. If you can’t crack 1 million viewers, even on cable, then you are done for. However, I listed it as a hit because it is by far the best network show of the year and I’m trying to trick people into watching it so it doesn’t go away. Seriously, check this show out. It’s weird and clever and really funny and the musical numbers (yes, I know) are actually really cool and winning. I know this is going to end up in the dumpster, but maybe if I put it here you’ll go and watch it and save it. Right?
Misses
It seemed like a sure bet for ABC to bring back the beloved franchise and indeed the premiere netted more than 9 million viewers. The problem was the execution and the “adult” situations that the felt characters found themselves in. More than half of the audience has fled since the premiere, with the most recent episode scoring only 4.3 million viewers. ABC ordered three more episodes and The Muppets are a money-making property for ABC’s parent company, Disney, so they have to find a way to make it work. Maybe they can reengineer it for next year?
This Ryan Murphy comedy-horror hybrid was declared DOA when its first episode only scared up a little more than 4 million viewers. In a press release a few days after the premiere, Fox called the show a “model for contemporary viewership” because its numbers rose with the addition of DVR playback and internet streams, bringing it up to about 7.3 million viewers. Considering the amount of money Fox laid out for an extensive marketing campaign, this show’s viewing numbers should be a lot better than the 2.7 million it is attracting now. Even its cable cousin American Horror Story is getting more eyeballs (severed or otherwise).
So far there has only been one episode of this ABC crime anthology, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to reach a second season to add another chapter. Not only did it score just 3.3 million viewers for its first episode (after nearly ubiquitous advertising on ABC) but it also got some of the most savage reviews of the season. A mercy killing for this serial killer yarn is probably best for everyone.
Comedy in general
There were hardly any comedies to roll out this fall and none of the ones that premiered have been a runaway success. CBS’s Life in Pieces is faring the best, mainly because its network could make a hit out of a three-minute YouTube video of a parrot singing the alphabet if they gave it a good enough time slot. Dr Ken, though horrific, is a modest hit for ABC on Friday, which is about as competitive as an uncontested run for city dog catcher. Though much better in quality, Fox’s Grandfathered and The Grinder are struggling on Tuesday nights. NBC’s only new entry in the sitcom genre, Truth Be Told, is a disaster with just around 2 million viewers. This season, absolutely no one is laughing.
The essentially canceled
Thanks to a combination of bad reviews and abysmal ratings, there are at least three shows that can pretty much pack it in now. It was nice knowing you, Fox’s Minority Report, NBC’s The Player, and ABC’s Blood and Oil. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
