First Two Weeks, Bent

BENT (NBC)

WEEK ONE
The two-episode premiere of NBC's comedy Bent averaged a horrifying 0.9 demo, scoring a 1.0 in the 9/8c premiere and dropping to a 0.8 at 9:30. I always count both episodes in a two-episode premiere, but even if you just take the 9/8c episode, it'd be the lowest-rated in-season weeknight scripted big four premiere ever, falling behind last season's The Paul Reiser Show. Worst premiere of its kind in the history of TV is... well, not a good place to start.

WEEK TWO
In week two, the 9/8c episode dropped to a 0.9 demo while the 9:30 episode held at a 0.8. That 0.85 average is down 6% from the week one average. That size drop would be pretty good except for the fact that the premiere was the worst of its kind in the history of TV.

PROGNOSIS
The "first two weeks" overlap with the "last two weeks" in this case, as NBC's three-week burnoff of Bent concludes next week. Six episodes in three weeks against American Idol on an otherwise dead evening for NBC is a pretty reliable formula for failure, and Bent was not capable of defying that formula. It's a third straight failed NBC midseason comedy for David Walton. No season two.

"First Two Weeks" is my look at... the first two weeks of a new scripted broadcast show's ratings. I also line all of these numbers up to do an objective analysis in what I call "the system."