Monday, October 14, 2013

First Two Weeks, Ironside


WEEK ONE
NBC's remake of the classic series Ironside got off to a very poor start, managing a paltry 1.3 demo. While it had basically the same 6.8 million total viewer audience as its Law and Order: SVU lead-in, it shed 35% of the 2.0 18-49 rating that SVU pulled, and it went well behind competing CSI (2.1) and Nashville (1.9). It was hard to see any real hope in this premiere number.

WEEK TWO
Ironside took a typical 15% week two drop to a 1.1 rating. Typical was not exactly what this show needed after the premiere rating.

PROGNOSIS
This is another one of those "the only question is how many weeks till it's pulled" situations. Given NBC's massive Thursday meltdown, it's kind of hard to piece together how they'll go about addressing these problems. My guess is they'll do something about Thursday before they do something about Ironside, but that's only a guess. Cancel.

"First Two Weeks" is an ongoing experiment to see how often a new scripted show's fate can be predicted by the very earliest data. Here are the picks and lineups for every show this season.

10 comments:

Spot said...

The show can quickly be pulled in favour of SVU repeats if need be.

Still, I can see them giving it a few weeks if the numbers don't get too disastrous. Not much downside in seeing if it can pick up any momentum, especially with Duck Dynasty soon vacating the timeslot.

Spot said...

For sure a cancel. If they seriously intend to air Hannibal in the regular season now would be a good time for it.

Spot said...

I'm pretty sure that the earliest that Hannibal could return was midseason. I specifically remember that in the renewal announcement. If it gets much worse I'd probably just plug in Chicago Fire repeats.

Spot said...

Didn't know that. Yet, then probably chicago fire repeats. Some people want revolution back to 10pm but I don't think it is a good idea. I think that with AHS hitting highs, the hour is actually more competitive than at 8pm, I don't see what good would come from it now, especially with little promotion.

Spot said...

What I'm afraid they're going to do is what they did to Revolution last year. Finish the first half in late-November or early December, then take it off the air until after February sweeps just to make sure it never goes without The Voice as a lead-in. Never mind whether it loses all momentum in the process.

Spot said...

I agree with moving The Blacklist. The Blacklist is a procedural, and if it can't take the viewers with it if it moves in mid-season then letting it sit behind the Voice for a couple more months is just a waste. I'd much rather see Crisis or Believe get the post Voice slot then be left on cable dominated Sundays.

I actually think the Blacklist could do alright on Thursdays, considering that there's no procedural competition at 9pm. But NBC might want to quarantine their Thursdays, and I wouldn't move TB unless they had an actually plan for Thursdays. So Revolution/Blacklist/SVU is probably the best bet.

Spot said...

I agree with you. Thursdays need to be contained for the time being. I wouldn't risk the blacklist there. I would just throw in the biggest looser, either for two hours or followed by a couple of comedies, and then parenthood. But the comedies would be a mercy move and one I am not sure would benefit the network since I am sure Parenthood could gain from the pairing would the biggest looser (particularly since it had that pairing for its first three seasons). Honestly, at this point, I think they should declare sundays dead and roll with comedy there. I would roll with the following after the Olympics:

Monday
The Voice
The Voice
Best out of Crisis/Believe/The Night Shift

Tuesday
The Voice
Chicago PD
Chicago Fire

Wednesday [Note: they would have to avoid the opening weeks of Idol before doing this but I think the olympics scheduling makes sure of that]

Revolution
The Blacklist
Law and Order: SVU

Thursday
The Biggest Looser
The Biggest Looser
Parenthood

Friday
Parks and Recreation | Community
Grimm
Crossbones

Sunday

Dateline

About a Boy | The Michael J.Fox Show
America's Dream Builders
America's Dream Builders


Use Crisis/Believe/The Night Shift (whatever doesn't go to Mondays post the voice) to plug in mid-season holes a la deception (as badly as that went, it still did better than revolution repeats would do... so if they ordered them and already paid for them, might as well use them)

Spot said...

That's a decent schedule. I could still see an hour of comedies on Thursday, if only because they have quite a few comedies on tap for midseason, and also because I can't see NBC totally giving up on 'Must See Thursdays' this easily. But yeah, I'd throw Thursday and Sundays to the dogs and just focus on Mon-Wed. If you can get them sorted out, then you can work on Thursdays and Sundays next season (even though I'm not sure NBC will ever be able to find a good fix for Sundays in Spring, but that's a discussion for another time).

Spot said...

I think a distinction should be made between what happened to revolution and what would be taking a typical january and february hiatus.
- Revolution left late november and came back almost in april (24th or 25th of april): that's 4 months not airing!!
- It is possible for the blacklist to air until early december and came back late february: that would be 2 months not airing!

There is a huge difference there. I think most shows gain from running uninterrupted so an hiatus is due, but a 2 months one, not a 4 months one, or else is overkill. Same goes for the ABC dramas. They should go for 2 months, not 4.

Spot said...

Oh yeah, I am sure they will insist on at least one hour of comedies on thursdays (it would be a big thing if they at least reduced one hour).

I don't think midseason sundays are hard to solve, it is a perfect place to put the biggest looser during spring. They had the right thing with the apprentice (reality), they just need to replace the franchise. They have that america's home builders or whatever that is, I have no idea what the show is about but if it's reality they should try it there. The Biggest Looser is needed elsewhere (or multiple elsewheres) for the time being.

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