UNFINISHED BUSINESS: The Projects James Gandolfini Left … 
R.I.P. James Gandolfini 
Photos: James Gandolfini, 1961-2013 
Masterpiece To Co-Produce ITV Medical Drama … 
Warner Bros Sets Morten Tyldum To Helm … 
Zac Efron Thriller ‘The Falling’ Gets Jeremy … 
Why Was Ex-Soft Porn Filmmaker Recently Hired As Movie … 
ReelzChannel Cancels ‘The Big Picture’ After … 
Cillian Murphy Boards ‘In The Heart Of The Sea’ 
John Legend To Produce Comedy Project About Music Managers … 
Hot Trailer: ‘Crystal Fairy’ 
Sam Taylor-Johnson To Direct ‘Fifty Shades Of … 
Inside AMPAS Board Of Governors’ Meeting: Conflict Of … 
Hot Trailer: ‘The Spectacular Now’ 
Glenn Geller To Run Current Programming For CBS & CBS … 
Shailene Woodley’s Mary Jane Role Cut From ‘The … 
New ‘Star Wars’ Film Cast Breakdown Unveiled 
CAA Signs Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck, Oscar-Winning … 
UPDATE: Dan Abrams Named New ‘Nightline’ Anchor … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘The Voice’ Finale On Par … 
Joy Bryant Returns To Longtime Agent Steve Alexander At … 
A day after FX’s Sons of Anarchy returned with 4.13 million viewers, the network’s new drama Terriers debuted with 1.6 million total viewers last night, 659,000 of them in the adults 18-49 demographic. This marks the lowest-rated drama series debut for FX, which was surprising given the show’s pedigree (it hails from The Shield creator Shawn Ryan and Ocean’s Eleven writer Ted Griffin, mostly positive reviews and extensive marketing campaign (though I have to admit I didn’t care much for the snarling dog, the title of the show was confusing enough). FX is not giving up on the new series though. To help Terriers get traction, the network will rebroadcast the premiere episode after Sons of Anarchy next Tuesday.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
Loading ...
Let’s be clear, the use of the dog confused most people about what this show was really about. Marketing fail. Sorry.
Exactly right. The title SUCKS.
Sooo true. My friend and I thought it was a reality show about terrier dogs, literally. It wasn’t until I read it’s description on the Futon Critic that I found out that was not the case.
Let’s also be clear — FX Marketing is TOP NOTCH, esp the on-air. They just committed to the wrong image for this, esp the outdoor.
Not nearly as good as Lifetime’s “Poodles”
The dog screwed the pooch on that…
I guess I’m an oddball but I got it. Terriers are little guys that are scrappers and don’t give up and that’s what I took the title and dog to mean? I admit it’s a stretch and confusing for most. I was curious enough to watch the show and I have to admit that I liked it. I will be tuning in next week to see if it keeps my attention.
The show was not all that bad. Not “Justified” or “Breaking Bad” but certainly better than that gaudawful “Mad Men”.
this will forever be a marketing mistake. the image of the dog told us nothing, the title told us nothing.
I had no idea what this show was about. At best I thought it was a reality show about a gang in Boston.
Yeah, I thought it was about dog fighting, but then I thought, “wait, who would do a show about dog fighting? Isn’t that very very frowned upon?”
Too bad it didn’t get good ratings, it was an enjoyable watch.
“frowned upon”…. as opposed to mobsters or meth cookers… ugh… nevermind.
The thing is, though, there are plenty of people who will watch shows about mobsters, drug dealers, etc., and the accompanying violence without batting an eye, but would be up in arms over a show about dogfighting.
Agreed on the marketing. The art looks like a 90s denim jeans advertisement. I still have no idea what the show is about. Dogfighting?
FX has the best marketing department of any of the networks — better than HBO, better than AMC (though the Mad Men original first season poster was beautiful), better than Showtime though some of theirs have been strong.
The marketing is often better than the shows. (The only marketing campaign of theirs I remember hating is the one where Glenn Close looks like the yolk in Rose Byrne’s eggshell head. That was a fail.) The Rescue Me campaigns are always good, as are Always Sunny. Even on failed shows like Dirt and Riches, the billboards were brilliant — the Courtney Cox LIchtenstein one comes to mind, or the Riches with the Pinocchio noses. Many of those Nip Tuck billboards were brilliant. If there was a problem with Terriers ad campaign, it’s just that it was unclear it was a PI show. It did, however, get the tone of the show.
Terriers is really good, the best hour long show they’ve premiered since Rescue Me, and it will build an audience. Its ratings aren’t Damages level. I’d be curious how they compare to Dirt and The Riches, both of which got second seasons; Terriers has much more of a sustainable concept and world than those two did. I’m hopeful. Shawn Ryan is one of the most decent guys in this business who also does quality work — he’s easy to root for.
rescue Me? really? Like the lame ones this year with Derek Jeter driving by the fire? Yeah, ok, that was top notch – not.
Yes, most of the early adverts showing dogs made me wonder if it was a reality show, or possibly a quirky show about guys that moonlight as dig walkers. By the time advertising started giving me the full picture, I could care less.
I agree that the promos make it look like an Animal Planet show.
FX is really out of gas on these “Shield” rip-offs. Come on guys try something new.
A Shield rip off? It’s pretty clear that you haven’t seen Terriers (or even the actual TV ads for it) if you think it’s similar in any way to The Shield. Unless you count the fact that both shows involve crimes, but that seems far, far away from “rip off” material.
Wow, this is a real doozie.
FX royalled screwed up on marketing this promising new TV show, sadly resulting in poor ratings for series launch.
Terriers?! Hello?! Fighting dog graphic? Huh?! Is this an FX cable cop show ala The Shield or Animal Planet ala It’s Me or the Dog?
Creator Shawn Ryan is a talented writer (witness The Shield) and a great guy – he deserved much better from FX’s marketing dept. than this.
FYI, this show was originally called RIDE-ALONG when it was picked up as a pilot, which a) is clearly a much better title for a buddy cop show and b) told you all you needed to know and c) provided a solid hook to sample the show
This is an even more epic fail in terms of marketing than MT Carney’s “It’s the coolest job ever” lame tagline for Disney’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice mega-flop.
Maybe FX can re-launch/re-brand the show as RIDE-ALONG and salvage Shawn’s worthy new show?!
SOS
Actually, RIDE-ALONG is a completely different show that is shooting in Chicago…. Shawn Ryan is involved with that one, too.
Oops, ok, my bad, but you can see how the premise of Terriers could easily be confused with Ride-Along – I thought FX changed the title from pilot to premiere, so thanks for correction.
My other comments about the epic-fail marketing campaign still stand.
Ride-Along is a different show. It’s going to be on Fox. It’s about honest cops in Chicago fighting against corruption.
I think you are confused. FOX picked up Ride-Along (set in Chicago) for midseason. Terriers is a completely different project from Shawn.
the show was never called ride-along…that was another pilot on fox…this was always terriers
You’re an idiot. Ridealong is Shawn Ryan’s show that’s premiering on Fox midseason. That one Shawn himself created. Terriers, an FX series, he executive produced with Ted Griffin, a feature writer (Ocean’s 11, Matchstick Men) who created it. It’s not a cop show. It’s a PI show.
If you’re going to act like a know it all, at least get your f-ing facts straight.
Ride-Along actually looks really hot and I’m not even into cop shows. Looks like a feature.
Not awful, but closer to stale than ground-breaking. In fact if the exact pilot script came from a newbie writer instead of Ted Griffin, it would be never be a very quick PASS. Such is the state of the game….
Not really digging the cast or the Rockford Files premise. Donal Logue as a leading man in mild sitcom or episodic drama doesn’t intrigue me so much. The other dude looks like another forgettable cable face. Great cable is all about sharp and edgey , not picking up big five rejects.
I saw this pilot awhile back – liked the chemistry between the characters, the slight ne’er-do-well vibe and the gritty comedy. Then I saw the marketing plan. It seems like they might’ve needed to be more forthright on this…a dog could mean anything.
Stupid question: how do they get their viewership numbers? Is it all from Nielson ratings? And what, exactly, are those based on? Do they really send out thousands of Nielson boxes for people to attach to their tv sets? Do they change this representative group up every so often?
Sucky title for a nice show. It’s the kind of clever idea that has to land in the paper basket for obvious reasons – even though everybody at the meeting really liked it b/c it’s so clever and witty. To the insiders who already know the show.
@ it’s me or the dog
“RIDE-ALONG . . . which a) is clearly a much better title for a buddy cop show and b) told you all you needed to know and c) provided a solid hook to sample the show”
a)hell no, b) are you serious und c) hell no.
A good title gives me a clue what the show is about so I can actually remember it easily and associate – ROOKIE BLUE is about rookie cops, COVERT AFFAIRS is self explanatory, THE GATES is about the community the gates and they nicely visualize it, WHITE COLLAR as in …crime, CSI, BONES, HELLCATS, 90210, even JUSTIFIED … kill is very memorable and descriptive.
..Or it makes me curious like CAPRICA or RUBICON or RIZZOLI & ISLES. Terriers? Ride Along? Both titles do neither.
Yes, clearly Rubicon’s title really brought people in by the truckloads – it’s getting 1.2 million viewers a week, that’s almost as bad as My Boys. And Caprica sounds like a drug your doctor prescribes when you can’t get your pee-pee to get hard. Terriers was a good title. Biggest issue was premiering right after Labor Day. Everyone’s been on vacation, hard to break through as a cable series when all the promotion is up everywhere for the new network season, and yes, they should have done something to make it clear that it’s a PI show.
But Sons of Anarchy’s numbers grew and it’s now a hit. And so did Always Sunny. This will grow, too. The quality is there, and never underestimate the power of FX rerunning episodes at all different hours of the day. It’s a more accessible show than Dirt or Riches. It’ll do well.
uh dude, I won’t come back to a show that is so full itself and where every single episode screams MYSTERY! if it doesn’t deliver. RUBICON has severe issues, the storylines don’t flow together well, there was a total throwaway episode…. plus, the lead actor isn’t anything one can get excited about in the meantime. I wouldn’t miss it. I was talking about the initial appeal to tune in purely based on a title and nothing else.
“Terriers was a good title” and “yes, they should have done something to make it clear that it’s a PI show” seem contradictory. How about giving the show a REALLY GOOD TITLE? One that makes it clear, for example?
I love SONS OF ANARCHY. That’s also a great title, btw. And I like TERRIERS, that was a solid pilot. Hope WOM will do what the title and marketing didn’t.
It really doesn’t matter what the poster showed or the campaign. FX gives every show a chance to find an audience. Very patient network.
Agreed. And this show seems like the type that will really benefit from people jumping on as it goes along.
terriers sucks. one of the worst opening I’ve ever seen. don’t knpw what Ryan is thinking . . .
Worst title ever.
Thank you.
Donal Logue, the thinking man’s Danny McBride.
you think the title is the reason no one showed up?
I saw an ad for this show before a few movies this week. It looks like it’s been done before (it didn’t help that half of the ad consisted of the actors praising everything, a sure sign of failure) and it didn’t have many recognizable names (unlike Sons Of Anarchy and Justified, a few more successful series on FX). I think that was the problem.
I’m amazed at the amount of time dedicated to the title of the show. Very few people are talking about just how unbelievably mediocre the first episode was. There was nothing Shawn Ryan as we know it from The Shield, and everything Shawn Ryan as we know it from where he started; b-level network fare. There was also nothing Ted Griffin as we know it from Oceans 11, and everything Ted Griffin as we know it from not much else in his career. There was not one surprising turn in the piece and although I like the lived in look of Donal Logue, his partner was completely inocuous and the women the same note across the board and without one iota of being interesting performers. If this was to be a modern take on the Rockford Files, they they left their sense of humor on the dock of their worse than can be imagined named town, Ocean Beach. And what about the Craig Brewer who directed Hustle & Flow? Someone should have woken him up (the reveal in the lifeguard shack was as poorly shot, lit and rendered as any I’ve seen on CBS). You have to look at the way the ratings break down in 15 minute increments to see where they started and where they ended up. I can guarantee you they lost audience from the very beginning and that the show will trail off. Frankly, I think it’s a cancelled show after the first 13 the way Over There was. Once again, the John Landgraf led regime, except for Sunny, lays another mediocre dud shined up with its auspices to create expectations it can’t live up to because they don’t know how to develop.
The marketing was definitely confusing. My wife saw a banner online and thought that it was going to be a show about dogs for kids and was going to have our 2-year-old watch it. But she was put off by the dog’s teeth so she didn’t tune in. But I did and enjoyed the show very much.
Terriers sucks. Ride along is talky and boring. Betting on a name instead of a script doesn’t work.