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It was UMS’ pickup day at NBC yesterday when the studio’s freshman series The Event, Law & Order: Los Angeles and Outsourced all received back-nine orders. Today is Warner Bros TV’s turn. As expected, the studio and NBC closed deals for full-season orders to freshman drama Chase and fan favorite Chuck, now in its fourth season, which I hear received a super-sized 11 episode pickup. (Digital rights issues held up both deals from being announced at the same time as the other pickups yesterday.) Additionally, NBC and Warner Bros. TV have settled on the number of additional scripts for freshman spy drama Undercovers, 4. NBC primetime chief Angela Bromstad pointed to Chase‘s “potential to grow” and Chuck‘s loyal audience. Indeed, last night Chase delivered a small ratings uptick at 10 PM, while Chuck held steady. Both finished last in the hour among the major networks.
It is somewhat remarkable that, despite average to disappointing ratings performance by NBC’s freshman class, with the exception of cancelled Outlaw all have been given full-season orders or, in the case of Undercovers, an additional script order. NBC has become the first network to decide the fate of all of its new series. Fox picked up one, Raising Hope, and cancelled one, Lone Star, with comedy Running Wilde still awaiting a decision. Besides canceling My Generation, ABC has been mum as has been ratings leader CBS, which may renew all of its freshman series. CW, which made the first move this fall with script orders to Hellcats as well as veteran One Tree Hill, is yet to followed it up with episodic/more script orders.
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And I will enjoy watching each of their ratings get smaller and smaller. Please don’t group Chuck in with these mediocre shows.
A very weak line up of shows with dropping viewer ship.
Love CHUCK! Awesome.
Proud of Chase… the little show that could.
Agree with your first comment…strongly disagree with your second.
yipeeee! for CHUCK!!! And i was just wondering how the show would do Thursdays at 10pm given the male centric comedies before. A 2.5 on Thursdays could probably mean loads of ad millions for NBC.
CHUCK CHUCK CHUCK!!!! Best week ever. I mean, was there a time that CHUCK got a renewal this early? Thanks NBC.
The comedies are headlined by males, but they skew heavily female. So Chuck would be very likely a bad fit.
I wonder if NBC has ever considered trying out Chuck in the Thu 10pm slot. It would let them do comedy in that slot (an idea they’ve toyed with in the past) while not going to 2 half hours (an idea that may be TOO experimental to them). It couldn’t hurt to try it out after sweeps. Mon at 8 always seemed like a tough place to keep Chuck, considering its target audience is pretty much the same as the successful CBS comedies.
Based on this, I fear the “Quality” NBC’s midseason shows.
I quickly stopped watching Chase, still giving Undercovers a chance. There are much better comedies out there than Outsourced.
It’s name alone makes it sound stupid. Chuck. And the promos. Ugh. But we all know why certain programs ALWAYS get a pass — and for four seasons, no less, while others are axed, right away. Chuck should have been canceled after the first episode. And NBC wonders why it’s NOT a must-see network anymore. …They should work more on Undercovers and dump the boring, redundant Chase. But, again, we all know why that won’t happen.
Yeah. It’s called MONEY. And if Chuck and Chase are making more of it than Undercovers, then of course a deal will be made. And Chuck’s fun
No, we don’t. Why?
I have to second the question, Why? I don’t know why you lump CHUCK in as one of those certain shows that always get a pass. And UNDERCOVERS is still in the running.
I, for one, love the show CHUCK and feel like the they have always worked hard to maintain their spot on the NBC line-up. This is one show that deserves that full season pick-up.
@Anonymous Girl Friday
Chuck rules and you’re a commie spy, now get back to your gallon of Ben & Jerry’s, take a Midol and watch Sex and the City for the umpfth time.
I disagree. Chase is actually a pretty decent show, that does honestly need some some work – but it’s nothing that can’t easily be rectified. A new timeslot would help the show immensely (if promoted correctly), because putting it up against 5-0 and Castle was a ridiculous decision.
If NBC doesn’t renew the show for Fall 2011-12, hopefully it is renewed for midseason.
Yay for CHUCK!!! I hope they use the additional ep’s to delve more into his past… great stuff!
Sorry but this is not them actually saying they believe in these shows. The fact is they have NOthing to replace the shows with, and can’t look like a complete failure. These shows including Outsourced will not get a 2nd Season.
What’s weird about Undercovers is its ratings are miserable, but it doesn’t seem to have a small group of loyalists either like Chuck has and even Lonestar had. NBC must really want JJ to like them.
I’m an “Undercovers” loyalist — the show started slow, but had just enough spark to keep me tuning in; every episode has had a leap upward in quality. The show has real potential, and I’m glad NBC is giving it a little extra time to find its legs. That’s how shows build followings, after all.
I am so sorry that Undercovers is going off the air. I have recorded and watched every episode. Had I known it was being cancelled I would have saved the recordings.
Admitted it began slowly but has since taken off and given enough time will be a great, great show. The network has hardly given the writers time to fully develop the characters. The grumpy old boss has a heart of gold and he and the sister in law each have their stories to tell as does the two main characters and everyone else in the show. I know everything today surrounds money but please bring it back, drop the plural, just call it Undercover and stand by for winning show.
Thank you.
I bet even if JJ Abrams was at the head of NBC, he’d have the good sense to cancel this show, because financially it makes no sense to keep it on.
Outsourced is a pure time slot success. Remember how every show put after Seinfeld had solid retention #’s? Move this debacle of a show to any other time slot and see what happens. NBC’s monstrously bad Current dept is heading for another embarassement if they let Community fade against Big Bang and allow Outsourced to gather undeserved praise beacuse of their lead in.
Outsourced is losing about a million point two viewers off the Office lead in. Which itself is fairly low, around 6 million or so if memory serves (to lazy to check).
So yes, NBC cannot be happy with lack of retention. The Friends/Seinfeld middle slot was a constant debacle. Single Guy?
As to Chuck’s main competition, it is MNF. That show is a monster, pulling in around 13 million viewers (about 75% of them men) week after week. High profile games get even more. Chuck and Fringe are the only two non-animated scripted shows to skew male (Simpsons and Family Guy and Cleveland Show skew higher).
If you want an explanation about why Chuck has lingered around, it is the only show NBC, and one of the very, very few on network TV, that skews male. Other than SNF on NBC, the net has nothing to offer advertisers seeking to reach men. Fox only has Fringe (which as also been “inexplicably” renewed by pure ratings/Adult 18-49 demos), and the animated stuff. CBS (outside NFL Football), ABC, and CW don’t even have that.
CHUCK haters go away. I feel sorry that you are so elitist that you can not stand a fun well done show so much that you have to trash it every week. So sit in your chair and watch PBS and be bored to death.
I’m with you BrianR. Chuck is a great show — very well done (a great ensemble show) and deserves this pickup and a renewal.
YEAH CHUCK!
Thank god! i love that show
Chuck is the little fun adventure show that networks used to know how to create, and fans will fondly remember years from now. Not as a profound Emmy-winner, but a show they simply enjoyed.
I’ve tried to watch Chase, but the characters don’t engage me, including the main one. I’m not interested in watching a whole hour about…well…chasing someone.
I also tried to watch Undercovers. It is mundane.
chuck will actually make it to syndication now!!!!!
*this 11 ep order will give them 78 eps—should they get one more season it’ll take ‘em to 100–but even without the 100 eps–they now have enough eps to get syndicated on some cable channel.
*since its warners i’m betting it pops up on tnt during the day at some point next year.
Chuck really is one of the BEST shows on television! I’m a 29 year old who loves football, but I save Sundays for football and Mondays for Chuck. They should move Chuck so its not competing with MNF. Let Chuck at least go to season 5!
CHUCK and CHASE. My two favorite shows.
Have not really like Undercover, have not gotten into watching Chuck, but really enjoy Chase. Hope it stays with us.