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After breaking basic cable ratings records with its premiere, Night 2 of History‘s six-hour miniseries Hatfields & McCoys scored more big ratings. It garnered 13.1 million total viewers, 4.7 million adults 18-49 and 5.8 million adults 25-54 from 9-11:05 PM last night. In total viewers, the mini held onto 94% of its premiere audience; in 25-54, the retention was 100%, in adults 18-49, 98%. Among total viewers, Part 1 & Part 2 of Hatfields & McCoys now rank as the #1 and #2 entertainment telecasts of all time in ad-supported cable. The conclusion of the miniseries airs tonight.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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I’m a bit surprised. I liked the series thus far but had spoken to some who didn’t. Glad to see people gave it another chance or more new viewers caught the 1st part online or prior to the new episode.
Hey History Channel-
After all the brilliant work on this project….
After all the time and labor bringing it to life…
Do you REALLY think the audience doesn’t know that we’re watching
THE HISTORY CHANNEL???
If you’re going to feel it’s necessary to have your logo in the corner through the entire 6 hours….at least fade it so it’s not so annoying!!!
Sheesh imagine if the studios had logos on the corner of the movie screens during their movies! This project earned the right to be aired LOGO FREE!!!!
So agree, G-65. I actually couldn’t get through the first episode because the “Ice Road Truckers” and “History Channel” promotion– on the screen at the same time FOR 18 MINUTES was way too distracting / annoying. I absolutely get the need to cross promote but come on. No point in having HD if half your screen is taken up with logos. I will try watching it again likely,given all the positive reviews, but HIstory Channel really needs to dial it down.
The audience is there for mini’s and movies. Serve the story and you have a winner.
This could have been on HBO but so glad History is picking up the mantle. Downton Abbey and now Hatfields and the McCoys show that HBO is not the only game in town.
HBO’s making such minor and insignificant films but supposedly they make art. At least that’s what they believe. Hemingway and Gelhorn was unwatchable. Shows like Luck which are designed around names and not content are what HBO is about. Game of Thrones is a happy accident for them. I’m very afraid to see David Mamets take on Phil Spector. He may have been a misogynist who tortured and murdered women but at least he was talented!
The current regime won’t acknowledge Temple Grandin, Something the Lord Made, Warm Springs, Lackawana Blues, Taking Chance because they came from the last regime. HBO won’t even put them on HBO GO. Nevertheless these movies had soul. They weren’t contrived as star vehicles only (as HBO movies and mini’s are now) just great stories worth telling. HBO has killed this division with the lack of taste and rabid insecurity of the execs running it.
AMEN to all of that D.K.
like you said – glad to see that History Channel is picking up the mini series mantle for projects that people actually want to see (hbo seems to be on a downslide) I hope other cable outlets take note
when i was a kid – I remember “event” minis like Roots and Winds Of War – nice to see that sorta happening again
AMEN to all that D.K.
nice to see the History Channel pick up the mantle for mini series projects that people ACTUALLY WANT TO SEE (hbo’s been on a downslide lately…you see the stuff they produce lately? – game of thrones = happy accident per poster abve)
I hope other cable outlets take note of this…though History Channel promoted the heck outta this and it worked
when i was a kid – stuff like roots and winds of war were event minis that people talked about – kinda nice to see that sorta happening again with Hatfields & McCoys
Agreed. It’s a shame broadcast networks gave up on these. They may not get the ratings that epics like Roots and The Thorn Birds, but what would any network give to get a 4.7 in that precious demo they so drool over?
Why doesn’t HBO make memorable movies anymore? Temple Grandin seems to be the last of them. Enjoyed Hatfield and McCoys. Wasn’t Brad Pitt going to make a movie about them?
I’m still enjoying the series, but for those that thought it should be longer, I think last night’s installment proved this is just long enough. The back and forth fighting doesn’t need to be dragged out much longer than 6 hours.
Good for everyone involved. Watched parts 1 and 2 last night and while I didn’t quit realize that was going to be four hours I was completely entertained and found the production beautifully realized and the story compelling.
The biggest surprise for me was the performance by someone not at all familiar with, Andrew Howard as “Bad” Frank Phillips. Every time on screen he literally commanded your attention.
They made a show that even the 50+ crowd can watch, the 50+ crowd was already their in the cable universe, driven there by the networks who only want to entertain the 18-49 crowd.
HBO is still trying recover from not picking up MAD MEN when it was offered, after SOPRANOS ended.
Going into the miniseries with very low expectations based on early reviews, I am enjoying it. I’ve only seen the first part, but I wish there was more to it than just each side fighting the other, like some mini-arcs. I would have liked to get to know the character better before watching them die. Overall, I hope this signals to History that there is appetite for this kind of thing.
This comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray on July 31, 2012 for those that don’t have cable or haven’t seen this mini-series. The ratings for tonight should be even higher.
While I admit part 2 lagged in many places, it was still interesting to watch these families go at each other. Hard to imagine something like this could have started over, of all things, a pig and escalate to all-out war from there.
Not surprised this is doing well. The broadcast nets are all showing “Can you guess who farted?” and the pay cable channels are all showing “I’m drunk and fell down and throwing things.” People want stories. People want actors.
It looks like a bad 70′s soapy mini drama. I mean it just looks bad. Overlit and bad over acting extras add all the texture of foam rocks waiting to ride Jaws at Universal. No scope, nothing wider than a medium shot, then he never cuts to a close up when you need one. Also this is directed without a point a view. I mean an artistic visual point of view. I feel like I’m watching a play and my seats are on the side of an aisle. Dramatic and emotional beats are passed over and blatantly missed.
70s Bad Soap? You do realize the screenwriter was Ted Mann who was a writer on DEADWOOD. Not sure you watched the same mini-series I did. Crane shots everywhere, shots from the barrel of the gun’s point of view– sweeping shots of Costner riding with a band of Hatfields…The shots of the Hatfield home in the West Virginia mountains– not sure you can get a bigger master shot than that without a telescope . But you should pass your notes along to director Kevin Reynolds. I’m sure he could use the stylistic tips.
Maybe go watch Hemingway and Gellhorn? That may be more your speed.
Your right i didn’t view it on tv, I got my academy DVD and watched that one.
Great writer in the past but, yeah doesn’t matter what you’ve done, its what you’re doing now and this is no deadwood.
Ill be sure to tell Waterworld director Kevin that maybe a shot with some feature style scope might help. Or maybe playing a scene is something other than a two shot might have dramatic impact.
And sorry sport but you don’t use a longer telephoto lens for a shot with more scope its the other way around.
It really wasn’t about the pig…it started when Anse Hatfield deserted from the confederate army…Randall McCoy never forgave him for that
I thought I wouldn’t like it but i did. found myself speaking of it to people who i knew wouldn’t like it but we would go back to it when nba look staged then we watch the whole 2nd part. I liked the family material. It had feeling. It sounded real. Often when arguments are personal we forget where they started and things get convaluted, like the story. Bless both families and their heirs. It was like the black and white issues of that time and these times without the blacks. I liked it. If you didn’t like it you can watch something else. Well done!
Well, I don’t make movies for a living, but I do know a wide expansive shot when I see it. 14.3 million viewers coming to Night 3 and great reviews in the LA TIMES and Entertainment Weekly tend to say that you are in the minority. Put down the brandy snifter and enjoy it when Bad frank blows away Skunkhair and scalps him in yes, your dreaded two-shot. The mini had tons of close-ups of Costner and the cast, sorry it wasn’t to your liking. Put down the brandy sbifter, turn off Downton Abbey with its non-period hair and obvious handheld for the servants, static shots for the upper crusts, and watch the “bad 70s soap” Hatfields rake in the Emmy nominations, hater.
I loved it and so did many others I know. Great show and great actors. It’s always good to learn about history and also learn a valuable life lesson at the same time. I would watch any and all mini series the History Channel has on.