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On a night where broadcast levels were down, it was partially a tale of two reality shows on TV on Monday. ABC kicked off primetime with a two-hour The Bachelor (2.7/7). After hitting a near season-low last week, the series rose 13% from its February 4 show to a season high. The same could not be said of NBC’s The Biggest Loser (2.0/5). Also two hours last night, the weight-loss show dipped 5% for a season low. Biggest Loser wasn’t the only show to hit a new low: Fox freshman The Following (2.4/6) was down 17% from last week to hit a series low. The Following’s lead-in, Bones was down too, slipping 8% from its February 4 episode. With 9.588 million watching, CBS won the night in viewers and the adults 18-49 demo.
On CBS, How I Met Your Mother (3.2/9) also dropped. The recently renewed comedy was down 20% from last week. A week after its season premiere, Rules Of Engagement (2.8/7) slipped 10% from its February 4 airing. The No. 1 show of the night among the key 18-49 demographic, 2 Broke Girls (3.5/9) dipped 5% from last week while Mike & Molly (2.9/7) and Hawaii Five-O (2.1/6) both slipped 9%.
Not everyone besides Bachelor was down on broadcast. ABC’s Castle (2.0/5) was up 11% from last week, and NBC’s Deception (1.3/3) rose 18%. On The CW, The Carrie Diaries (0.6/2) was down a tenth from last week’s series high, as was 90210 (03./1).
Deadline's Dominic Patten - tip him here.
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When will the Networks figure out that star power means nothing to the general public, when it comes to TV. Every year we see old faces of movie star has been’s crash and burn, one new television show after another. Give us good material. The script, the script, the script. Story is everything. There a countless examples of hit shows that started out with no known stars that slaughtered the competition in their role out year. Ask Christian Slater how it went for him on TV, or Samuel Jackson, Gena Davis, and so many others. No one cares a wit about names. snore!
I have to agree. Without compelling story, good writing, accessible relatable characters, and top-drawer produiction values, a series is nothing. Even a star of the highest wattage cannot help. In the case of THE FOLLOWING, Bacon rocks it, but I am tired of so many ongoing dark stories. They and snarky comedies rule the day and it seems not many are succeeding.
“Without compelling story, good writing, accessible relatable characters, and top-drawer produiction values, a series is nothing. ”
But yet, The Walking Dead out-rates every scripted program by leaps.
I don’t think the networks think that. The highest demo went to Two Broke Girls a show where neither lead actress is considered a “star”. The networks are guilty of chasing ‘stars’ when it comes to reality shows…X-Factor, American Idol, etc..but they book any stars for hits like Modern Family, Revolution, etc.
Stars will always get tv vehicles because they’re actors.
i watched the 1st 2 episodes of the following since i like kevin bacon, but that was it..so predictable and poorly written…i see where it is going …i am not shocked…it is so unrealistic..no way so many would have access to this nut and he is not charismatic at all to have a following… a shame..bacon is good as always here but the show is a mess and a flop to me.
Agreed on the starpower thing. It appears shows with movie stars rarely do well on broadcast. Perhaps the stars should just keep making movies & stay away from broadcast. I do think the material also has a lot to do with it. I’ll use The Following as an example. I was into it at the beginning,but,the writing has become beyond ridiculous. Big star or not,if the writing is subpar viewers will leave any program.There are things happening on The Following which defy common sense. Perhaps that’s why its’ numbers are down. Don’t get me wrong I like Kevin Bacon as an actor,but,not in this show. Something is off with The Following & it is most likely the writing. To me,that this young girl & the others did these things(kidnapping boy,setting someone on fire,stabbing someone else to death) seems totally absurd on so many levels. It has become a real strain trying to take this show seriously. It really has.
I could understand why Deception is getting ratings
IT IS GOODDD I want see if she figure out about her best friend death yet
I really wanted to like The Following; I really did. However it’s just too slow and predictable. Last night was my final night watching it. Bring back 24 and have Kevin Bacon as the new lead.
Though The Following is predictable at least its not high on the cheesey meter. The stinky cheese is intolerable on NCIS, CSI Miami, etc, etc.
Well, duh. THE FOLLOWING is a horrible, predictable show. A far cry from the more compelling, layered, character-driven THE KILLING. Halfway through the first episode, I found myself more interested in Edgar Allen Poe than anyone in the show.
Totally disagree. For network television THE FOLLOWING rocks. I find it dark and compelling. Turn to CBS if you want poorly written TV. I’m loving the Following. It’s completely out of the box and scary fun.
The following is a violent show but to be dark show you have to be saying something substantive with the dark material that allow characters to be explored and developed. The real dark shows on tv are cable quality shows like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Justified,Game Of Thrones and etc.
The Following is nothing special for people who been enjoying the Golden Age of TV on cable drama. The Killing is great example of how some cable shows go wrong with arrogant broadcast tv veteran
Actually the big network are trying to imitate the hollywood bussiness model. Getting similar results when it comes to making expensive crap. Yet are still losing more money because of it. Network don’t realize attempt to create hit needs fresh ideas and solid execution. People have several alternatives to spend their lesiure time.
Well, there’s still a million-and-a-half of us who enjoy top-quality writing and superb acting…and we’re watching BUNHEADS.
In the case of The Following, like most disappointments, it is about not fulfilling raised expectations, both long story arc and individual episode. It had an excellent beginning for a bold premise – like SEVEN, some sort of underlying art of mayhem. And initially the story unfolded like it could fulfill that promise. Joe was “writing” chapters from prison. Some things might not go as planned, but there were enough moving parts and unexpected twists that the overall outcome was predetermined. Now, ever since Joey was kidnapped, the large story arc has stalled. Kidnapped to what end? Not one hint of development on that since then. And last night’s episode is a great example of scene promise gone awry: The girl in the basement doesn’t run for the road but hides on the property? Bacon unlocks the side door of the restaurant, but the eager young FBI guy waits for Bacon to sneak around for while, sit, put on a blindfold (“If you take it off, I’ll kill your sister”, and he does, but she doesn’t?), listen to yammering, get knocked out, duct-taped up, magnetized – all before the kid shows up? And how long will we have to be reminded of and exposed to Bacon’s noble remove before it changes even a little? The body count per episode started incredibly high and is now down to one – not that it should be high, or always high – but it started with a frenzy, as if a bomb of violence went off, and now it’s down to a trickle. The implication of more than 6 people in a cult is down to murderous menage a trois chillin’ upstate and only the arsonist unaccounted for. Where’s the Poe? What’s the point? Either the original bible for the story made claims it couldn’t reach, or the writers have gone “off-book” and lost the thread. No art to the mayhem now , big arc or small.
Oops. Arsonist is accounted for – already dead.
The Following is a great show. It just needs a stronger lead in. It was able to gain numbers after Bones. See Hawaii five o instead, it has a strong lead in but loses a lot from it. That’s the diference between a good acted/written show as The Following, and a bad acted weak remake as Hawaii five0 .
If The Following had a 2.9 lead in, it would be getting 3 demo numbers,
The big problem for The Following is that when you have a succession of drops week to week and they start to compound, dropping by larger and larger percentages, this week 17%, there’s usually no turning back. This is the signal that it has lost viewers that aren’t ever coming back and it’s probably going to lose another double digit percentage next week. On the bright side, most of the competition lost huge chunks of audience as well; How I Met Your Mother down 20%, Rules of Engagement down 10%, CBS down across the board, and NBC barely relevant. On the scary side, ABC was way up with The Bachelor(2.7 demo/9 million viewers) skyrocketing upward 13% and Castle up 11%. As I said a week or two ago, The Bachelor is building towards a HUGE finale and it’s carrying Castle to larger numbers as well.