FOX has thrown away the key on Alcatraz. The J.J. Abrams thriller has been cancelled after one season and 13 episodes.
Alcatraz follows the investigations of police detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) and Doctor Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia). They work to uncover how 340 inmates and guards disappeared from the infamous prison in 1963 and why they’re now reappearing looking just the same. The show also features the talents of Jonny Coyne, Parminder Nagra, Jason Butler Harner, and Sam Neill.
Fueled by a lot of promotion, the TV series was launched in January and drew good reviews and strong numbers. The two-hour premiere attracted a 3.3 rating in the all-important 18-49 demographic with 10.05 million total viewers. Opposite some tough competition from CBS, Alcatraz was in second place in its timeslots.
In week two, the demo slipped 9% to a still respectable 3.0 rating with 9.03 million. Week three dropped another 7%. That wasn’t positive but not horrible either but the ratings just kept falling.
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In February, NBC launched season two of The Voice and Alcaraz’s ratings took a big dive. They ropped 18% on February 6th and then another 17% on the 13th. The numbers just kept falling after that.
The two-hour season (now series) finale was in fourth place in the timeslots and averaged a disappointing 1.6 demo rating with 4.76 million total viewers.
The first season of Alcatraz ended up averaging a 2.2 demo rating with 6.74 million viewers — and those numbers would have dropped lower had there been more episodes.
On our FOX report card — which ranks the network’s shows based on demo averages — Alcatraz has a “C” and that just wasn’t good enough to get a renewal.
FOX chose to keep Touch instead but the network stays in business with producer J.J. Abrams via the network’s Fringe renewal.
What happened? It would seem that Alcatraz just wasn’t compelling enough to keep viewers returning week after week. Plus, for the first time in quite awhile, all three of the major networks had really strong programming on Monday nights. Two of the competing shows — The Voice and Dancing with the Stars — are reality competitions and many viewers feel compelled to watch them “live” rather than catch them online or via DVR recordings.
All 13 episodes of Alcatraz have aired and the last episode left viewers wondering what would happen next. Unless the producers decide to share what they had in mind for season two, we’ll never know the answers to the show’s mysteries.
What do you think? Why do you think Alcatraz failed to hold onto a bigger audience? Did FOX make a mistake by cancelling the series? What will you miss about it?
I really don’t think they gave it a good shot. I think a show should at least get a second season to grow. I loved it personally. Really looked forward to seeing it every week! Top on the DVR. They really need to re consider!
Best show on TV since Fringe! What a shame Fox…what a shame.
Fox you such how is it that you cancel a show after the first season Alcatraz had potential what a waste why don’t you get rid of the talent shows first
I have been waiting for the new season to begin.. I can’t believe this was canceled! This show was fantastic!
I really was looking forward to season 2
I had been waiting for the new season to start. I am sooooo disappointed. They really should have given this more time. It wouldn’t have been a flash in the pan. It had substance, history, action and so much more. I liked it better than “Law and Order” and I was a big fan of that for many years.
This was one of the ONLY shows watched on Fox, I can’t believe Fox didn’t even give it a chance,, Thanks a lot!!
i enjoyed alcatraz very much here in south africa rebecca had just been stabbed and that was our last episode i hope they at least ley us know if she is ok i would have thought people would be fed up with all these reality shows which some of them are just plain rubish and you have to put up with the pompus simon cowle these would be singers and stars as judges earn to much money as it is but i guess its all the teenagers who watch them keep them on the air and rateings and money is… Read more »
I really enjoyed this show & thought it was a good twist on the many legends of Alcatraz. I enjoyed the actors that they were using. I was so looking forward to see what happened this season. I am so tired that every show has to be a reality based TV show. I am so disappointed in FOX!!!
My family and I were big fans of Alcatraz, watched it every week, and looked forward to season 2. This was a series “with legs.” I can’t imagine why Fox decided to walk away from its investment when this show had so much promise. Fox has made a huge mistake.
Sooooo sick and tired of “talent/dancing” shows! This show had such an interesting plot and….heaven forbid…actually taught some interesting history facts!! Way to go FOX 🙁
I am soooo sick and tired of “talent” and “dancing” shows…give it a rest already!
This was such an interesting plot, plus…heaven forbid…some actual history was learned.
I’m so mad this show isn’t returning 🙁
Why didn’t they just move it to a different night
I really enjoyed the show. They solved a mystery each week, the suspense of how they were traveling through time, the secrets of the alcatraz gold, what was the warden up to in the 60’s?…. The prisoner with special blood?