Privileged: Essentially Cancelled or Will There Be Season Two?

Tonight, the CW airs the season finale of Privileged. While some may have been hoping for a nice happy resolutions, the TV show is leaving plenty of cliffhangers. But, will the cast and crew be back with season two to answer them?

The story of Privileged begins as Yale-educated Megan Smith (JoAnna Garcia) starts working for cosmetics tycoon Laurel Limoges (Anne Archer). She’s hired as the live-in tutor for Laurel’s twin teenage granddaughters, Rose (Lucy Kate Hale) and Sage Baker (Ashley Newbrough). Megan’s ultimate goal is to make sure that the spoiled girls are accepted into a top university. Though the twins seem to have every advantage, it’s no easy task. Others in the cast include Allan Louis, Brian Hallisay, Kristina Apgar, Michael Cassidy, Rizwan Manji, Alice Greczyn, Stacy Barnhisel, Melissa Ordway, Ignacio Serricchio, David Giuntoli, John Allen Nelson, Dave Franco, Ally Matsumura, David Monahan, Sharon Lawrence, Andrew J. West, and Steven Culp.

Despite positive reviews and plenty of buzz, Privileged debuted on September 9, 2008 to 2.64 million viewers and a 1.2/3 rating/share of the 18-49 demographic. Those numbers were nothing to get excited about, even by CW standards, and the demo numbers were particularly disappointing based on the show’s projected audience. The ratings dipped a little in week two but then fell significantly to just 1.81 million and a 0.8/2 for episode three.

While the network has made multiple attempts to boost the show’s audience by giving it more exposure, rerunning episodes in various timeslot, most viewers just don’t seem to be particularly interested. Last month, Privileged hit a series low of 1.12 million viewers and a 0.5/1. That’s less than half of its premiere numbers and a loss of over 40% of its 90210 lead-in audience. Looking at the whole season, Privileged has averaged less than two million viewers each week.

Should Privileged be cancelled? No! Are you kidding? Maybe, it's an okay show. Yes and good riddance! View Results  Loading ...

With numbers like these, it looks almost certain that Megan and the Bakers won’t be back for season two. The network has fewer hours to fill than the three big networks, just renewed six other series, and has several promising new shows to choose from for the fall — including a Gossip Girl spinoff and the Melrose Place revival.

Executive producer Rina Mimoun knew the odds going in to the season finale but didn’t want to throw in the towel. She told the Boston Herald, “I refuse to go down. I did not want to wrap this puppy up because wrapping it up is signing your death sentence. So, hopefully, we’ll build some momentum… We definitely want to keep the audience on their feet and wanting more.”

The finale will certainly leave viewers wanting more but the ongoing problem is that there just aren’t enough of them. Will Mimoun’s gamble pay off or just leave viewers hanging forever?

Image courtesy CW.

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