Tonight’s episode of Accidentally on Purpose marks the final episode of the freshman sitcom’s first season. Will it be the show’s series finale as well?
Accidentally on Purpose follows a thirty-something movie critic (Jenna Elfman) who’s broken up with her charming boss (Grant Show). She ends up having a one-night fling with a much younger man (Jon Foster) and becomes pregnant. She ultimately decides to keep both the baby and the guy. The series also features Lennon Parham, Nicolas Wright, Ashley Jensen, and Pooch Hall.
The sitcom got off to a good start back on September 21, 2009 with 8.99 million viewers and a 3.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The numbers started to decline in the next couple of weeks but then came back up.
On Mondays, the show averaged a 3.1 in the all-important demo and 8.23 million viewers. In that same timeslot, Rules of Engagement’s been doing about the same.
For the past couple weeks, CBS has been airing Accidentally on Purpose on Wednesday nights. Without as strong a lead-in as How I Met Your Mother, the sitcom hasn’t been doing as well. In its two weeks of original episodes, Accidentally on Purpose has attracted a 1.9 rating and just 5.97 million viewers. In the same timeslot, Gary Unmarried, averaged a 2.15 rating and 6.65 million viewers.
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In the end, Accidentally on Purpose has performed either lower or about the same as other sitcoms in the same timeslots. That’s not bad but likely not good enough to get it a second season. If the show had beaten Gary’s or Rules’ ratings then Accidentally on Purpose would have had a much better chance but it didn’t.
CBS isn’t satisfied with how their lower-rated sitcoms are doing, so they’ll want to try at least one or two new ones next season. They already have a new one from Chuck Lorre (The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men) in the works and won’t want to let that go. They have the least invested in in Accidentally on Purpose and it’s essentially the lowest-rated, so will likely be the first to get the axe.
Still, the ratings aren’t that bad and it is produced by CBS’ in-house studio. It could survive, perhaps as a midseason replacement. It just doesn’t look all that likely. We’ll know on May 19th for sure.
Thankfully, tonight we’ll see the birth of Billie’s baby so that means we’ll get some sort of closure, just in case this is indeed that last episode.
What do you think? Should Accidentally on Purpose get a second season? Is it better than some of the other CBS sitcoms? Would you be satisfied with this being the series finale?
It should get renewed and clay adkins who played henry aka nadine in the season finale was a hoot and would be a excellent choice to play the sisters gal pal. This show is like the old sitcoms of past and quite funny. CBS please renew it!
i think it is a good enough show for at the least another season. i think its a fun show.
It should get a second season. It’s a good show with great characters and great actors playing them. There are plently of great shows that started out as just good shows but had great characters and great actors. Accidentally on Purpose has all the potential to become a great show, the writers just need a little more time to really get things nailed down. CBS will be making a big mistake if they cancel this show too early.
Cancell this show,Its terrible.I cant stand watching this trash. CBS needs to bring back shows like “The Unit”
Accidentally on Purpose is great! The characters chemistry within the show is phenomonal! People are too quick to push the cancel button! KEEP IT!
With so many dramas on CBS, Accidentally On Purpose is a great change to the network besides the Monday comedy block. I would love to see the show come back because the characters play off each other so well and it makes you laugh every week. Would love to see how they continue the story into season 2 with the baby and engagement. Move Rules of Engagement to Wednesdays and put Accidentally On Purpose back to Mondays. That was a great lineup!
Accidentally on Purpose is the only show I watch on CBS.
This show is good and makes people laugh out loud. It deserves to stay on next season. This coan be the next big hit, if they give it a chance.
Absolutely it should get renewed. And the facts in the above article are incorrect about the numbers on Wednesday nights. They were breaking 6 million every week and beating old christine. This show is genius. And CBS is owns it outright. From day one the media never got behind it. But you can see it’s definitely started to build some momentum with fans. To cancel it would be a waste of a years worth of work. I think CBS will feel the same.
@ted: 4/7: 6.03 million. 4/14: 5.9 million.
It deserves a second season. considering CBS is mainly surviving on the CSI franchise and other cop dramas, they should want to expand their comedy line up a bit more. But because ratings were not the best, it could go either way. Wanting it to come back and it actually coming back are two completely different things, sadly.
it’s the only show on cbs I like! Please don’t cancel it!
They should keep it! It’s a very funny show and has the potential for more storylines with the baby born. They could show the two as parents, their engagement and perhaps wedding, and follow the secondary characters. For me Davis is hillarious and gets me laughing every week. For me it’s better than Old Christine, Gary, and Rules of Engagement, but not near the level of HIMYM (which in my opinion is the best show CBS has). So please CBS give us a couple more years of Accidentally on Purpose, hey the way Sheen is acting you may need another… Read more »
Well in the end I would like to see another season. But it just wasn’t living up to expectations. The storyline itself just wasn’t workin to well. I think most of it’s success goes to the funny guy with the all the hair and the Scottish woman. I mean really where is the show gonna go? But like I said I would like to see an other season. Just don’t lose those 2 characters, or its a guareented fail.
I really wish they would give shows more of a chance! I hate to even start watching shows these days with the cancellation rate so high. We love this show and hope CBS makes the right decision to keep it another season!!!!
it should not receive a second season for it was only about a pregnant woman in labor. it would not make sense continuing it. Like proceeding with The X-Files with Fox Mulder