When Alcatraz debuted, it looked like the show had a very good chance at being renewed for a second season. But how do things look now? Will the TV series be cancelled after all?
Alcatraz follows police detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) and Dr. Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia) as they try to solve the mystery of how 340 prison inmates and guards disappeared in 1963 and are now reappearing in modern day. The cast also includes Jonny Coyne, Parminder Nagra, Jason Butler Harner, and Sam Neill.
The TV show debuted with a solid 3.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 10.05 million total viewers. In week two, the demo slipped 9% to a still respectable 3.0 rating with 9.03 million. New shows typically fall 15-20% in their second week so this was a good sign. Week three dropped another 7%. That wasn’t positive but not horrible either.
Unfortunately, the ratings have just kept falling. In February, NBC kicked off the second season of The Voice and Alcaraz took a big hit, dropping 18% on February 6th and then another 17% on the 13th. And the numbers just keep going down. Last week’s episode was a series low with a 2.1 in the demo.
For the first time in many years, the big networks all have really strong programming on Monday nights and FOX has ended up on the bottom. House, which is in its final season, keeps dropping and so does Alcatraz.
Alcatraz’s season average is currently a 2.3 in the demo with 7.1 million. On our FOX report card — which ranks the network’s shows based on demo averages — Alcatraz has a “C.” Terra Nova, which has already been cancelled, had a better demo average and has a “C+”. When a show that was performing better than yours has been cancelled, that’s not a good sign.
Alcatraz is definitely on the bubble but, in light of the downward ratings trend, I expect it to be cancelled by May. There’s just no reason to expect that the series will do any better if given a second season.
But, what do you think? Do you think Alcatraz will beat the odds and be renewed for a second season? Should it be cancelled?
Image courtesy FOX.
Cost versus demographic may hold the key. Show’s not heavy into SFX, mostly characterization, therefore, may have a good shot at 13 more episodes now that it isn’t competing with Juraissic Park clone Terra Nova.
I’d give it a shot.
omg i loved every min of alcatraz it thrilling series exciting and unexpected all the way and i so want to know more what going on with the 63’s why he wanted to keep track of and send them back to the real world after 50yrs plzzzzzzzz tell me more
To say that there’s no reason to believe it will do better if given a second season is ludicrous. There are so many shows that started of “iffy” but turned into very popular shows. All this reality garbage is turning TV into a joke. How many singing competitions do we need anyway? Alcatraz was one of my favorite new shows this season, if not my favorite, and I’m sick and tired of the good shows, or at least the shows with potential, going by the wayside to make room for more reality crap!
love love love alcatraz hope they dont cancel it we only watch it on dvr.
Mark is right on the money with his criticism. Any show which requires the ability to think and reason as well as the ability to be patient and watch as stories develop gets cancelled. My husband and I are fortunate in that Canadian satellite allows us to watch British shows, many of which are apparently directed at a much more intelligent audience than U.S. TV. We also PVR everything we watch so that we can avoid the long commercial breaks that intrude on the narrative. Alcatraz was an interesting show with many puzzles unfolding, and we’d love to see it… Read more »
We love Alcatraz! Please keep this show!
DON’T CANCEL THIS SHOW. SO MANY HAVE DISAPPEARED! JUST WHEN THE SHOWS GET GOOD, YOU TAKE THEM OFF! I PERSONALLY CANNOT STAND THE REALITY SHOWS!! A GOOD MYSTERY AND LOTS PLOT TWISTS ARE MY CUP-O-TEA!
They should put Alcatraz on Friday with Fringe. Fox should make it a sci-fi friday and move that Kitchen Nightmares show on Monday.
I love Alcatraz,its mysterious and intriguing. It deserves a 2nd season.
I dvr all my shows cause there are so many I like.
Bring back Alcatraz!!!
The show was great. i think it should be renewed for a second season, but move it to a different night to get a better audience
Alcatraz was what made Mondays worth enduring! Don’t take that away from us, PLEASE!!!
I hear ya Bob!
Love the series. Please don’t cancel.
The problem is that intelligent shows get cancelled. Any show that requires thought and a developing storyline is dead in the water. Cop show are the norm because they catch the bad person in the last 10 minutes every week. I’m so sick of the stuff on TV. Reality shows aren’t. Cop shows are boring and have been for decades. Performance shows like American Idol have really out stayed their welcome. TV executives use the same formulas and repackage the same tired ideas week after week. Show like Terra Nova, Alcatraz, Kings, Eureka, and the similar get canned. Those that… Read more »
Hope it keeps going. X-Files hooked me for the entire run and this is the only show I have been interested in that much since.
I agree with Bob. Watched the entire XFILES series and would do the same with ALCATRAZ.