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.
 Loading ... |
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?
Meh can’t say i’m too bothered it was becoming another bad guy of the week style cop show and there is enough of them as it is!
Why do they always do this? Just when it was getting interesting! The concepts was good and this show had a lot of potential. It was a bit strange that the prisoners return to 2012 and start to commit the same crimes they were put away for in the first place… I mean realistically would they not be laying low?? apart from this this show had everything you need from a show, both predictable and upreditable plots, action, romance (with Dr Gupta etc…although a bit more would be good with the main characters), and the strange sci fi edge! FOX……….WISE… Read more »
Friggin ridiculous. Once again Fox has not given enough time or attention to a good and potentially great sci-fi show. How many times do we have to see shows like this, Sarah Connor and Firefly cancelled before it’s time? Maybe instead of trying to come up with new shows every year, and then have them cancelled, Fox should stick with something for awhile. Maybe they could have moved it to a different, less competitive time slot (away from popular reality shows the idiot masses gobble up). Note to Syfy Channel: instead of coming up with more lame shows-just pick up… Read more »
I hope that Netflix take the show and finishes it like they are doing with Lucifer!
This sucks!!!! I really wanted it to be renewed!!!!! How can we renew it!!!! I want a second season!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Give me a second season fox!!!!
Noooooooooo!!! How could they cancel it?! Maybe after another few crappy reality shows it’ll come back??? 🙁 🙁 🙁
Touch is too predictable, but lets keep that instead. Alcatraz was another show that makes people think, and no one wants to do that anymore.
Weak
Damnit! I was so hoping for a second seasons! Why oh why it’s always the same
I have gotten to the point where I don’t want to watch ANY new network shows! Every time let myself be drawn into a show it gets cancelled and replaced with some atrocity of a “talent show”. Just watching the commercials for the garbage the networks put out is enough to convince that America has little talent and NO taste.
Thank goodness for HBO and Showtime.
FOX SUX!! They wouldn’t know a good program if it jumped up and bit them on their diapers. It is going crazy world wide!!!
I enjoyed the ample bussom of Sarah Jones. R.I.P. the bussom of Sarah Jones.
It’s “bosom” actually, but you’re phonetically correct (and it was ample).
[…] FOX and b) because the network’s other new dramas haven’t done any better. Terra Nova, Alcatraz, and The Finder have performed worse than Touch and won’t be back next season. Coupled with […]
I really liked this show. I was hoping it would last.
[…] TV show dates: January 16, 2012 – March 26, 2012 Series status: Cancelled […]
[…] (FOX) The ratings started off strong but faded over the course of the season. It’s been cancelled and all 13 episodes have […]
Son of a B! This is a disappointment.