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 wish Fox would move this show to one of the cable channels they own, like NBC does their shows when they are performing at ‘Network’ level, but are still viable (like Southland, also one of my fav shows) Alcatraz was great, finally a show with a NEW idea, and a female lead that is NOT a bimbo, and as soon as you get hooked, BOOM, cancelled. We DVR’d this show regularly. How accurate can ratings even be anymore when people watch tv on the net, dvrs, etc?
YESSSSSS…THEY DID MAKE A BAD MASTAKE BY CANCELING THE SHOW….THEY SHOULD SWITCH THE AIR TIME AND DAY…MAKE IT WORK…ITS VERY HARD FOR ME TO FOLLOW A GOOD SHOW WITH ALL THIS REALITY SHOW WITCH I CAN NOT STAND…. .THEY DID THIS AGAIN TO ME TO….I WAS SO UPSET WHEN THEN PRISON BREAK OFF….THEY TAKE NEED TO STOP TAKING OFF GOOD SHOWS…THEY NEED KEEP ALCATRAZ ON THE AIR…SAVE THE SHOW
why why why oh yes i forget we must have something that is not woth watching to keep airing and take something that keeps you thinking off the air!!!!!
U R SO RITE…
alcatraz cancelled after just 1 season due to a ratings drop, lets look at why shall we. 1. as mentioned, poor scheduling choice in competition with other popular life fantasy shows like dancing with the stars. 2. the show underwent some poor writing choices midway through the season, it did start getting a little boring but it ended very strong the way it started. it’s like writers began “safety mode” into toned down “filler”. 3. the big digital t.v. changes, needing antennas and whatever other crap. the ratings are shown per viewers, every episode i watched was online, which has… Read more »
the best movie show in 2012 and there stupid cancelled ..you are playing with people
I can’t believe they canceled the show I loved that’s show it’s the one of three good shows on fox ( FYI glee and touch are the other two) I. So fricken furious I didn’t know they canceled it but me and my dad recorded the episodes and them whenever we could whoever decided to cancel it should pay for the hurt he’s caused these people and I hope all the other shows that replaced this will get cancelled
Это возмутительно заканчивать сериал на такой ноте!Заманив зрителей до такого определенного момента и накала страстей и в результате все бросить,так нельзя обращаться со своей аудиторией.Очень надеюсь на благоразумие компании FOX т возобновление прекрасного сериала.
when you cancel a show that just started… at least make a TV movie or something to tie it all together for all of us who actually loved the show… K thanks…
I’m like a little child robbed of my favorite toy ! Alcatraz is one TV show worth viewing than, no offense, reality shows !
Yet another example of Fox canceling a great show because of some stupid ratings. This isn’t the first time they’ve done this and I can assure you it won’t be the last. I hate “reality” shows. The only one I watch is America’s Got Talent and I’m not even watching it this season because it sucks. I was hooked on Alcatraz from the get go. J.J. Abrams is a terrific writer and I love just about everything he does. At least he’s coming out with a new show in the fall. But I really wish they kept it.
My bf & I are so different that we almost have nothing in common. Not to mention we’re in a long distance relationship. But watching Alcatraz on Monday nights was one of the few things we could do together even though we are in separate states. & we looooooved that show! I love detective shows, he loves anything with people shooting in it. Alcatraz was entertaining & it made sense. Great show! & it added fun to the relationship. They need to bring it back!
TV is so stupid now with reality tv. finally alcatraz was a show i loved to watch. we often watched the episodes twice even when they also aired it on saturday nights. it constantly left you wondering what was going to happen next also i loved the intertwining storie lines it always left you guessing. i definitely thought this show was going to be a ten year run atleast.
This was a show actually looked forward to . Have no clue about those other shows mentioned in the article . To me reality shows = crap . And if they was worried about times slots this or that . Well move the thing to a different time slot . I myself would rather have something like this to watch at 8 or 9pm . Let all the morons who watch the singing or dancing with there idols have there 7pm time slot . It is to the point that the big networks are spinning there wheels in the endless… Read more »
Wow, that was a poor decision. That show was a lot better then a lot of shows.
Common sense and logic seem to be vital components missing at Fox. How the hell can they cancel this great show, yet greenlight a second season for that pukey dishwater that is “Touch”!? I invested 13 weeks into this, only to have the rug pulled right from under me. There are fans for this show over here in the UK as well, you know! But hey, the suits at Fox don’t give a rat’s a*** anyway. “Reality” (and I use that term mockingly!) TV is the norm now. We have the same problem for that garbage over here too. Well,… Read more »
This was a good show and had I known it would end this way I would never had bothered with it. How do these people decided things like this? At least let the season finish when you cancel a show so it can have some type of closure