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?
very disappointed that the show was canceled due to a reality tv show … this show should have gone all three way… also very …. please fox try again!
Shows like this should be off season to the more popular shows they would draw attention in the off seasons to maintainoff season viewers
I was so disappointed when I saw that this show was cancelled. Such great characters and story lines and a great cliff hanger to end the season. FOX seems to be able to stop Bones and other shows from airing when the Voice and other reality shows are on at the same time in the season. I don’t knw why executives can’t figure out to just move the time slot or move it to later in the season. They get paid enough, you think they’d be able to come up with a simple solution. Disapponted!!
I loved Alcatraz. One of my favorite shows on television. This just isn’t even fair.
I loved this show! The acting was great and the main and underlying storylines kept me very eager to tune in each week. This was just about the only show I watched on Fox, even though I admit that I often recorded it and watched it later. But I never missed an episode. I really wish Fox would give it another chance in a different time slot. I’ll miss seeing my favorite actor Sam Neill each week the most!
I too did a search to see when it would be back. So sad to hear it was cancelled! And especially since it had low ratings against live reality competition shows- how is that fair or relevant?! Everything about this show was great.. the actors, the characters, the story lines and especially the location!
I like Colleen Anderson have been waiting and waiting to see when Alcatraz was returning for Season 2. I too Googled it tonight and am devastated to see that it is canceled. I am so upset that I think I am going to boycott watching any shows on the Fox Network. Alcatraz was a great show that had you on the edge of your seat each episode. It had an awesome story line. Why would they not at least give the show a 2nd season and try and boost the ratings? I agree you can only take so much reality… Read more »
How disappointing to see Alcatraz was canceled. We looked forward to the show and can’t believe its gone. Why is it set in stone they only have one time slot to make it work? Bring it back!
I just googled Alcatraz to find out when season 2 would start and was horrified to find out it was cancelled. Me and my wife looked forward every week to watching this show. Reality t.v. is just mind numbing and ridiculous most of the time. Great shows with plots and twist like Alcatraz should not be cancelled so sudden. Try a different night! I hope the producers of this show will give it one more shot.
I have been waiting and waiting to see when Alcatraz was returning so I Googled it tonight and I get this news that it was cancelled!!! I am so upset. My fiance and I looked forward to watching Alcatraz together every week. You can only take so any reality singing or dancing shows. Bring back Alcatraz.
If FOX was smart, they would try Season 2 in a different time slot or day or even a season that would not be so competitive with other top rated shows. Maybe the ratings would be different. What would it hurt to try that?
why in the world did Fox cancell Alcatraz???? it’s as bad as the syfy channel, cancelling good shows with no reason…… Alcatraz was a wonderful show, and was always interesting and exciting! Fox is stupid!
My family and I love Alcatraz. We are so sad there will be no second season. Please bring it back! It was different and thrilling, not the same old tv show. We loved it!!
They should have let people voted weather to keep it or to cancel it
Dang! Alcatraz was awesome!