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?
Let me start off by saying that I started watching this show the day AFTER the season finale! I also think that it’s really unfair that the show wasn’t renewed. If anything, I think that Touch shouldn’t be renewed. I mean just because a series doesn’t have freakin’ Keifer Sutherland in it, doesn’t mean its a bad show! I guarantee if a different time slot was chosen, like even Thursdays, after American Idol, more people would have watched it, because that’s advertising right there! I read an interview about a month ago, that said by executive producer Daniel Pyne, that… Read more »
My husband and I are so disappointed. We’ve been thoroughly engaged in this solid show and looked forward to how they peeled back another layer of the back story each week, revealing more & more of what was behind the curtain. I tried Touch and found it painfully formulaic after only 3 shows. And all the characters on Alcatraz were interesting! Going to really miss it. Dumb decision FOX!
Ridiculous about Alcatraz – but they kept “Touch”? Crazy people. Why didn’t they switch nights —Maybe another station will pick it up
I am very upset about FOX cancelling Alcatraz – they did not give it a chance – but instead kept “Touch”? Ridiculous!!! Why didn’t they switch nights – or maybe someone else will pick it up??
I really hope at some point they decide to continue the story in some form. Whether direct to dvd movies, maybe a pickup on syfy, or even in novel form. It was a great premise (this is coming from a person that can’t stand ‘out there’ stories from the likes of Stephen King and the long protracted stories of JJ Abrams), and it looked to feed answers over time. Nobody puts baby in the corner – and nobody goes with a limbo ending to get backhanded by dedicated viewers twice. Give this story the good ending that the good start… Read more »
Zach,
You said it best. It’s sad what this country has become. I fear that over time, we will slowly get closer to the ideals pictured in “Idiocracy”. I already see some of the beginnings happening now.
dumb fox!!! alcatraz is awesome! better than many other shows, including touch. bring alcatraz back please!
How sad is it that shows that actually take the time to try and build a story, delve into the characters as well as the plot and try to build a foundation to base future episodes on are beaten by utterly mind numbing “reality” shows like DWTS?? Shows you how pathetic and brain dead people have become when all it takes to keep them entertained is some has been B list actor/actress trying to dance! Thanks Fox, after canceling Terra Nova the only other shows I even bothered to watch on your lame channel were Alcatraz and Fringe, now that… Read more »
I am pretty disappointed with FOX’s decision to cancel Alcatraz. I know that from now on I can cross FOX off my list of channels that I will watch. There is nothing that is actually fit to watch on this channel anymore. Alcatraz was the only show on FOX that actually appealed to me. All of the other shows are pretty boring and just can’t compete with the other series that are out there on other channels. This decision has made me rethink my opinion of FOX and from now on if anyone asks me if I would give FOX… Read more »
Why are people so surprised it was cancelled? The backstory didn’t progress at an interesting pace and it became just the “murderer of the week”. Boring and dropped after falling asleep during the 4th episode.
The only reason why Alcatraz didn’t get their 2nd season is because too many people are brainwashed by redonkulous reality TV shows. Dancing with the stars? Really people? Come on!!
This sucks!! I like Alcrataz and I miss it now that it’s gone. To find out it won’t be renewed just adds insult to injury! They should have canceled Touch! I guess once Fringe is finished I won’t have to bother with Fox anymore.
THE MORONS AT FOX STRIKE AGAIN!
Hello from Italy, can I say a bad word to Fox…. Somebody must pay, I am morally bumped by this decision…
I enjoyed the show but it’s not the end of the world. If it had moved into the mythology quicker, the audience may not have dropped off like it did.