It’s the nightmare NBC’s Awake fans were dreading. NBC has cancelled the show after 13 episodes and one season.
Created by Kyle Killen (Lone Star), Awake revolves around a police detective (Jason Isaacs) who, after being in a horrific car accident, finds that he’s living in two realities. In one, his son perished — in the other, his wife did. The cast also includes Laura Allen, Steve Harris, Dylan Minnette, B. D. Wong, Michaela McManus, Wilmer Valderrama, and Cherry Jones.
The complex drama had an unimpressive debut back on March 1st, registering a 2.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 6.24 million viewers. NBC had released the pilot episode well in advance so some believed that hurt the premiere ratings.
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Theoretically the second episode should have shown signs of growth but it didn’t. Week two dropped 20%. Week three remained stable but subsequent weeks saw additional declines. Last week’s episode hit a new low with a dismal 0.7 rating and just 2.15 million viewers.
This season has averaged a 1.1 rating in the demographic with 3.5 million total viewers. Awake is the third-lowest rated drama on the network, beating only Harry’s Law and The Firm (both of which have been cancelled as well). On our NBC Ratings Report Card, which measures the relative demo performance of shows on the network, Awake has a “D+” grade.
NBC has now cancelled Awake and the series finale is on track to air Thursday, May 24th. While it wasn’t intended as a series finale, Killen has said that he believes the finale is very satisfying.
What do you think? Are you sorry to hear that Awake has been cancelled and won’t be back for a second season? Was the series too complicated for most TV viewers or did it have other problems?
Image courtesy NBC.
Absolutely ridiculous! Especially when TV shows are so readily available over the internet… of course those viewers don’t count cause they don’t see the commercials that pay for the show, FYI NBC 90% of folks are DVR’n and fast forwarding through those pesky commercials anyway. I thought and still think this show had the potential to run for at least 3 seasons of great TV. Oh well
Lesson learned… Don’t watch NBC shows unless they are already well established because they just may get cancelled
I hope NBC at least planned for this and had like 90 minute or a 2 hour final show in the can. Here we are strung along for a whole season, on perhaps one of the best shows NBC has had in awhile, only to be left up in the air. There is no way they can clean up all the loose ends in a 1 hour time slot!
One of the best written shows on network television cancel. Honestly, this show was the best and it’s heart achingly sad that I will not be able to enjoy new episodes after May 24th. NBC, you are truly making a big mistake.
I love the show, but I can see that it didn’t move at fast enough of a pace for the average viewer. They could’ve gotten to the conspiracy theory by episode 6 and had the series more about the conspiracy, rather than trying to have each episode having two-crimes intertwining.
I was a fan of Rubicon on AMC last year and the same thing, the whole first (and only) season should’ve been the first 2 episodes. People don’t have patience to wait for a plot to unfold, if they do they’ll read a book.
NBC… How are viewers supposed to TRUST you when you cancel a promising show with so little promotion! I’m so tired of networks using my viewership as a test audience that it’s getting so I won’t even watch a NEW show until it’s been on the air for at least a year. The show wasn’t too hard to follow but the viewer had to pay attention. Earlier episodes needed to be aired more than once so viewers could get a better sense of what how the lives switched back and forth. Grrr… NBC. I hope another network will pick it… Read more »
an nbc show so it’s cancelled … great writing, acting, directing ….
I can’t believe this. I understand ratings, what I don’t understand is why people don’t watch this show. Great concept. Great acting. Suspenseful. It’s the only show I watch on NBC.
Can’t believe they cancelled this show. Great show, great concept. The people at NBC are completely clueless.
Agreed! This is one of the best prime time shows on TV so of course NBC had to cancel it. Anyone remember NBC’s Black Donnellys? Another great show that they axed to make room for more reality shows.
I still miss The Black Donnellys! Man, what a great show!! Compared to that, Awake was meh, but it was getting better with each episode and should’ve been given more of a chance.
Awake is the best show that this network has. It is well written, suspenseful, and the program that I most look forward to all week. It is one of the very few programs that I go to NBC to watch. Because so many people DVR their shows, I think that the ratings are much higher than they appear. Please reconsider leaving this on for another season.
Recent decline is due to scheduling by other networks – 3 things to record at once (very unusual, usually “nothing on”), DVR only records two at once. So here I am on Saturday looking for the episode online only to see “awake cancelled” as a Google completion choice. Yes, as with many shows I watch (including The Firm which I see also got axed) if you can’t see the plot two episodes ahead or guess the punch line before the setup is halfway through, its just too complicated for the target demo (who according to Exxon commercials also thinks math… Read more »
I love this show and am so sad that we won’t find out which one is the “true reality.” Such an original idea. I really hope another network picks it up.
I hope this is not true. Awake is the best and most thought provoking show on TV… very well written and planned out… and just because the ratings have not caught up with it… bean counters cancel it… man! I love the show! One of the few shows I will watch. Guess I will watch even less TV. Big mistake on their part as far as I am concerned.
I really think this show is a breath of fresh air. There are to many reality shows and they are taking over and not to my liking. This show should stay on the air and if NBC doesn’t want it maybe another network should pick it up!!! I really thought this show had a great mixture of suspense, mystery, action, compassion, and emotional connection to the viewers. There was a story behind each episode and left you excited to see the next one! I think NBC is making a BIG mistake for canceling this show. As a viewer of NBC… Read more »
my husband and i will miss this series. it is well written, well acted, and interesting – what’s not to like.
I’m very disappointed AWAKE was cancelled. Though complex, it certainly was original and intriguing. Also surely appealed to a more sophisticated fan base. Can somebody else pick it up????