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.
I could not be more upset about this show getting canceled. Viewers should have a chance to vote on which shows stay or go. I love this show and am so upset that there won’t be a second season. They really do cancel shows too quickly. Not every show can be a sudden hit.
NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was the BEST new show they have had in YEARS!!!! Just when you think NBC was coming back after all the “Must See Thursday Nights” were over now this…………..BAD move on NBC’S part!!
I went online and joined the panel at NBC which said that “Your Opinion Counts.” http://nbcpeacock.micropanel.com/a/panel.do?id=9164&pageID=126332 When they asked how often I watched each of their shows, “Awake” was not even on the list. I wrote them as follows: “You did not even ask me if I watch Awake. Your cancellation of this show has so angered me that I will not be watching your channel frequently any longer.” I then linked to this article and noted that “92% agree that you should not have cancelled the show. ” I added that to me the most interesting comment was by… Read more »
This was one of my favourite shows. Great acting, interesting premise. Sad to see it go.
NBC is always doing stuff like this i think theyre retarted honestly the only good show they got is community. The only reason they cancelled it was because it took 9 episodes for something interesting to happen otherwise it was just a crime show where some guy has special abilities to solve crimes, but this show was just getting started its way more than some crime show. People just didnt have the patience to watch it and it didnt seem to enjoy what most probably thought was a mediocre csi. Although, awake is one of the greates shows ive ever… Read more »
My family is very disappointed this show has been cancelled. Every time it ended, we would talk about how awesome it was. Nice to have something the whole family could watch, including teenagers. I felt the same way when Prime Suspect was cancelled. If the networks continue to populate TV evenings with their trashy reality shows, they will pay the price in the end.
The problem with NBC is that while they often have interesting premises for their new shows, they don’t give the shows time to catch on with the viewing public. Examples: The Event, Prime Suspects, and now, Awake. I am reluctant to watch anything on NBC because of their habit of pulling the plug so quickly.
This is horrible news, maybe it was the time. I bet if they made it and early time people would watch. This is one of the tv series I have ever seen. but yet garbage reality tv continues. what is this world coming to. HORRIBLE!
I love this show! It’s one of the only shows that has me thinking before, during, and after watching it. Although some of the outcomes are predictable, I find it entertaining. The story line had me hooked from day one. I’m sad to see it go.
So unfortunate.
This is one of my favorite shows in a long time. The time slot for it is just bad. Way too late at night. I know someone who went as far as taking the morning off from work in order to be able to stay up and watch it..
I agree with everyone else. NBC took a chance on an intelligent drama, which is the first credit I’ve given them in a long time. I still resent them for reducing BBC America’s quality dramas. Look how long it took for Fringe to get an audience; they should have had a little patience. Broadcast will lose more viewers every year and we’ll just have to stream intelligent dramas from the BBC (thank you for Jason Isaacs) and other resources via Netflix. Intelligent viewers spend money and have higher incomes than the reality show viewers — it’s not fair to constantly… Read more »
it is too bad…this is one of the only shows we make sure we catch during the week. We LOVE it!
I have to agree with the majority of other commentators, there was a little too much thinking involved for the average viewer. Unfortunately for the rest of us we are at the mercy of the desires of the ‘programs’ in our world, and secondly the need of the networks to have outrageous rating in order to keep a good show on the air. It seems to be happening to one too many shows these days, getting cancelled because they require a moderate level of intelligence and awareness in order to ‘keep up’ with what’s going on. So there comment that… Read more »
Given the dreck that passes for entertainment it is entirely understandable that a show like this would not find an audience. Jason Isaacs does a great job. The show is fascinating and leaves you guessing.
You can catch him in the BBC show Case Histories where he plays a PI.
But hey, maybe we can look forward to another fascinating reality show about some New Jersey nitwits.
Totally agree and still harbor resentment for NBC’s misuse of BBC America that had the best dramas on air. Can’t we have a brain and count for anything? Too much thinking seems like a plus not a minus.
I love this show–the most interesting show on television. The performance from Jason Isaacs is so compelling. I am very intrigued as to how the show is left at the season finale. It’s too bad it’s a numbers game. I was looking forward to next season.
It is a show that is necessary to follow each week–perhaps people couldn’t get into it in the middle of it.