NBC’s new sitcom Bent came and went very quickly. We now know that it’s been cancelled so it certainly won’t be back.
A romantic comedy, Bent revolves around the relationship of a divorced no-nonsense lawyer (Amanda Peet) and the irresponsible womanizing contractor (David Walton) that she reluctantly hires to renovate her kitchen. Others in the cast include Joey King, Margo Harshman, Jeffrey Tambor, J.B. Smoove, Jesse Plemons, and Pasha D. Lychnikoff.
NBC held Bent until late in the season (never a good sign) and ran the six episodes in hour blocks over the course of three weeks.
The belief was that, by airing two episodes together, they would have a better chance of hooking an audience.
It’s hard to know if that strategy worked to any degree but the ratings were terrible. The show aired opposite other popular shows on Wednesday nights and debuted to a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 2.75 million total viewers. It was fourth place in its timeslot. The second installment dropped 20% to a 0.8 rating with 2.38 million.
The next two weeks saw a low of 0.7 in the demo with 1.93 million. With those numbers, there was just no way that NBC was going to bring it back for a second season.
On our NBC Ratings Report Card, which measures the relative demo performance of TV shows on the network, Bent has an “D-” grade. It’s the lowest-rated sitcom that the NBC aired this season.
What do you think? Do you think Bent is a better show than what the ratings seem to indicate? Would you like to have seen it return for a second season?
Image courtesy NBC.
This was a funny, well written show with an engaging cast. I loved it!!!!!!!
So sad, this show had a lot of potential and I couldn’t wait to see it every week. The network should change the night and give it another try. I’d sign a petition in a heart beat to bring it back!
Firstly, let it be known that I am in the 18-24 age demographic.
I absolutely loved this show. It was fresh and exciting, very engaging.
I don’t understand why NBC set “Bent” up for disaster. In my opinion, this show was better that Big Bang Theory. And I’m an engineer.
At a better time, not opposite many other shows, “Bent” would be very popular. I’m so sad it’s cancelled.
I loved this show. If it didn’t find an audience, the network did something wrong. Maybe another network can pick it up? Can’t we start an online petition or something?
I love love love this show. I think it should be brought back for another season.
Loved BENT! So sad it was cancelled…
Fantastic writing and cast! It was the only show that I really looked forward too.
Hopefully, they’ll bring it back!
I loved Bent. It is the only actual tv show that I enjoyed watching. Bent is hilarious and so are the actors. I HATE that it is gone.
Bent was so funny!!! It had me laughing the hold time during the show! The actors were awesome. It should come back and yes, maybe on a different day then Wednesday. But should totally come back!!
I’m so sad the show got canceled. I loved it so much! Why does this happen with all my favorite TV shows? They get canceled after season 1. This show was definitely the funniest one I’ve seen in a while and I’m just very, very sad I won’t be able to watch it anymore.
This show was great, and I eagerly awaited each episode. Had an idea that this show was a gonner when I scheduled a recording (so I could watch over and over and over just like every week) and found a rerun of a show that I don’t watch in its place. I guess amazing chemistry and excelent writing are qualifier that tell networks to dump a show and disappoint their audience. The list of canceled shows this year seems to be telling me that I should be extra grateful that I have cable so I have an option of something… Read more »
Too bad….had potential
Genuinely funny show. Tad Quill worked on “Scrubs”, Jeffrey Tambor works on any darned thing and Amanda Peet seems to be doomed to work on short-lived series. The cast was good, writing was fine, chemistry was good, but they also had the misfortune of being on NBC, whose highest rated scripted show is not in the top 20. You’d figure they wouldn’t be as picky, but…
Wow…seriously surprised to find out this had been cancelled. A real shame as it was one of the funniest sitcoms I’d seen in a long time. I really thought it would have at least a season 2 & 3…oh well, what do I know apart from I know I’ll miss the show.
This was a pretty good show. I think someone at NBC didn’t like David Walton’s character, because everyone else on the show was good. I only single Walton’s character out, because his personality might have turned some people off. Personally I was hoping a show with Peet and J.B. Smoove would make it.
Wow, David Walton just can’t catch a break on nbc, 100 questions, perfect couples and now bent. All quality shows that just showed up on the wrong network. I really hope David finds a winner somewhere, but it’s more than obvious it won’t be on nbc. This was the best of the 3 and it still got axed, WTFE once again.