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.
I LOVE this show!!! I don’t have tv and watch everything on Hulu and didn’t see any advertisements for this show until today. I started watching it because I love love love David Walton and thought it was hilarious and then found out it was cancelled. It seems like there are so many funny shows that are started but that the networks don’t really advertise because they’re too busy promoting “reality tv” and shows that are already on the air and have a following. And then they’re surprised when there isn’t an audience? It is very frustrating!
How did this get cancelled? So brilliant!! We want Season 2!!!!
it was hilarious they should have given it a chance
Very funny.
Love this show. Love the banter (unexpected from Americans!!) So bummed out it’s been cancelled. BRING IT BACK.
One of the best and funniest shows on TV. So smart and great dialog. More than depressing that it was canceled.
This was a fast-paced and witty show, which seem to be few and far between these days. Bring it back!!!
it also should not have been copled up in sets of 2 over 3 weeks and there should have been
10 episodes over 10 weeks. that would have given the show a fair chance to stand on its legs
BRING BACK THE SHOW ITS AWESOME!
totaly agree with every one be4 me.
i only fond this beacous of a free itunes pilot
no adds. no marketing. bad seasenal timeing,
they shold have placed it right after a high profile program to boost its noteriaty and vews like 30 rock or someouther show.
Cancelled after 6 episodes, really? I didn’t even see any advertising for this! Just watched all 6 back to back on demand! Loved it! Bring it back please!
It’s too bad it got cancelled. This really was a show you get hooked on
Hey, I just typed in Bent to see when new season starts. Bring back. Good show!
M husband and I where hooked after watching this show on our cables “on demand”. I totally agree with the above comment we saw no ads for the new show at all. Please bring it back NBC!
Yeah, PR was terrible on this. I only saw one commercial for it and though i thought it looked great, but obviously i forgot about after just one commercial. If i had heard about it more –say, when it was actually airing– i would have watched it. Because i just finished those 6 episodes on hulu and i want more!!!!!!! I thought it was a well-rounded show with an all star cast. Especially considering it was a half hour show, i thought it did extremely well. And the chemistry, my gosh! Amazing. Plus, how cute is David Walton. He seriously… Read more »
I completely agree!! Advertise it more and bring it back! I loved it while it lasted!