Body of Proof: New ABC Drama; Cancel or Keep It?

ABC recently debuted the last of their new dramas for this season, Body of Proof. Many of the alphabet network’s successful TV shows are slowly losing viewers so they’ve been trying to establish a new crop of hour series. No Ordinary Family, Detroit 1-8-7, and Off the Map have all been disappointments and are sure to be cancelled in May. What about this new TV show?

Body of Proof revolves around Dr. Megan Hunt (Dana Delany), a brilliant neurosurgeon whose world is turned upside down after a devastating car accident. No longer able to operate, Megan becomes a top medical examiner. Using her instincts and sharp mind, she can uncover what happened to the people that end up in front of her. Co-stars include Jeri Ryan, Geoffrey Arend, John Carroll Lynch, Windell Middlebrooks, Nic Bishop, and Sonja Sohn.

Last week’s debut followed the results edition of Dancing with the Stars. In that plum position, it attracted a healthy 3.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 11.15 million viewers. The episode started with a 3.4 rating and ended with a 2.9 rating so, most liked what they saw and watched the whole episode. With such a great lead-in, it wasn’t a surprise that the premiere won the timeslot.

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On Sunday, ABC aired the second episode behind Desperate Housewives, Delany’s home for two seasons. That didn’t do so well and lost a third of the Housewives audience, registering a 2.0 in the demo and 8.49 million viewers. Still, the added exposure for Body of Proof was positive and would hopefully lead to more people watching on Tuesday.

That didn’t happen. This week, Body of Proof registered a 2.4 rating in the demo and 11.15 million viewers. That’s a decline of 23% when compared to the debut. That’s quite a drop but a 2.4 is still positive. The Dancing with the Stars lead-in was down by 26% so that’s a pretty good indication that Body of Proof is quite dependent on its lead-in.

While Body of Proof has had a positive start, we won’t know its chances for a renewal for a few more weeks. No Ordinary Family started with a 3.2 rating, fell to a 2.7 in week two and just kept falling. If Body of Proof does that, the series is doomed. If the ratings even off, it should be safe — especially since all of ABC’s other new dramas have tanked.

But, what do you think? Is Body of Proof worth watching? Do you like it? Would you renew it or, cut to the chase and just cancel it now?