As Tom Kane continues to try to keep a grip on his city and life, the Boss TV series struggles to attract an audience. Will Boss be cancelled or renewed for a third season of Starz? That’s an even bigger challenge thank Kane’s.
Airing on Friday nights, Boss revolves around the Mayor of Chicago (Kelsey Grammer) who’s recently been diagnosed with a degenerative neurological disorder. Determined to remain in charge, he conceals the disease from everyone around him except his physician. The Starz TV show also features the talents of Connie Nielsen, Hannah Ware, Jeff Hephner, Kathleen Robertson, Troy Garity, Rotimi, Jonathan Groff, and Sanaa Lathan.
It’s no secret that the TV series struggled in its first season. Despite sporting some top talent, the viewers and ratings just weren’t there. Luckily for the cast and crew, the show was renewed for a second season weeks before the show even premiered. Had the cable channel waited to see how well Boss would perform before making a decision, it’s hard to believe we’d be seeing a second season now.
Last month, at The Television Critics Association press tour, Boss showrunner Farhad Safinia said, “I am completely aware of what the numbers are, and I’m heartbroken… It’s one of those things where you’d like more people to see what you’re doing… I do hope the audience comes to see it so we can tell the entire story. I think we just have to work on that assumption that we will get to do it.”
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The ratings were so low for the first season of Boss that they’re often very difficult to locate. We do know that Boss premiered last October to 659,000 viewers and by the middle of the run had fallen to 250,000.
Season two certainly hasn’t been bringing any better ratings. The August 24th installment drew just 229,000 viewers and the season has averaged only 310,000. Earlier this year, the second season of Spartacus averaged 1.35 million on Friday nights in the same timelot.
It seems highly unlikely that Starz will be bringing back Boss for a third season. These numbers are just incredibly small for an expensive scripted drama.
On the positive side, Safinia has indicated that they plot each season like a movie so that each has a beginning, middle, and end. While it’s very likely that Boss will be cancelled, at least the show’s loyal viewers will be given at least some kind of resolution by the end of the season. Season two wraps on October 19th.
What do you think? Do you like the Boss TV series? Why do you think it hasn’t caught on with a bigger audience? Should it be renewed for a third season or cancelled?
Boss is a GREAT show. Best drama on TV…Perhaps Starz could sell the rights to HBO or Showtime…and they will certainly command a much bigger audience for such a good show…
Irecently e-mailed HBO about buying rights to Boss . Hopefully they will buy the rights to Boss.
Thid is one of the best series to ever be aired. Much like “The Wire” the gritty truth is hard to swallow. I do hope Starz has the foresight to continue producing the series. I think the issue is two fold – 1- it’s airs of Friday night… Party night. 2 – The criteria for what makes a successful series has not evolved with the times. There are plenty of other avenues to explore to garner the following it needs to survive. Someone just has to have the courage to create that new format instead of measuring a shows success… Read more »
This is a great show, kelsey grammer is sensational as kane, it would really be a shame if they let it go down the tubes. The show is really well written, acted and every week its just a real pleasure. Good luck to the whole cast. It really should go on but based on the ratings it looks like its not going to make it.
I Love Boss….I pray that they keep the show. It is a well written show. It is sad that more trash aka reality T.v gets more attention for the american people but want to act like we really concerned who will be our next president.
Please, please renew Boss – it is the only tv series we watch …. great scripts, great plots, great actors!
Great show.
We pay for starz just for boss. Won’t if its cancelled. Too bad….
How ridiculous….finally a show based on recent news and real acting and the networks can’t attract an audience???? Maybe we should stick to the same old boring subject matter and it would get better ratings. Has the public become so brain numb that they don’t appreciate real talent and story telling when they see some? Keep the show and the public will eventually wake up and appreciate this show.
Keep BOSS! Best show on TV!
madness!!! BOSS is the coldest piece of well scripted, acted and executed drama on TV, bar none.
This is a terrific show, providing a rare glimpse into the corruption that permeates Chicago politics and politicians. This story indeed has something for everyone, and the acting is superb. However, therein lies the rub: the salient points brought forth in this story so brilliantly told may be lost on those not familiar with the machinations of the Democratic party machine going back 65 years or more.
This story is as much history lesson as TV series, and as such I fervently hope there is a Season 3 in our future.
That’s silly. This show has nothing to do with Chicago politics or anything else in Chicago. ER did a great job of representing Chicago.
I always thought the problem with Boss’ numbers had to do with application, not content. The production is so well executed that it’s hard to see how this show wouldn’t garner a decent audience unless its promotion had been (a) astoundingly weak — it was — or (b) aired on the wrong channel. It did. No disrespect to Starz — I really like what they’ve been trying to do — but I doubt Starz has the gravitas or the resources to float a good drama the way HBO did The Wire, which also had seriously anemic ratings its first two… Read more »
I find it astounding that Boss does not have a large audience! Great scripts, performing, art direction and direction/filming with a heretofore seldom seen powerful, fascinating, awesome (in the double meanings of that word) revelations of realtime USA Chicago politics and media using shakespearean techniques and arch. Magnetic and counterbalancing performances by most of the cast. I believe this show is of a stature and quality just behind that of Breaking Bad and up there with Shameless, Game of Thrones, and the like.
I sincerely hope this isn’t cancelled. This is one of the best shows on tv. Storyline is incredible and so is the acting.
Boss is telling some hard truths about politics and politicians. I guess you had to figure that was not going to go over well. If more people cared about hearing some hard truths, I suppose we wouldn’t need politics. So the facade of politicians will continue. Ho hum. Back to reading on Friday nights after a few more weeks. Thanks for the warning about the popularity of Spartacus, it’s probably drama for Snookie fans.