Right on schedule, CBS has decided to ditch their new Friday night TV series, CHAOS, after just a few weeks on the air. The show stumbled in the ratings right from the start and never recovered. It’s no longer on the air but is it cancelled?
A dramatic comedy, CHAOS follows a small group of CIA misfit spies who make up the Clandestine Administration and Oversight Services (CAOS). In addition to taking on threats to national security, they also must take on redtape and typical government bureaucracy. The TV series stars Freddy Rodriguez, Eric Close, James Murray, Tim Blake Nelson, Carmen Ejogo, Christina Cole, and Kurtwood Smith.
As detailed here, CHAOS debuted to a horrible 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 6.53 million viewers. That was quite a bit lower than the season average of Medium, a series that CBS cancelled because of poor ratings.
In the second week, CHAOS fell even lower to a 0.9 rating in the demo and 5.73 million viewers. Last Friday night, bumped up ever so slightly in the demo, to a 1.0 rating and 5.683 million. Unfortunately, that was far from enough of a gain to save the TV series.
CBS has pulled CHAOS from the schedule effective immediately. This week, a rerun of CSI: NY will fill the timeshot — and probably get better ratings. Next week, the previously scheduled The Royal Wedding: Modern Majesty will air. Then, beginning on May 6th, new episodes of Flashpoint will take over.
The network has 10 episodes of CHAOS left sitting on the shelf. CBS hasn’t said if there are any plans to release the unaired installments. Though CHAOS hasn’t been officially cancelled yet, there’s no way that they’ll be renewing it for a second season.
UPDATE: A statement from CBS indicates that the show will return to the schedule at some point in the future.
What do you think? Why did the TV show do so poorly, even by Friday night standards? Will you miss CHAOS?
Image courtesy CBS.
Great show poor promotion.
I Knew It!!!!! Get a good program for Sat evening that does not have blood, guts and rape, and CBS blew it again!!!! I am so disappointed. We loved this show. Do you remember Mission Imposible? How big did that get?
We LOVED this show !!!! PLEASE bring it back. It was the only thing worth watching on a Saturday night ! PLEASE……
We really enjoyed Chaos and thought it was just on a break. It had audience & humor. Very sorry to hear it was cancelled. When several new shows come on it’s hard see them all the first few times. We saw this from the beginning, but sometimes we don’t discover a show until the 3rd or 4th episode. Then, if we like it, I go back & record the prior episodes until we’re caught up. We have a family member that watches his tv shows on his computer. Are those people counted? The networks should give more new shows a… Read more »
As normal cbs cancels anything worth watching, guess its back to the good networks that have shows worth watching and you can count on the good ones to be kept on for awhile.
I really thought that CBS had finally gotten it right – a GREAT new show! Very clever and great cast…..please bring it back. Amazing that most of the really good shows are now on networks other than the major three……..
I really loved this show. Love Eric Close. The characters were just getting in sync. Need to bring back and give a better time slot if needed. Need to give this show a chance. Better than most the crap you have on CBS! CSI needs to go…getting boring!!!!!
We were very disappointed that Chaos was not on Sat. night a few weeks ago. We love the show and the quick wit of the characters. It’s one of the few tv shows left that were worth watching. It’s also one the the few sitcoms my husband would watch with me. Please bring it back CBS!!!!!!!
I loved Chaos and the quick wit of the characters. It was one of the few tv sitcoms my husband enjoyed watching with me. It was one of the few decent shows left on tv worth watching. I hope it comes back to STAY!!
Oh, we have a show that people like! It is not a lawyer, Doctor or CSI so we better cancel it. Nevermind that it is entertaining with great characters. I sometimes wonder who at the networks makes these decisions, or is really just a big dart board that does the “programming”. Needless to say I liked the show, but i will anyhow. So many bad choices to chose from. It’s getting hard to find anything decent much less original on TV these days
My family & I absolutely enjoyed ever minute. These guys were great as a team. Was looking forward to the next show, then were did it go. I’m sorry but reruns of programing we’ve already seen or chose not to see when it ran the first time is no replacement for CHAOS.
What happened to Chaos? We loved watching it and was really enjoying the chemistry develop between the characters. The regular tv channels are afraid of entertaining tv and would rather show reality show. The cable shows are so much more enjoyable, and it is terrible that we have to pay for cable tv to find entertainment. What happened to quality network tv?
“Chaos” is a great show!!! And I was so happy it was on Saturday nights, because there was nothing else good on TV.
Can’t believe it was cancelled. The actors are great, the show moves at a fast pace, the comedy is cute. Give it more time. It’s a wonderful action, comedy and I miss it!!!
It’s programmed into my DVR for a series recording so I hope CBS gets smart and airs the rest of the shows.
I loved the show. I miss it so much that I decided to look on the Internet to see if I could find out if it was on hiatus. I can’t believe it’s cancelled. It was so, so good and the actors were all good in their parts.
I LOVED the show. I taped all the programs & was glad to see it show up on Saturday nights. Then a few weeks ago — nothing. Come on CBS. Let a show get its legs. I NEVER have watched CSI in Miami or NY & quit watching the Vegas one years ago. Besides NCIS & NCIS Los Angeles, I seldom watch your channel. Want to know why? Because you get a good program & just when people get hooked you drop it. No wonder most of the shows I watch are on USA — maybe you ought to study… Read more »