In late 2007, ABC was looking around for new shows to develop for the 2008-09 season. Because there was a possible writers strike coming that would hit right in the middle of their development time, they had to work fast. As a result, they decided to revive one of their old shows that starred Jeremy Piven, Paula Marshall, and Jeffrey D. Sams.
The short-lived Cupid from 1998 was regarded as a quality show and often landed on critics’ “brilliant but cancelled” lists. Most of today’s audience wasn’t very familiar with it and the series’ creator, Rod Thomas, was willing to give Cupid another try. Development got underway once the strike was over and Bobby Cannavale, Sarah Paulson, Rick Gomez, and Camille Guaty were hired as regulars.
Flash forward several months later and the network’s enthusiasm seemed to have waned quite a bit. ABC delayed the new Cupid’s debut and cut back its initial episode order from 13 to eight installments. While many loved the original, reception to the remake by critics has been tepid.
Last night, ABC’s new Cupid debuted in last place for the 10pm timeslot. It attracted an average of 7.56 million viewers and a 2.3/6 rating/share in the 18-49 demographic. Almost 50% of the people who were watching the Dancing with the Stars lead-in decided not to watch Cupid. On top of that, 25% of the audience stopped watching midway through the premiere episode. That’s not good news for this show at all and unless some miracle comes down from Mt. Olympus, the ratings will be even worse next week.
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While it seems likely that ABC will let Cupid finish its short episode run, right now its highly doubtful that the remake will outlast the original. We won’t be seeing a second season or get any kind of resolution to the show’s ongoing storylines.
Unless Thomas decides to reveal the truth about energetic Trevor Pierce — is he really Cupid or not — we’ll likely never know.
Image courtesy ABC.
I love cupid! If abc cancels this series I will boycott abc. Everytime they come out with a great new show they cancel it within the 1st year. The show definately has potential. They need to keep it on the same night at the same time. The more they switch around the shows dates and times the more people aren’t going to watch. They need to start giving shows a chance especially this one. Its a keeper!!!!!!
I rarely watch abc, and was flipping through the tv guide and found Cupid… Could it be? yes, and no.
I absolutly loved the original. While the characters are the same… it still makes me long for the old cast.
I’ll give it a few more episodes before i make my decision if i like it or not. Or course if i end up liking it, abc will probably send it out the door.
Cancel please. I avoided it this last week. The original series was better!
i really liked cupid.
it’s like a chick flick show but i enjoyed the romance, even if it is a little cheesy. I really like the chemistry between Bobby Cannaval + Sarah Paulson, lots of it!
If quality programs like Jericho, Eli Stone and Pushing Daisies didn’t stand a chance, who is going to support creativity and risk taking in television production?
I’m still in mourning over Starved (short lived excellence from FX) and Firefly whch I discoverd on Sci Fi 2years after it was cancelled.
I love televison but am strongly considering not watching any new shows on the networks anymore, it seems that as soon as I’m hooked on a show, it gets the hook.
I absolutely loved it. Thought it was so cute and something I can watch with my 16 year old. I think they should keep keep keep it!!!
i really like it! i found the original cupid (w/ piven) uploaded online and watched the whole first season…and i think this one is better. i like bobby cannavale better than jeremy piven. and i will be sad if abc cancels it.
[…] shows went down the tubes. This current incarnation seems destined to do the same. According to TV Series Finale, “Cupid” debuted in last place for its timeslot, attracting an average of 7.6 million viewers. […]
I watched the original Cupid and think this one has a chance. However, I think people are tired of ABC not standing behind series by moving them to different days and time slots and generally not giving them a chance to find an audience. I would say a lot more of their shows will be cancelled even sooner because people won’t want to be involved in something they will cancel anyway.
I have been a HUGE fan of Bobby Cannavale since “Third Watch” and I love him in anything (he was excellent in “Will & Grace”), so I thought he was perfect for “Cupid”…he’s sooooo cute & funny…please keep Cupid on…it’s sad to find a show that I like and then see it get axed,
Bobby C. fan!!!!!!!
The new actor in Cupid can’t hold a candle to Piven. When I first saw the ads I had high hopes that they brought it back with the original cast. They make no sense showing this crap and cancelling ELI STONE which was one of the best shows on and networks. (in My humble opinion) I was also a fan of Life on Mars. What’s next….. are they gonna off Life, Heroes and Chuck….. Maybe the stupidity will spread and they can get rid of CSI, Miami and all the rest of the good ones. And they wonder why their… Read more »
This show is stupid. I tried to watch this, I even kept it on til the end but I lost interest half way through. Why cancel Eli Stone Dammit!!. I was already pissed when Journey Man was canceled, Don’t think about renewing Knight Rider u Dumb-asses. CANCEL THE GOOD SHOWS AND RENEW THE BAD!!!!!!!!!
I thought it was just stupid and weird. They should consider canceling it and try to switch around the schedule and bring back Eli Stone. It deserves to be brought. We definitely need Eli Stone in times like these.
They should have ordered more episodes of Life on Mars and moved it to this day and timeslot. I watched Cupid and while it is a cute concept, I’m not sure it will work for very long.
That said, they decided to remake Cupid ten years after the original, so maybe Life on Mars has a chance of being brought back too – but hopefully it won’t take ten years for it to happen.
Unbelievable that ABC was stupid enough to revive a show that had flopped once, & ten years ago at that! Apparently, the flops of revivals “Jericho, Knight Rider”, & Hunter” didn’t teach them anything. I mean, shoot, the three shows mentioned above were hits at one time, while “Cupid” never was. What’s to make’em think that if a show tanked in its initial run, that it’s gonna succeed if revived?
S I L L Y M O V E , A B C !