Damages revolves around a tough-as-nails NYC attorney, Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). She takes on tough cases and will do just about anything to make sure her clients come out on top. Prominent castmembers have included Rose Byrne, Tate Donovan, Ted Danson, Zeljko Ivanek, Noah Bean, Anastasia Griffith, and Philip Bosco.
The show’s been running for three seasons on FX and has garnered its share of critical praise. Unfortunately, the ratings have diminished over time. The series premiere drew 3.7 million viewers and FX renewed it for two seasons. They likely regretted that decision since the second season’s debut attracted less than half of the first, with 1.7 million.
Season three kicked off with just 1.5 million and viewership has been much dropping lower. This week’s episode attracted only half as many viewers and that was an increase from last week’s. With numbers like these, it’s no surprise that the show is headed for cancellation.
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However, Sony isn’t ready to give up on the show and is trying to find another outlet to share the costs with USA. One of the possible buyers being courted is DirecTV who, by partnering with NBC, has helped to prolong the life of Friday Night Lights.
At the recent advertiser upfronts, FX wasn’t promoting the show. However, FX President John Laundgraf confirmed that talks were indeed taking place between Sony and DirecTV. He said that, though they’re pleased with the show creatively, the show isn’t cheap. He hopes that the studio succeeds and said, “If Sony can find the right partner, we’ll be happy. There’s no question — we love it. It brings a lot of cache to our network.”
Unfortunately, if you look at the numbers, the deal doesn’t make much sense for DirecTV. Friday Night Lights, which has always been touted as being a fairly economical series to produce, was attracting more than six million viewers on NBC before the DirecTV deal.
Damages is regarded as expensive and attracts much fewer viewers. On top of that, Damages’ numbers are dropping nearly every week. Doesn’t seem like a very promising prospect does it?
What do you think? Is it realistic to expect that Sony and FX will be able to find a way to renew Damages for season four? Should they?
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