What looked to be one of the biggest hits of the new season, FlashForward, isn’t looking like such a hit any longer. Will the series make it to year two?
FlashForward begins as the world’s population blacks out for 137 seconds and they “flash forward” to see visions of their lives six months in the future. The series’ ensemble cast includes Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Jack Davenport, Zachary Knighton, Peyton List, Dominic Monaghan, Brian F. O’Byrne, Courtney B. Vance, Sonya Walger, and Christine Woods.
The series debuted on September 24th on ABC. The premiere attracted a 4.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 12.47 million viewers. The following week, the number dropped to a very respectable 3.7 and 10.73 million.
For week three, the ratings dropped again to a 3.0 and nine million. Total viewership rose for weeks four and five but the demo remained essentially the same with a 3.1 rating.
On October 29th, FlashForward dropped to a series low of a 2.7 rating and 8.92 million viewers. The sudden drop was understandable because it aired opposite the World Series on FOX. Unfortunately, baseball fans didn’t return last Thursday when there wasn’t a big game. FlashForward’s ratings sank even further to a 2.6 and 8.47 million, barely beating FOX’s Bones for second place.
ABC has already committed to a full season of FlashForward so it’s relatively safe for now. However, if these numbers don’t start going up, the series is far from guaranteed a second season.
What do you think? Do you think the ratings will go back up or will the show burn out in one season? Are you still watching? If so, what could be done better?
Image courtesy ABC.
The show is very good, except for the lesbianism/sex references. c’mon!!! nowadays you don’t even see a man and a woman engaged in such a passionate kiss on regular TV! at 8pm!! The music score “seems” to have been written by the same people of Lost, which makes me think “are they going to start making up stories as they go” (just the way Lost seems to have gone?). What will they do for season 2, if it comes out? I mean, so far it is engaging and interesting, but I don’t think I will hang on to the show… Read more »
Loved the pilot but subsequent episodes have gone downhill. Paper thin characterizations are bad but most of all absolutely no risk taking by the makers – the opposite of say, Lost. The “Gimme some truth” episode hit rock bottom. A ridiculous and boring senate hearing brought all series momentum to a halt, a paper-thin villain (the senate hearing leader) was introduced and many flashbacks of things we had already seen were re-shown. It took a lot for me to watch subsequent episodes but I’m hanging in (just) in the hopes that the producers get their act together and make this… Read more »
I love this show. Please don’t take it away, I haven’t come across a good show like this since… the 4400 (I’m still bitter it was eventually cancelled…different show, different network). Anyway, it could be great (as long as it doesn’t take the same route as Lost did, making it’s name a great pun, indeed)! Please don’t cancel this show!
I think this show is fantastic. I am (was) also a fan of Lost until they started to get a little crazy with their plot lines, but I’m hooked and gotta know how it ends. I feel like FlashForward is headed that way. The plot is good, but it can’t last for, say, 5 years. What is wrong with a good show just being on for a season or two? That way everything will get solved and the writers won’t have to resort to crazy wacky plot lines. I vote FlashForward just lasts until April 29th, 2010, everything will get… Read more »
It’s interesting. This show has cheating, murder, terrorism, and espionage yet what gets uptight people upset is that it shows some lesbians? Wow. So we can see someone meticulously plotting a murder – and that’s alright, but show two same sex people kissing and that’s a problem? Are you insane? And if you’re against this for christian religious reasons murder is in the 10 commandments, don’t remember anything about being gay. Look, you can believe whatever you want but at least show some consistency. If you’re against gays on TV, I would think you would be WAY against murder on… Read more »
I’m torn. Of course the show started off with a bang. I can understand that ratings dropped during the World Series, but I agree with others here that the show itself is starting to lose appeal and seems to be quite dull at some points. Of course, at the end of every episode, there is a cliffhanger to keep you watching next week, but I’m not sure how long that will last. The other problem is this. The show almost follows real time and if that is in fact true, then what will happen after April 29th, 2010? Six months… Read more »
Wow, good to know there are still intolerant bigots out there who will stop watching a show because there’s a very minor gay storyline. Because if you don’t see it on your tv shows, you can close your eyes and pretend it doesn’t exist in real life. Give me a break. “Real America” is made up of straight and homosexual people. It’s unfortunate that people like you are still the majority in this country. This is a great show and to turn it off because, oh my god, there’s a lesbia n on it, is just plain stupid.
So far, I have enjoyed the show. But I notice Flashforward is in many ways is another version of Lost. If the writers are unable to put together decent plot lines that everyone could follow, the show will lose it’s audience. People stayed with Lost because it was different. Let’s face it, the writers for Lost were lost themselves for a long time. If Flashforward follows the same pace of Lost, people will fast foward on their DVR’s and hit delete for good. Wise up writers, don’t try and out do Lost, you’ll only write ourselves out of a job.… Read more »
I second the other user’s opinion. Once you start shoving a homosexual group in a show that isn’t targeted to that audience “real America” will stop watching. Every time it’s voted on it’s voted down, will they never get the hint?
We canceled our Season Pass after that episode.
This show is still getting a very good amount of viewers. In order for it to be cancelled, it would have to drop down about another 3 million viewers.
@Tyler: It’s not total viewers that they’re really interested in. It’s the 18-49 demographic.
The show deserves to be cancelled,. After a promising start, the story has slowed to a snails pace and a lot of the characters are dull and plodding. This show needed to be fast and interesting, but the writers seemed to have lost the plot. I hope that if this show does get cancelled that it least it ends without a cliffhanger and a conclusion to the story.
I STRONGLY suspect that if you look at PVR/DVR numbers for those episodes their viewership would be Much, Much higher.
I watch and listen to many podcasts with hosts both in and outside of the US who rave about the show on their podcasts even though the format and topic of the podcasts has nothing to do with TV. The last 2 times that happened was Lost and Heroes (the first season).
The show wasn’t very polished at the start but is really picking up steam with strong writing and twists and turns you never see coming until the last minute.
@WolvenSpectre: Though the show may be getting better, fewer people are watching. They do look at DVR numbers but delayed viewership isn’t as valuable to them. If a store advertises for a big sale on Friday but people don’t see the commercial until Sunday, it does them little good.
Of course it will return! It’s the only series everyone at work says is the best show on TV. Even my 22-year old daughter is hooked! I know network executives usually have the attention span of a gnat, but even they must know this one is here to stay.
I stopped watching as soon as the heavy-handed lesbia n storyline began. No better way to piss off your audience than to shove something like that down our throats. The fact that ratings have continued to drop since that episode shows that much more than the World Series was to blame.
The show has one major problem. It just happens to be a huge one. Joseph Fiennes does a terrible job, and he’s the central character. I watch each week in spite of him, but his performances have been increasingly brutal.