Last night, ABC premiered their new Happy Town TV show. Despite the cute name, the series isn’t a happy go-lucky sitcom but is actually a dark murder-mystery drama. Most importantly, will ABC be happy enough with the ratings to keep it on the air?
Happy Town takes place in a small Minnesota community called Haplin that, years ago, was plagued by unsolved kidnappings. Now, a horrific murder puts everyone on edge once again and uncovers deep feelings and resentments. Has the mysterious “Magic Man” returned to claim more victims? From the creators of October Road, this series features Sam Neill, M.C. Gainey, Geoff Stults, Lauren German, Amy Acker, Steven Weber, Ben Schnetzer, Sarah Gadon, Jay Paulson, and Robert Wisdom.
After receiving mostly moderate to negative reviews, Happy Town debuted to weak numbers. Per the overnights, the ABC premiere attracted a disappointing 1.7 rating in the 18-49 demo and just 5.23 million viewers. That put the series in second place in the demographic and third place in total viewers.
Those numbers also represent a loss of nearly 40% in the demo from lead-in Cougar Town and a 20% loss in total audience. What’s more, last week’s disappointing Ugly Betty finale did better with a 1.8 rating and 5.56 million. On top of that, a sizable amount of the Happy Town audience tuned out before the first episode was even over, likely meaning they won’t be back next week.
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A new show typically loses at least 10-15% of its audience in week two and Happy Town hardly has any viewers to spare. As you might have guessed, none of this is a good sign for the show’s future.
Eight episodes have been filmed and hopefully, ABC will air them all. If the ratings fall as expected however, the network could pull the series early. Unless these ratings get a lot better, it’s highly unlikely that ABC will want to go back to Happy Town next season.
But, what do you think? Is Happy Town worth watching or should it just be cancelled now? If you watched, what did you like or dislike about it?
Image courtesy ABC.
Wow, this show seemed to have so many plot lines, and guessing who the magic man is at this point is virtually impossible. I absolutely loved October Road, and was really excited to see the familiar actors. It’s obviously wasted breath, but please, ABC, give this show another chance!
I was very very very…..upset…..last night when I turned on ABC at 10:00pm and didn’t see Happy Town! I thought that show was so……….good, i couldn’t wait until the following Wednesday night to watch it. I talked to everyone about it that I know stating that is a GREAT SHOW….something exciting, suspenseful and different! I am tired of seeing the same type of shows on tv. I am going to never watch ABC AGAIN if they cancel Happy Town. You can’t cancel a show that quick you need to give it a chance. I couldn’t wait to get on line… Read more »
Please put the damn show back on? What is abc problem? Because some viewers didn’t like the first episode doesn’t mean you shut the show off. A person who watches the show and didn’t like it means they didn’t understand the show. You can’t expect a show to give the details on the second episode. What the HELL? As far as viewers it probably was enough viewers but everyone doesn’t watch the show when it comes on, it’s call a DVR people….People don’t like commercials so everyone decides to record the show and then watch the show later. Maybe abc… Read more »
I like drama shows and especially like stories of serial killers. I hadn’t even heard of Happy Town until the night it was on… a friend said to check it out. I thought Happy Town, the name sounds dumb, but whatever, there isn’t anything else on. So when I turned it on, I saw Courteney Cox and thought I don’t want to watch this garbage… is it really some stupid sitcom? So I text my friend. NO, it’s on AFTER that crap. So I watch, and then I told friends about it … said hey you gotta check this out.… Read more »
I AGREE KEEP HAPPY TOWN AND QUIT GETTNG RID OF THE GOOD SHOWS!!!
OMG!! I can’t believe the show is already getting canned me and my mom had really started to get into it after the loss of Ugly Betty. Please ABC you have got to keep this show is new and interesting and its not boring like the rest of these shows they have on now…
I think Happy Town needs to continue throughout the summer…..It’s dark but interesting, reminds me of the way Twin Peaks was…..really dissappointed in ABC
Keep “Happy Town”! I was getting into it and even got my wife (who usually hates watching TV series) to watch it. After the writers strike and the crap that was fed to us on TV, it was a refreshing change. It sucks to get into a show, only to have it cancelled before the end of the first season. I will never invovled with another ABC show if they don’t follow through with this one.
very angry Want to know the ending.
I can’t believe Happytown is cancelled!!! Finally something on TV to watch that is not a STUPID reality show. I loved Happytown. I thought of it as a cross between Twin Peaks and Picket Fences, it was fun, quirky and mysterious, not a bunch of drama queens, junk collectors or ***** competing for the same man etc. Come on ABC, bring it back
It is so very disappointing that ABC is not giving “Happy Town” a fair chance. I have been totally engrossed in the plot, and I have been discussing it with a number of friends who are also enjoying this excellent mystery. The show has a first rate cast and we are all trying to guess who is the “The Magic Man”. Come on ABC, Give Happy Town a chance !!!!!!!!!
Soooo disappointed! Looked so forward to tonights episode. I love the cast! You are making a big mistake! I am really angry. Not nice. How do I ever knoe the ending of the story now. If you don’t put it back on, I will never trust getting involved in another show on abc.
i was into happy town. I usually dont watch shows on abc or nbc n wat ever the helll ******** shows they put on. but Happy Town was pretty good i thought after 3 episodes it was doin ok. i guess not. abc u fail.
I watch it I hope they will at least allow us to see what happens. It wasn’t on this week which makes me nervous that they have pulled it for good. They should at least let those of us who are watching it have a chance to see all that they made.
It’s a refreshing murder mystery, and is a lot better than the teen soaps they keep in the network
I loved Happy Town and was disappointed to see it cancelled. The characters were interesting and I was looking forward to seeing the plot unfold. Plus, I don’t watch anything on Wed nights because nothing else interests me, so I was glad to have a show I enjoyed on what I considered a very slow night.