After just two weeks on the air, ABC has decided to pull Happy Town from the schedule. The TV show will be back but, for how long?
Happy Town follows the residents of a small town in Minnesota. After being plagued by kidnappings years ago, it seems the mysterious “Magic Man” has returned to start a killing spree. The cast includes features Sam Neill, M.C. Gainey, Geoff Stults, Lauren German, Amy Acker, Steven Weber, Ben Schnetzer, Sarah Gadon, Jay Paulson, and Robert Wisdom.
The series got off to a poor start two weeks ago with a 1.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 5.25 million viewers. Last week, for episode two, viewership took a nosedive to a 1.2 in the demo and 3.79 million viewers.
To no surprise, ABC has pulled Happy Town for the remainder of May sweeps. After tonight’s episode, the series goes on hiatus for two weeks and will return on June 2nd.
While this wouldn’t necessarily be a sign that the show will be cancelled, the ratings are. They’re terrible and there’s every expectation that they’re just going to get worse — especially with warmer weather coming and people spending less time in front of the TV.
After tonight’s episode, there are just five episode left. With numbers like these, fans of Happy Town will be lucky if the network shows the rest of them, never mind a second season.
Next week’s episode will be replaced by an edition of Primetime: What Would You Do?. On May 26th, ABC will present the network premiere of the Transformers movie.
What do you think? Why isn’t Happy Town performing better? Is it just not a very good TV show or are viewers just missing the boat?
Image courtesy ABC.
Happy Town Should be aired at an earlier time. The show was off to a good start but was on too late for most of the people I know. Get rid of the “Reality” T.V. and lets give these story lines more of a chance. I think it would have done very well, at least for a couple years.
I absolutely loved the show and am VERY upset that its being cancelled!!!!!!!
No kidding! Everytime i start watching a show…they yank it off the air! My boyfriend and I acutally remembered when HT was on instead of having to flip channels and “accidently” find the show we usually watch in a time slot. BOOO!
I knew this wouldn’t last. It’s a fine intriguing show, but if there’s anything shows like Smith and Flashforward taught is, its that the idiotic American couch potatoes that the networks care about will NOT watch anything that they have to unravel for themselves. Dummy things down, you probably get a hit. Or spend all your time preaching rigid moral codes to be followed without question. But don’t try to get a audience thinking, they don’t do that anymore.
Please, please, please do not cancel “Happy Town”. The characters are interesting, the plot is thick and meaty, and the suspense is unbeatable. This show is very well-written. The setting is very interesting and lends itself well to this type of whodunit mystery.
It seems like every show that my wife and I like gets cancelled. If its not a reality show or a show about a hospital or a police station, it gets scrapped. I can’t believe Fringe made it. Shows generlly aren’t made for people who don’t fit into the “average American” box. I guess that’s why they call it the “idiot box”…
Happy Town should NOT be canceled. This is total ******** if it is. All the other crap tv shows they have on the air for years and they finally get a good one going and they wanna cancel it. ********.
Loved this weirdo drama. Reminds me of my f’d up childhood in a worn out city with worn out characters.
this is crap thata was a good show only 2 episodes in and cancled wow!!!!
I really like Happy Town! People need to give it some time because there are a lot of popular shows that are ending for the year. Also there are those who get busy and miss the show when it airs so then they go online to watch it instead of staying up late to see it on the night it airs. Please don’t cancel it.
Way to go ABC. I probably should stick to the cabel channels before getting interested in another one of your fiascos.
this series is great. I love it. ABC sucks ass because they cancel all the good shows but keep airing boring medical/detective shows.
they did the same for Jericho… who gives a damn about ratings ? This show have a great potential.
Interesting show. Maybe after season finalies on other networks it will do better. ABC needs to give shows a chance to catch on. Still disappointed they cancelled “Life on Mars” while keeping stupid “reality” shows!!!
I liked Eastwick and they cancelled that. I liked Happy Town and now they are cancelling that! Not everyone likes these “STUPID” reality shows. People need a little suspense, mystery, magic in their life. Even if it’s just one night a week. Just for the fun of it. Please don’t cancel Happy Town!!
I’m just as pissed as the rest of you folks! Although I’m not prone to accept HT being labelled the ‘New Twin Peaks’ I saw a great deal of potential in the series. And it shouldn’t go to waste just because its pilot didn’t pique the viewers’ interest rightaway. Give it some time … and it’ll unfold and thrive the way it’s supposed to. I’m actually starting to detect some sort of uncanny tendency – any drama with a whiff of the supernatural concealing its very core beyond the pilot is taken out of the schedule. Then again, Lost is… Read more »