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.
They advertised a little before it aired but they stopped. It takes time to build an audience for a show since you aren’t always going to catch a show when it first airs. I didn’t discover Xena until season two and I’d put that on the list of best shows ever. Also the night is really bad. They call it Comedy Wednesday so I don’t know what the hell they were thinking since it really doesn’t fit although I do like Cougar Town. I could care less about the other shows that air that night. I had a feeling they’d… Read more »
I am so disappointed this show may be getting pulled! It’s one of the few shows my husband and I both watched and could enjoy together. The network did not give it a chance. A combination of word of mouth and better marketing would surely result in higher ratings. If they do decide to pull it, I hope they sell it to another network so I can keep watching!
I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t to interested at first. Bad time slot, terrible trailers, but I watched the first 3 online & I like it. I don’t think the writing is bad, and the cast is really great. Sure its like a dark Oct. Road reunion somewhat, but M.C. Gailey & Sam Neil & Steven Weber, the old gal from 6 feet under. Hope they give it a chance. AND START CAMPAIGNING IT LIKE A MYSTERY-WHO DONE IT. INSTEAD OF A HORROR SHOW!
Argh!!! I am starting to get in to this show. I hate when this happens. I hope it comes back!!!!
its the time slot…maybe if it came on…on an earlier time maybe it would help…as I am a early sleeper…some nights I never see 10p…that’s just my take on it…
Again, a network pulls a show too soon. Happy Town is a refreshing change as it attempts to start a complex storyline. Alas, if it isn’t a cheap piece of reality show trash that turns an instant profit, it must go. In this environment, most of the iconic programs in the history of television never would have made past the first season.
I was of the thinking that this was going to be a just a “mini series” i see in this article that some people were thinking there was a chance for a second season. I like this show, i am curious to see what happens next. I don’t think the adds were great to promote this show. CBS did Harpers Island and it looks like its they were in the 3 to 4 million viewers per episode. Yet they didn’t pull it. Whats the deal?
I’m starting to get really into this series. ABC you have to let a new show develop a bit before pulling the plug after only 3 episodes!! Just like Harper’s Island, it was fun to watch trying to figure out who the murderer is (although the ending to Harper’s was a little disappointing) Why can’t this be a short series of 10 to 12 episodes – let everyone find out who the magic man is and what happened to those who have disappeared. At least it is something new and original to watch since all the networks are showing their… Read more »
I think they should give it some time. A lot of people didn’t know about it and there were so many shows already mid-season on Wednesdays when Happy Town aired. I myself DVRd it because I was already devoted to two Wednesday night shows. But it seems interesting. I think they should put it on as a summer series and see how it goes before pulling the plug.
I think I’m going to quit watching all three broadcast ABC CBS NBC they all do
it to new shows, they’ve wasted my time.
It was just a poor show not unlike the very poor show “Harpers Island” Very unbelievable and poor story…..
Well for me, I know the track record of ABC and a lot of the stunts they pull. I actually said that I’m NOT going to watch the show because of these aforementioned stunts. But, I did watch it and now once again ABC is doing it’s best to keep any new show from being successful. I believe that a lot of people are inclined to not get involved in any new show of theirs because of these stunts. ie: moving the show around on different nights, skipping episodes as in Eastwick etc. ABC needs to have some faith in… Read more »
I think happy town was cancelled because of its time slot, the lack of push behind the prgoram (i discovered it on hulu) and just some BAD BAD writing. the dialogue in the first episode was PAINFUL to listen to. However, Happy town has one of the most interesting plots on tv. Perhaps this should have been an extended miniseries like Harper’s Island. Or perhaps there could be an internetn tie in liek Harpers Globe was for Harpers Island. Too bad, i was really looking forwad to finding out happy town’s secrets.
The adds were poor. It is a bad time slot for me, got church so I have to dvr. I almost did not watch the show due to the teasers but I am glad I did. After just three episodes it is one of my favorite shows on TV. Sadly, I have terrible tastes… I like shows like The Nine and Invasion, along with several others which were canceled quickly.
I am hoping for Happy Town to get a chance – it is captivating. It does need some polish but otherwise perfect for me.
I also liked The Nine and Invasion. ABC has a bad habit of pulling shows too soon. I don’t like investing in any of thier shows because of that. I think they are in a panic because they are losing LOST.
I think people and the network should give the show a chance. I am interested in who the magic man is, and what is going on in the town.