Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution: Pulled; Should ABC Have Cancelled the Series?

Last spring, ABC unveiled Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, a reality show that features an enthusiastic chef who wants to teach parents and kids about proper nutrition. Though it could be considered a noble effort, the show didn’t attract a very big audience. The six episodes garnered an unimpressive 1.8 rating in the all-important 18-49 demographic and 5.11 million total viewers. The numbers didn’t really warrant it but ABC renewed Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution for a second season anyway, likely hoping the numbers would grow.

The reality series returned for the second round of episodes a month ago and started pulling worse ratings than season one did. The first episode attracted a poor 1.5 rating in the demo and 5.36 million viewers. The second episode dropped nearly 27%, pulling in a 1.1 with 4.72 million.

ABC decided to replace the next of Food Revolution with a recap of Dancing with the Stars. The numbers improved significantly, doing 227% better in the demo and attracting nearly three times as many viewers. They replaced it again this week and, though the recap show’s numbers weren’t as good, they were still much better than Food Revolution.

As a result, ABC has pulled Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution for the remainder of the May sweeps period. The Dancing with the Stars recaps will continue through May 24th.

The network will rerun the first two installments of this season’s Food Revolution on Friday, May 27th, and the final four episodes of the new season will begin airing the following Friday, June 3rd. The season should conclude on June 24th.

Right now, it’s looks highly unlikely that Food Revolution will be renewed for a third season. A 1.1 demo rating isn’t really strong enough to keep a reality show going — even on Friday nights.

However, if more people start tuning in because there’s less competition during June, ABC could certainly bring it back for another round. Either way, it seems unlikely that execs will make a final decision until after the second season finishes airing.

But, what do you think? Given its performance, should ABC have renewed Jamie Oliver’s show for a second season or cancelled it after one year? Do you watch? What do you like or dislike about it?