Kidnapped: NBC Orders the Last Episode

Right out of the gate, NBC has not been pleased with the performance of one of its newest serial dramas, Kidnapped.As a result, the peacock network has decided to cut the story short — but thankfully won’t leave viewers hanging.

Kidnapped is a new series that tells the story of a wealthy New York City couple (Timothy Hutton and Dana Delany) whose teenage son (Will Denton) is abducted and, the investigative team assigned to find him (headed by an ex-FBI operative played by Jeremy Sisto).

The series premiere of Kidnapped on September 20, 2006 garnered a mediocre 7.5 million viewers, losing to a repeat of Grey’s Anatomy by three million viewers. The second and third episodes dipped even lower with 6.3 million viewers each.

As a result, NBC will move Kidnapped to Saturday nights (beginning October 21, 2006). They’ve also decided to shorten the planned 22 episode order to 13 episodes. Fortunately, with such advance notice, the Kidnapped creative team will be able to make use of a contingency plan which will allow them to wrap up the kidnapping mystery by the end of 13 episodes.

It’s unfortunate that the series won’t have as many episodes but at least fans won’t be left hanging (unlike fans of last year’s Reunion series). Since NBC is still struggling for ratings and Saturday night viewership expectations are so low, it’s a pretty sure bet that all 10 of the remaining episodes will be allowed to air.