Though NBC had high hopes for its ambitious Kings drama, the series has just not lived up to expectations. You know things are bad when a network ships a series off to Saturday nights. You know things are incredibly bad when the networks pull them from Saturday nights!
Kings revolves around the fictional nation of Gilboa, a United States-like country except that it’s ruled by a king, Silas Benjamin (Ian McShane). Based on the biblical tale of King David, the series features the talents of Christopher Egan, Susanna Thompson, Michael Patrick Crane, Allison Miller, Sebastian Stan, Eamonn Walker, Dylan Baker, Wes Studi, Joel Garland, Jason Antoon, Sarita Choudhury, and Macaulay Culkin.
After a lackluster premiere and poor subsequent showings, the peacock network decided to send the drama off to Saturday nights, the least-watched evening for network television. Last Saturday night, April 18th, was the first airing. It attracted a dismal number of viewers; 2.24 million and a 0.5/2 rating/share in the desirable 18-49 demographic.
That apparently isn’t enough for NBC and they’ve pulled the show from Saturday nights effective immediately. Repeats of Law & Order: SVU will fill the timeslot, at least for the time being. Fans of the show will have to wait until June 13th to see their show return to the Saturday at 8pm timeslot.
Despite a devoted following and a big budget, it looks like Kings is going down in the history books as one of this season’s biggest failures.
Image courtesy NBC.
Unfortunately, the good shows that appeal to mature audiences are being shown on cable and pay-for-view. Kings would have stood a better chance on HBO, Showtime, or even the SciFi channel than network TV. Crime dramas and reality shows now dominate the networks and I guess appeal to the masses. For the most part, I thing mature viewers have been told that as a demographic they are not very important (even though older viewers actually have the most disposable income). The result is a lot of pablum and drivel on network TV and a big loss in viewership. Maybe they… Read more »
It went down because no one watches NBC anyway. And those that do hardly saw any promos for the show. They wanted it to fail and they wanted it to fail big time. People I talked to never even heard of the show, never saw a promo, never heard a story, nothing zip zilch nadda. You can’t expect to gain a viewship if you don’t market your show!
It was a beautiful intelegent almost shakespearean show and that people could easiy understand and relate to. Unfortunately the marketing made it look like some show about spoiled people who do bad things in a trashy way.
My sister and I loved this show, the costume designer deserves an Emmy…..The queen and Princess Michelle’s dresses, accessories, etc were amazing and everything looked fantastic. This show had something for everyone that likes a real story and not so called “reality” or “reality like” cop & lawyer shows or doctor dramas.
Love, War, Politics, Scandal, Faith, Integrity, Mystery….this show had it all. Maybe so many people are watching their DVR they aren’t seeing the promos for new shows or don’t want to add another show to their schedule.
This is crap. This was (is?) one of the best shows out there. I LOVE Ian McShane. All the good shows are being cancelled (Eli Stone..) and all the crappy shows (Lost, Prison Break..) get like their billionth season. Is there something we can do, to save it? Anything? This is one of the most innovative shows out there, and the acting is superb. Anyway I am bummed, and I am sure once my husband hears he will be too. Other than Football this was the one thing we actually liked to watch together. What a waste.
I am so disappointed. w
While I too loved this show and thought it had a lot of potential, it doesn’t suprise me it didn’t find a bigger audience.
It wasn’t a bunch of 20 somethings “finding themselves” and discovering life. It also wasn’t “America’s Top (or Favorite) ”
The majority of Americans who watch TV in the numbers the networks and advertisers want to see are not into anything that requires ANY thinking on their part. They want to watch… and that’s all. They want the content spoon fed into them.
Its sad every time a show like this “fails”.
I believe Kings would have drawn that audience in time. I was surprised to find that some of the women I work with hadn’t even heard of it. I had to tell them how good it was and when it came on and then they too started watching it. I’m very disappointed that NBC decided to pull this show. It was one of the few shows that is really good in a good way. But even going further than the entertainment aspect of it, society needs this show right now. With the economy, job market, people losing their homes, their… Read more »
I found the show fascinating, but it also took some concentration to watch as the story was very complex. I wish it had been given half a chance, I’m watching the first few episodes over on my DVR, as it takes more than one viewing to pick up on everything going on which is part of what makes it so good. Incredible cast as well, I’m a big Wes Studi fan! Network TV has to stop giving into the lowest common denominator of the viewing public. Who cares about what 18-49ers watch anyway, they are watching their phones! NBC is… Read more »
The shows I like very rarely make it all the way through season 1!! Me liking it is the kiss of death for any show i.e. my 2 favorite shows this season Kings and Dollhouse.
i can’t believe that this show doesn’t have more viewers because it’s a really awesome show!!! i’m addicted to it! I really really hope that the ratings pick up and that nbc does give Kings a second season!!!
The FORMER Nbc executives had high hopes for “Kings.” New prime-time entertainment president, Angela Bromstad, killed the show by moving it from its original Thursday spot into the obscurity of Sunday, Saturday, then poof off to June. The show could have been the network’s saving grace had it been given a fair chance. It’s a brilliant show sabotaged by network politics.
I just think its funny how you “NBC” as a network would move it to Saturday night knowing that people don’t watch television on Saturday nights. If you attempted to move Kings to a reasonable night then you might have had some success instead of just giving it the worst nights of the week.
i had high hopes for this show, and McShane is great, as always, but I knew before it even started that most ppl wouldn’t be interested. The show is too smart for them.
While not a bad show, it just couldn’t draw enough viewers, as has been the case for other good shows that have bitten the dirt. It’s simply TV reality-without enough of a viewership, the best show that can possibly be made is gonna be yanked.
Nobody knows how a show will be received by the viewing public until it’s aired, so I don’t blame NBC for trying with “Kings”. It coulda gone either way, but this time it went down-good as it is, not enough viewers think so.