Under the reign of Ben Silverman, NBC spent a whole lot of money on Kings — about $4 million an episode. Unfortunately for the peacock network, most viewers weren’t interested and the network lost a lot of money.
After three weeks of low ratings, they shuffled the series off to die on Saturday evenings, when viewership is typically lower anyway. While many devoted fans tuned in each week to watch actors like Ian McShane, Christopher Egan, Allison Miller, Susanna Thompson, Sebastian Stan, Eamonn Walker, and Dylan Baker, the numbers weren’t enough for the show to go back into production.
Not only won’t Kings be returning for a second season but NBC isn’t planning on taking that kind of ambitious risk again. The network’s President of Primetime Entertainment, Angela Bromstad, said this week, “It was a great production, but our challenge now is, you need to sell something. People want to know what something is about.”
Bromstad continued, “Kings was a complex idea. It was originally developed when I was [at NBC] before. We didn’t make it [then] because we thought it was a little too high brow and too difficult to sell in a 30 second slot. It doesn’t mean we’re not looking for big ideas [but] they have to be big ideas that the audience can grab on to.”
What do you think? Was the concept too much for the audience to grasp or did it fail for another reason? Too good for network TV?
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Image courtesy NBC.
Unbelievably good writing. Shocking that it actually made it to primetime TV. A rare jewel and totally enjoyable for the short time it was able to shine. If only networks were run by “normal” people – people who make schedules that people know when things are on and a commitment to gain an audience. I read long books instead.
I miss this show, please get it back up and running the writing was excellent. Think about it PLEASE
Kings was a perfect example of speaking too much ‘truth’ about the distorted world around us..its a story that needs to be told, and listened/watched by everyone. I only offer this because like so many other people like myself, we want stories that inspire to do good things, to make us better people, and to make us wiser than when we first started. Sure, its just a show, but it can be so much more for many of us still willing to take something away from this timeless tale. Sign this petition to get ‘Kings’ back: http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/kings-petition/ Long live the… Read more »
I have watched kings upto the last episode in two days. it was wrong for it to be cancelled. if you do not want to air it sell it. Its wrong to leave such a great thing unfinished, it shows cowardice. Kings is great, we’d like to see David become King!
I LIKED “KINGS” AMONG OTHER CANCELED NBC SHOWS.
I can’t wait for the big networks to crumble to TV on Demand. We’ll see the independent producers empowered to create a show not just for the dollar, but for the achievement of creating something new, fresh and intelligent. While the big networks remain on top, we will continue to loose great shows like Kings. I must say that Michael Green did a brilliant job with Kings, its one of my all time favourites. It was a massive pity that NBC was never advertised it properly. I only just heard about it last month 🙁
I’m very disappointed that ‘Kings’ won’t be back. It was a complex show, and that’s what I loved about it. It was well acted and smart. It was an original idea. Sometimes brainless tv is good when you just want to veg. But the majority of programming today has become copycatting garbage. And NBC in particular has become quite the receptacle for garbage. I can’t even watch the ‘Today’ show anymore. They’ve gone quite limp. Thank goodness for ‘Parenthood’. Hope I didn’t just jinx it! I’m jumping over to their station USA, where some of my favorite shows are. Just… Read more »
I agree totally, i faithfully watched every episode, sometimes more then once. I do think it would have survived as a short series coming back every year. something to consider . I did have alot of my friends watching it when I had them sit down and watch one episode. none really knew much about it. hoping you bring it back in some state. Bets
I’m just sick to death of NBC. I’m past my 20’s now, and hate to say getting ready to hit 40. It seems like every time I start to like a show the network gets rid of it. Guess what NETWORKS thats why I got HBO, SHOWTIME, and STARZ. I’m sick of this stupid shows that are designed for brainless idots. I know there cheap to make, but what does it say about the networks? It’s to the point I have to watch USA to get TV shows I like. I know USA is owned by NBC, but then why… Read more »
I watched the show about a month ago and brought it on Amazon. I watched the whole season in 3 to 4 days. I liked it a lot and told some of my god-sisters about it. Marketing is the key to success but NBC wants to blame the failure on the show. Nothing more to say besides, as others have said, I would like to see more.
Judging by the cast, the concept and story line, I just know I would have loved this show. That is, had I even known it existed; frankly the reason I did not know about “Kings,” is because it aired on NBC. Shipping it over to another network (e.g., ABC, as Richard suggested) would really help. In general, this recent trend is infuriating: shows that my family and I really enjoy are yanked after two or three episodes. Are times that tough, that Network higher-ups are that trigger-happy? Why not make any new show, a miniseries instead? To test the waters:… Read more »
I absolutely agree with previous comments. This show was truly a refreshing piece of work and I hate that the average viewer’s intelligence is thought so poorly of that networks feel the need to produce shows that literally spell out the conclusion to every mystery or unaswered question. This show kept me glued and while it was still on I for one got the word out there to people who quite frankly had never even heard the name because evidently the only place they bothered to heavily advertise was New York where one of my sisters lives. No one else… Read more »
We enjoyed Kings so very much. The biggest obstacle in following Kings was figuring out when it was on; this week ‘yes’ on one night, next week ‘no’ but ‘yes’ on a different night. We missed so many episodes it was hard to keep it all ltogether. No advertising didn’t help much either. Had I been the network boss, I could have sold the show easily – just tell people when it’s on and be consistent. How about starting all over and run the series from the beginning or at least a major review. There’s enough drama in actual Old… Read more »
I don’t think Kings was too high brow or too difficult to sell. I find it insulting that NBC doesn’t give intellectual credit to its viewing audience. Perhaps it wasn’t marketed properly, or perhaps Sunday and Saturday nights are really bad nights to try to start a new show, but if NBC had given Kings a chance to attract an audience, I don’t think they would have been disappointed. I wish NBC would give us some sort of conclusion. They took a chance by producing such an ambitious show; I wish they would take one again by bringing it to… Read more »
I just this minute saw the last episode for Kings: The Series as a DVD rental. I enjoyed all the episodes and was sorry to learn the series had been discontinued by NBC. I think it would have been more successful and profitable as a mini-series with a conclusion. On a scale of one to five, five being excellent, I would rate it a four (because it has left me hanging with too many questions). I wish NBC would bring it back as a mini-series with a conclusion. I bet they could make a profit from the sales of DVD……I… Read more »
The DVD is out and we have had it for several weeks. It’s definitely a favourite. I don’t think the series was too high-brow at all. I cannot accept that we are that much more intelligent than the average viewer – more intelligent, yes, but not THAT much more intelligent.