Tuesday night, FOX debuted a new drama for the Summer months, Mental. So, did the premiere’s ratings make the network crazy-happy or just drive them crazy?
Mental revolves around an unorthodox psychiatrist who becomes the Director of Mental Health at a fictional Los Angeles hospital. Created by Dan LeVine and co-executive produced by his sister, Deborah Joy LeVine, the series stars Chris Vance, Annabella Sciorra, Derek Webster, Jacqueline McKenzie, Marisa Ramirez, Nicholas Gonzalez, and Edwin Hodge.
The series premiered on Tuesday night and finished in third place for the 9pm hour with 5.8 million viewers and a 2.1/5 rating/share among the 18-49 demographic.
Those numbers aren’t that impressive but the drama did build on its lead-in, a rerun of the popular and very compatible House. There was also very little drop off between Mental’s first and second half hours, indicating that most watched the entire episode.
So, while Mental didn’t have a great debut, it wasn’t bad either. As we enter into the Summer months, viewership tends to fall off so the network may be okay with these numbers. But, will people return for subsequent installments? Will FOX give the show a second season once all 13 episodes have aired? We’ll have to wait and see.
So, what did you think? Is the show worth keeping or should it be cancelled?
Image courtesy FOX.
~This show is like Baywatch (meaning, “How did nobody think of this before?)! The cast is excellent. I love Dr. Gallagher and love to hate Dr. Bell and his evil cronies. I really enjoy seeing the show though the recovery process and treating the whole person, not just the disease. ~I thought many mental illnesses on the show were pure fiction. I was very surprised when my psychiatrist friend told me they are real and were accurately portrayed. The amount of factual information and research in many episodes is also very impressive. There has been fantastic acting by the regular… Read more »
I think you all are a little late — or did you want to keep it so badly you missed the finale? Nevertheless, I too think it was worth keeping and FOX, along with the other 3 broadcast networks continue to lose audiences with this kind of maneuvering and cancelling of good shows. It’s time to stop going for the largest audience and focus on smaller, loyal, regular viewers the way the cable networks have. The days of mega audiences (mega reach) are over. By continuing with this buisiness model that leads to hacking good shows after just a few… Read more »
KEEP!!!! It has excellent potential to be a long and very successful series!
Keep the show. Refreshing to see a doctor who really goes the extra mile for his patients. Very refreshing, and keeps you guessing. Don’t cancel.
The best show I have seen in a while…it throws you through loops and keeps you guessing. It made me want to go into psychotherapy as a profession because Jack really identifies with his patients and even though it is just TV. show these are real illnesses people deal with.
Love the show. Keep it!
This is a really good show. Please have it come back next season. This show is a one of a kind where you see mental illness being looked at and treated without drugs and with a little flare of real office politics. Please come back next year.
My husband and I really enjoy the show. We think that Chris Vance, (my husband saw him on Prison Break) is believable as a doctor. We hope that Fox or another network will renew the show. It would be interesting to see what happens to the other characters. KEEP IT.
Keep it! Great show.
YOU MUST KEEP THIS SHOW GOING. IAM PYSCH. MAJOR WITH A BS AND I LOVE THIS SHOW. IT IS WONDERFULLY INSIGHTFULL AND DRAMATIC. PLEASE SAY YOU WILL HAVE IT RETURN, PLEASE. I DON”T WANT TO HAVE TO SEE A SHRINK TO KEEP MY INSANITY, IF THIS SHOW LEAVES THE AIR FOR GOOD!!
Oh please keep MENTAL…………I love the show!!
Ecellent seson finale – cliff hanger for sre. Hopefully it will be back on again.
Keep it!
Very well done show. Please keep it.
Amazing show with true emotional quality…a la “Coda.”
Can’t let this show suffer the “Arrested Development” fate of being so well-done it had to be canceled.
Absolutely keep ‘Mental’—I love it.