In July, production on NBC’s Parenthood was delayed due to Maura Tierney becoming ill. She eventually had to drop out of the project and Lauren Graham stepped in.
Because of the backstage issues, NBC delayed Parenthood’s Fall premiere and replaced it with a series that was scheduled for midseason, Mercy. Some wondered if having two new medical series might cause one to suffer. It turns out, Mercy and Trauma are both in critical condition.
Mercy follows the lives of three very different nurses at Mercy Hospital in Jersey City. The cast includes Taylor Schilling, Jaime Lee Kirchner, Michelle Trachtenberg, James Tupper, Diego Klattenhoff, Guillermo Diaz, James LeGros, James Van Der Beek, and Delroy Lindo.
The series got off to a mediocre start on September 23, 2009. The premiere attracted a 2.3 rating in the all-important 18-49 demographic and 8.25 million total viewers. That put the debut in fourth place for the demo and in second place for total viewers.
The second episode fell to a 2.1 rating and 7.35 million. The third installment dropped again to a 1.8 rating in the demo and 7.29 million viewers. Not good.
Though the show’s ratings could hardly be called strong, NBC gave Mercy a full season order in October. The rest of the network’s schedule was performing poorly and the order likely had most to do with the fact that NBC just needed original programming. It didn’t hurt that the series is a co-production of NBC’s corporate sister, Universal Media Studios.
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Meanwhile, Trauma struggled from the very beginning and NBC pulled the plug after 13 episodes. But then, based on the need for more programming, the network ordered seven more installments. That show returns on March 8th but is a big longshot for renewal.
While Mercy was initially the better performer, the show’s ratings have now reached Trauma-like levels. The most recent episode of Mercy hit a series low with a dismal 1.4 rating in the demo and just 5.86 million viewers.
NBC’s Primetime Entertainment President Angela Bromstad recently said that she still loves the drama creatively, but she also noted that the show’s ratings need to rise for it to survive. She made that statement before Mercy fell to its most recent low.
The network has commissioned 18 pilots for the 2010-11 season and Bromstad has acknowledged that they’ll have to essentially rebuild their schedule from scratch.
With the ratings as poor as they are, it’s highly likely that Mercy will be cancelled and won’t survive to see a second year.
What do you think? Would you be sorry to see Mercy cancelled? Is it worth watching? Is there a reason that more viewers aren’t tuning in?
Image courtesy NBC.
Please do not cancel Mercy. I really enjoy this show. I like the plots and the complexity of the characters. Having been an EMT for many years, I also commend the writers for having a good amount of accuracy with the medical interventions and terminology. No one is perfect and it is TV, so I expect some errors on the medical front, but Mercy does pretty well. My only real complaint is the time slot. 8 pm for a drama is not a great time. I am still trying to put the kids down for the night and settle in… Read more »
Please don’t cancel!!! The last episode was such a cliffhanger!! I’ve only recently started watching on Netflix (I don’t have cable at the moment) and I LOVE this show. I’m hooked! And I think I’m in love with Mike! (kidding) But in all seriousness, if there was a second season, I would watch it just as religiously as I did the first.
~ Bailey
bring it back! like you guys leave such a cliff hanger and then nothing. man, maybe the second season will have more viewers. have you ever thought of that.
Mercy was the best program on TV! Please bring it back
I LOVE THE SHOW MERCY…IT’S SO REAL..PLEASE BRING IT BACK!
I LOVED THE BOTH OF THEM….TRAUMA AND MERCY!!! I WANTED THE BOTH TO COME BACK!!
I loved Mercy. That was the one show I looked forward to seeing each week. Please reconsider & bring it back.
I LOVE MERCY!!!! PLEASE BRING IT BACK!!!!
LOOOOOVE MERCY!! I had to watch it online too b/c of timing…it’s a shame that online viewing doesn’t seem to count for anything. Really hope it’s not canceled!!
i really liked mercy it was an awesome show and i really hope it comes back for another season this show is like a replacement for when nbc got rid of trauma another awesome show and then a couple of years ago when they got rid of third watch they really need to bring mercy back it was really good Bring It Backkk!!!!!
I loved Mercy, please bring it back!
I lopved Mercy and have been looking for it this season! I never heard that it was going to becanceled. I thought it’s ratings were going up. With ER gone it really filled a void for me and many of my friends! We watched it and talked about it at lunch the next day. Please bring it back!!!
MERCY CANNOT BE CANCELLED! THIS IS MY FAVORITE SHOW ALONG WITH GREY’S ANATOMY!!! I LOVE THIS SHOW! PLEASE DON’T LET IT BE CANCELLED!!!!
p.s. if you’re looking for actors I’m DYING to be on a medical tv show!!!
I loved Mercy… So Sad To Hear it’s not coming back!!! I don’t really watch anything on it’s scheduled time. I DVR everything I don’t know if that makes a difference in rating or not.
I LOVED watching Mercy I could never watch it when it was on Wed. Night but I watched every episode online as soon as it was there. I think many people watched it online because of timing issues or whatever maybe those numbers need to be looked at as well.
Please bring back Mercy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!