NBC debuted their new fantasy-adventure series, Merlin, last night. Did many people tune in to watch this new take on an old tale? Will it be allowed to run its course or has the magic tale failed to excite viewers?
Merlin stars Colin Morgan as a young sorcerer who arrives in Camelot, a city where magic has been outlawed by King Uther Pendragon (Anthony Head). While there, Merlin learns that he has an important part to play in the future of Camelot and residents like Prince Arthur (Bradley James), maid Guinevere (Angel Coulby), and seer Morgana (Katie McGrath). Others in the cast include Bionic Woman’s Michelle Ryan, Richard Wilson, and John Hurt as the voice of The Great Dragon.
Though many British shows have been remade for American audiences over the years, Merlin supposedly marks the first time a UK drama has aired on a major US network in over 30 years. But, how long will it last?
Last night, Merlin debuted to an average of just 5.35 million viewers for its two-hour premiere, putting it in second place behind CBS reruns. The supernatural show was also in second place for the 18-49 demographic with an average of a 1.4/4 rating/share.
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That performance certainly isn’t a magical one for the network and the ratings will very likely decline for subsequent installments. Considering that it’s Summer and that NBC hasn’t spent much money to acquire the series, it looks very likely that the network will air all 13 installments of this season.
While the show’s future on NBC isn’t certain, Merlin will continue on nevertheless. The series has been a hit for BBC One and they commissioned a second season last December. Production is expected to begin soon and will film on location in Wales and France. Unless ratings pick up, it seems doubtful that NBC will be buying it.
What do you think? Should Merlin be cancelled before season one even finishes? Will NBC make the second season available to network viewers? So, cancel or keep Merlin?
Image courtesy NBC.
Agree with Debbie-We are seeing the show same as it’s broadcast on BBC. And it’s a pretty good show to boot. While the #s aren’t high, we gotta remember it’s summer and total TV viewership is down, as it is every summer.
And, I don’t watch those inane reality shows-PERIOD.
@MK: try hulu.com
I love the show. I got the DVD’s when they came out in the UK. So, I’ve seen all of the first season. It’s too bad NBC decided to air it during the summer when people don’t watch a whole lot of TV. And it’s a lot better than some of the crap that’s on right now(I’m a celebrity..get me out of here). NBC should keep it on and let the viewers that are watching it enjoy something good on TV for a change.
I watched both hours and enjoyed it very much. Please keep it. I have watched just enough reality shows to know I hate them. Merlin is fun and fanciful and a refreshing break from reality.
I loved it! It was great to see a British show the way it was intended – and not as an American remake.
NBC is looking to recover from its downslide, but it continues to cancel shows with true potential (ie. Life)…I hope that they make the right decision regarding Merlin – that is to keep it…and to continue to bring over any additional seasons that the BBC makes.
I missed it. Are the first two eps on NBC.com?
The difficulty that I had with the show was that forced feeling I got when watching the first installment of Harry Potter. The kid just got to the castle and all of the sudden he’s got this familiarity with his mentor like he had been there for 6 months. This is a real problem for me… I like to see the characters develop into what the will ultimately become. After all, this is a series and not a one hour show. There’s time to see how Merlin gets to where he ultimately ends up, the wizard for King Arthur. Anybody… Read more »
The fact that the us open ran late (stupid overtime in sports) did not help the premiere. My mom hates watching shows if there is even a possibilty that our DVR did not catch the whole thing. I convinced her to stay and watch b/c the first episode would be finished at the beginning of the second one but we still missed the end of the second episode. Though my parents say it does weird things to the taditional legend I still believe Merlin will be a good show if only everyone gave it the time (and golf didn’t run… Read more »
They better keep this show. I really enjoyed watching this and I’m tired of networks canceling shows that I like a lot. If NBC doesn’t keep it I will be so upset.
Keep it… I really enjoyed the show. Its a better quality show than the reality shows. I would like to see the next episode.
Last night wasn’t a good representation of it’s potential ratings. The US Open ran long, and people probably didn’t realize that NBC was going to show the show in its entirety afterwards.
Keep it! And show the second season when it’s available!
If Merlin finished second to CBS, then, by NBC standards, it’s a huge hit. Nobody watches NBC anymore. They suck. I think even the CW has higher ratings. Hell, USA probably has higher ratings. If Merlin beat ABC for the night, they’d better keep it.
I pray the show stays,me & a dozen of my freinds are already hooked. Seems like any show that has substance never last but the air headed stuff remains……….just goes to show where the publics mentality is at now days.
You know I have decided from now on, when a network puts a show on I like and then cancels it, I will watch no more new shows on that network. I love the merlin series so far. Oh wait lets cancel it cause it didnt get the highest ratings. Remeber Buffy the vampire slayer….almost cancelled…you know how that turned our right. Networks are a joke. But I do believe I could survive on dvd’s and reruns if I had too. Maybe then they would think about the rest of the viewers, not just their little survey groups.