ABC has tried numerous times to find a new hit drama to help replace some of their aging ones. Pan Am has been a disappointment and Revenge hasn’t been a big success but Once Upon a Time looked like a winner right out of the gate. But, how do things look now? Is the show on track to land a season two renewal or could it end up cancelled?
On Once Upon a Time, the daughter (Jennifer Morrison) of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Joshua Dallas) tries to help fairy-tale characters who’ve been cursed by the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla) and ended up living in a small town in Maine. The series also features the talents of Robert Carlyle, Jared Gilmore, Raphael Sbarge, Meghan Ory, Jamie Dornan, Beverley Elliott, Lee Arenberg, David Paul Grove, and Gabe Khouth.
The new drama started off with a bang and a solid 4.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 12.93 million viewers. It was second in it’s timeslot which was impressive considering that Once Upon a Time’s debut had to compete with the World Series and popular shows on cable.
New series often fall 10-20% in their second week on the air but Once Upon a Time bucked the trend and dropped a mere 3% to a 3.9 rating in the all-important demo. In week three, the numbers fell just a bit more — to a 3.8 rating — and the series got a full season pick-up.
Unfortunately, the numbers keep dropping. With the exception of the fourth week (which didn’t drop or gain), Once Upon a Time has dropped in the demo and in total viewership each week. The last episode of 2011 drew a 2.9 rating and 8.92 million viewers, a new series low. That’s a far cry from the debut and the holiday hiatus surely hasn’t helped things.
While Once Upon a Time isn’t in trouble yet, its no longer looking like a big hit and could easily be in trouble. Remember FlashForward?
That ABC series debuted with nearly the exact same ratings two years earlier. It also looked like the big hit of the season but the numbers kept eroding each week. After seven episodes, FlashForward had dropped 35% in the demo. It kept falling until it was cancelled. After seven episodes, Once Upon a Time has fallen 28%. Hopefully, it’ll have a happier ending.
What do you think? Do you think Once Upon a Time will keep falling? Will it survive and see a second season or do you think it’ll end up being cancelled?
Image courtesy ABC.
Cancel this utterly rubbish show!!!!!!!!
The networks have not been able to find any show that seems to satisfy them the way they want to be satisfied. From the numbers that I keep reading on this site, it looks like they never will find a show that meets their standards. This show is really entertaining, and makes a person think about what will happen next. It deserves to at least get a 2nd season (without completely messing it up by changing the whole format etc.) and imho deserves to keep running until it gets under the skin of the masses. Housewives is going off the… Read more »
I love this show – you need to take into account the holiday which i think affected it the most. I have several friends who are also avid watchers. Please keep this amazing show going!
I love this show and can’t wait to see the next episode every week. I like everything about it – the stories, the scripts, the characters, the actors, the costumes. It’s the most original and creative series in a long time. (since LOST?) Please don’t stop it now. The story is just beginning!
Finally found a show to keep me on my toes wating for the next one each week and now abc want to cancel it have not found a show I like this much in years
Well. I have been following this show since it begun and even when I think it can be a big hit I’m actually afraid that it’ll turn in a big disappointment and not because the story is bad, it is because I believe the writers may not fulfill a great storyline for more than two seasons. If this show is cancelled, which I hope won’t happen, I only wish the fans get the closure we deserve from the whole writing team. And who knows, maybe the season will pick up after the hiatus.
I don’t think Once Upon a Time is in danger of cancellation yet. It’s current season average is a 3.6 according to this site.
Getting too gruesome. It is not a show adults want to watch by themselves much (unless they are stuck in a time warp) nor do I picture sitting explaining to a 7 year old why someone just pulled someone’s heart out of their chest.
I hope next season ABC tones down the gruesomeness. It’s not needed just to make the show “cooler.” Really.
Fairy tales have been gruesome for ages and we all turned out fine, heh.
I’m with you- I think they lost a large part of their potential audience, while doing nothing to try to add new.LOVED the first episodes, though!
bill, I am sorry, but I laughed when I read the part about adults not wanting to watch by themselves because it is too gruesome. I just had this picture of you terrified every night watching episodes of Bones, NCIS, or any other drama that is shown.
Please don’t cancel this show, I Love it. I have it set to record just in case I miss it. Haven’t seen a show in a while that I really get in to.
I miss FlashForward and wish they hadn’t cancelled it, but Once Upon A Time has so far been much better. It’d be a mistake for them to not give the series another season. That said, I guess OUAT is finally following the trend all the shows I like do. Guess something I like couldn’t be a “hit” for long, heh. Then again, The Walking Dead is still going strong (someone make a joke about the show being unkillable), and that’s fantastic.
Even at its lowest rating, it is the 3rd most popular scripted show on ABC. ABC doesn’t have enough new programming to really allow it to think about cancelling the show.
Well, I really hope it won’t keep on falling, then again I’m sure it won’t. The story is really good. For a show that has premiered late in the fall season, it did pretty well, I’m surprised it did. The show is on SUNDAYS. Think, what else is on SUNDAYS in the fall? Football. Perhaps that’s the reason why the ratings are going down. Since Football season it almost over (finishes beginning of February), the ratings will (hopefully) go through the roof again. ABC DOES have a bad habit of cancelling good shows. Two of them I liked were cancelled… Read more »
Please, please don’t cancel this show! It is a really good tv series and we can’t wait to see it each week! ABC has a bad habit of cancelling the good shows every year! Please don’t cancel this one too!
I agree! don’t cancel it. I look forward to it every week!!!
LOVE THE COMMENT bRUCE AND I’M RIGHT THERE WITH YOU ON THE PEOPLE AT ABC.
Well, I love the show, but unfortunately, since it’s ABC, and the show is really good, and something DIFFERENT, lets see now, how would Sheldon Cooper work it out on the whiteboard?
[show that is actually different]=not cop show, hospital show sit com+[good storyline]+idiots at ABC =cancelled. bazinga. oh well.