Many people first became aware of actor Jimmy Smits when he co-starred back on NBC’s LA Law in the 1990s. He’s worked on many TV shows since then — The West Wing, Cane, NYPD Blue — with varying levels of success. Now, he’s back in the courtroom again, playing a lawyer on NBC’s Outlaw. How will this new series work out for him? A big success or a quick cancellation?
Outlaw follows a Supreme Court Justice (Smits) who decides to step down and go back to being a lawyer to fight injustices. The NBC series also stars Carly Pope, David Ramsey, Jesse Bradford, and Ellen Woglom.
NBC gave Outlaw a special preview on Wednesday September 15th, in the plum spot of following the season finale of America’s Got Talent. The series premiere was reasonably sampled with a 2.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 10.68 million viewers. Those are okay numbers on their own but it’s not a good sign that Outlaw lost a significant amount of America’s Got Talent’s lead-in audience — 42% in the demo and 35% of total viewers.
 Loading ... |
A couple days later, in its regular Friday night timeslot on the 17th, NBC reran the pilot episode. Outlaw performed terribly but, after all, it was a repeat. The rerun attracted just a 0.9 in the demo and 3.93 million viewers. The NBC execs were surely hoping originals would perform better.
Not so much. This past Friday, episode two of Outlaw only mustered a 1.1 rating in the all-important demo ratings and 4.99 million viewers (per the overnights). It was in last place in both categories and lost a large percentage of its lead-in audience from Dateline. Last year, an episode of The Jay Leno Show even did better with a 1.6 and 5.79 million.
With ratings like these, it’s hard to imagine that NBC would bother ordering more episodes beyond the initial 13 installments. They may in fact decide to pull the show altogether and plug in repeats of another series. It looks like it’ll soon be back to the drawing board for Mr. Smits.
What do you think? Did you watch Outlaw? Do you like it? Is it worth saving or should it just be cancelled?
Image courtesy NBC.
Outlaw is one of the season’s best, and rather than cancel it, NBC should find a better timeslot to feature the show. Airing it on Fri. night, put it at a disadvantage. Moving it repeatedly did not even give the show a chance. I am very disappointed that NBC has cancelled (plans to cancel?) the show. But I should know better: Rather than invest in scripted dramas of such caliber (Outlaw) NBC prefers to beat an old formula to death with countless iterations — e.g., Law & Order Los Angeles, which I will not watch; I gave up on the… Read more »
Please give it some time. its a great show. I love it. Please do not cancel it.
Please do not cancel the show. It is a great show. I was looking forward to the show…did even know that it already showed. Give time…it will pick up…
THis is a great show! But I cannot watch it becaause there are so many commercials I cannot follow the story line…it makes me dizzy. I would LOVE to be able to see it if only the show was not b roken up every 5-8 mintues for a commercial! It seems like the producers have purposely sabotaged their own show with too many commercials.
OUTLAW is GREAT and so is Jimmy Smits. The ONLY problem with “Outlaw” is the commercials!! There are too many–there are so many it is impossible to follow any storyline–it is absolutely ridiculous to put a new show on and then make it impossible to watch by interrupting it every 5-8 minutes!! for commercials!
I have something to add to my other comment. As somebody said before some of the MANY reality show of which most of them are not worth watching are left on tv I think Jimmy Smits in Outlaw is a very entertaining drama. Please I hope someone will reconsider thses comments and keep this on the air.
No show can go up against Selleck. Put it in a new time lot. You got a winner!
this is a very good program why do they keep canceling shows for adults cop shows are getting tiresom put this show in a decent time slot it’s great
I love this show. My husband and I are so disappointed in the fact that you are canceling it.
I have friends that feel the same.
Please keep it.
Please do not cancel this show. Jimmy Smits does a wonderful job and makes it a very
enjoyable show to watch.
Really like the show and really like the character that Jimmy Smits portrays. Hope it stays on the air!
Loved the show – my favorite show. Please see it!
My wife and I have watched three episodes and enjoyed them thoroughly. The show is intelligent, thought-provoking, and entertaining. It makes one wonder about the network VPs who make these decisions. Give the show a chance to catch on with a wider audience… some shows are an acquired taste!
I don’t think they should cancel Outlaw. It is so much better than any of these so called reality shows. Jimmy Snits has always been an under-appreciated actor. I wish we the people could vote on what tv shows stay on and what ones gets canceled. I will be sorry to see it go.
I THINK IT IS A GREAT LAWYER SHOW, WHICH MAKES YOU THINK INSTEAD OF JUST WATCHING SHOOTING ALL THE TIME. THE ACTING IS GREAT, JUST CHANGE IT TO A EARLIER TIME, I THINK ALL THE SHOWS ARE TOO MUCH TOGETHER, HOW CAN WE WATCH ALL THE SHOWS AND LET YOU KNOW IF GOOD OR NOT. THIS IS THE BEST YEAR FOR TV SHOWS IN ALONG TIME. JUST TOO MUCH AT THE SAME TIME. I LOVE LAW SHOWS WHERE THEY KEEP MY ATTENTION. AND THINKING OF THE CASES. PLEASE PLEASE KEEP THIS SHOW ON, OTHERWISE THE OTHER LAW SHOWS WILL GO… Read more »