Tonight marks the season finale of NBC’s Parenthood. The ratings are down so will it end up being the series finale as well? Will the show be cancelled or return for a fourth season?
Parenthood debuted back in March of 2009 as a mid-season replacement series. The first season’s 13 episodes ended up averaging a 2.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 6.38 million total viewers. The show was on the bubble but ended up getting renewed.
NBC didnt wait until mid-season to bring it back and season two kicked off in September 2010. With a full 22 episode season, the show’s averages dropped to a 2.1 in the demo and 5.34 million. Parenthood was on the bubble once again but, once again, it ended up being renewed.
This season, the ratings have dropped once again. The third season of Parenthood (not including tonight’s numbers) have averaged a 1.9 in the demo with 5.13 million. Based on the lower numbers at the start of the season, NBC only ordered 18 installments this time around.
 Loading ... |
Ordinarily, one would expect that Parenthood would be on the verge of cancellation once again. However, because the rest of NBC’s schedule is in such sorry shape, Parenthood’s ratings actually look pretty good by comparison.
Out of the 17 scripted programs that have aired on NBC this season, Parenthood has the sixth highest demo ratings, beating out shows like Community, Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, and Grimm. On our NBC ratings report card, Parenthood registers a firm “B.”
Based on the season numbers and the fact that Parenthood is co-produced by Universal Television, NBC’s own production company, it’s almost guaranteed to be back for a fourth season.
But, what do you think? Do you think Parenthood should be renewed or cancelled? How long should the series reasonably continue?
Image courtesy NBC.
No, Parenthood cannot be cancelled it’s my favourite show ever!
This one of the few wonderfully written shows with real characters! And it doesnt demean and objectify women. You can’t cancel it!
Great show! Bring it back!
PLEASE KEEP THAT SHOW!!! Other than being great for a huge range of ages, making it an awesome family series, it’s just so entertaining!!! I definitely fell in love with it from the first episode and the cast is just perfect!
Are you kidding me? BEST SHOW ON THE AIR! Forget your target audience. My 14 year old also thinks it is the best show on the air…it is her (and our) FAVORITE show!
this show CANNOT be cancelled! I fell inlove with the show when i saw the 1st episode! I literally watched the 3 seasons in 3 weeks. It’s like a book i couldn’t but down but it was on tv. All i can say is i’m inlove and i hope it doesnt cancel!!!!
I love this show!! I didn’t like that they gave Alex aids and then
Had haddie have sex. I thought that was very irresponsible but
Other than that, I love love love this show!!
Please keep new episodes of Parenthood coming! It’s the ONLY show on TV that I look forward to each week!
I only just discovered Parenthood this past year, and that was on NetFlix. I watched the first couple of episodes and was totally hooked, so watched all of Season 1 and 2, only then to realize that Season 3’s finale was on TV and a local channel to boot. So, having missed Season 3 on TV, I began searching for a way to get it online. It wasn’t available to watcy full episodes on the NBC website, and NetFlix didn’t yet have Season 3 listed. Within a few weeks I found it on Hulu Plus, when my daughter got a… Read more »
My husband and i LOVE this show. The ensemble cast is terrific! It ideals with family issues in a realistic way. It is by far my favorite drama on television. I would be very disappointed if it was cancelled.
I love the show, keep it on! I have been watching on Hulu, maybe that hurts the ratings? Either way, it takes a lot for me to sit and watch TV, so Parenthood HAS to be good!
I love the show, the passion of the characters and honest emotions in each plot. It reminds me of Thirty-Something from years ago.
I always wonder if the network execs actually watch shows or just watch the numbers.
Put on your human hats then make a decision after you’ve watched!
I absolutely love this show. It deals with so many topics that families are going through now — special needs children, struggling with family get-togethers, single parents, career challenges. The characters are so charismatic and interesting, and I love the relationship between the parents, their children and their children. Please renew this series — we want more!
I also love this show, it can’t be cancelled! Lets get the ratings up!
I love parenthood is funny, family values, it shows the day to day things that can happen in life, i watched the pilot when it first aired and caught a couple more of it’s shows, i do love it and netflix caught me up on the first and second season’s and want more. LOtS MORE. NBC don’t have great things to watch but parenthood is a keeper.