Why wasn’t Pitch a home run? Recently, executive producer Kevin Falls spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the struggling FOX TV series.
The sports drama, which follows the first female player for a Major League Baseball team, stars Kylie Bunbury, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Ali Larter, Mark Consuelo, Dan Lauria, Mo McRae, Meagan Holder, and Tim Jo.
During the show’s brief first season, it notably struggled in the ratings. Over the course of 10 episodes, the series earned an average rating of .83 in the 18-49 demo and only 3.032 million viewers—low for a primetime network drama.
When asked about the low ratings, Falls said it might have something to do with baseball fans not wanting a woman at the center of the show:
That’s a good question. I wonder if people thought — I mean, if people who are baseball fans, thought, “Well, I don’t believe that they would be able to throw a baseball, I don’t believe a woman can be a starter in the major leagues,” if those people didn’t show up or if people thought it was going to be a show about sports, people who don’t follow baseball or sports thought it was going to be a sports show, or they checked out the novelty in the pilot. I don’t know, it’s confounded us because I think we have like a 93 percent Rotten Tomatoes [score]; most of the views of the pilot were extremely positive. We feel, and I know that the studio and network feel, like we delivered as a series creatively and we have a baseline of fans that really are not necessarily a strong wide viewing fan base, but they always come back and we get the +3s and +7s, they always kind of end up being the same number. The question is whether you can build on that number and we were hoping that we could. We certainly would’ve loved a different spot on the schedule, but that’s [something] every show can say that’s struggled, so I wish everything was better. But honestly, I don’t know, because between the critical reviews and the content and quality of the show, I don’t know. We struggle with that because we are so happy with the show.”
While FOX has still not announced whether Pitch will have a second season, Falls is hopeful:
I realize the numbers are what they are and it could end up being the final factor, but I do know that even as early as last week, there were discussions about putting it on in the summer. I know that there’s been no final decision made on the show, that they have a love for it a great deal. So we will see what happens.”
What do you think? Did you watch season one of Pitch? Why do you think the show didn’t catch on with many viewers?
You are currently viewing the mobile version of our site. View the full site to get free email alerts, vote on your favorite shows, comment, and more.