Based on some of the early buzz, it seemed like Prime Suspect was poised to be one of NBC’s most successful shows of the new fall season. Apparently the general public didn’t get the memo.
Last night’s debut of Prime Suspect brought a disappointing 1.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic and just six million viewers, per the fast affiliate numbers. It was in a distant last place in both categories.
The only silver lining was that it did outperform last season’s debut of The Apprentice by 20% in the demo and 31% in total viewership. That’s not saying much though since that non-celebrity edition of Apprentice was such a disaster that NBC won’t be doing one again for a long time, if ever.
The sad truth is that Prime Suspect’s prospects for the future may be even worse than what they appear. We’ll know better when we see the 15-minute ratings and are able to tell how many people fled mid-episode. That will give us an idea of what kind of decline we could see for the second episode. Prime Suspect certainly doesn’t have any viewers to spare.
NOTE: A listing of 2011-12 ratings are now available.
What do you think? Did you watch Prime Suspect last night? Will you be back? What’s your gut instinct? Should the series continue or should it be cancelled instead?
Image courtesy NBC.
Watch this show- Bello is awesome- at last a female in a TV series with BRAINS and GUTS .
She does a Triple A performance…now step up boys!
I didn’t watch in on Thursday as I watched the Mentalist on CBS. I did however catch it last night and loved it. I’ll take it over the Mentalist now.
Maria Bello is Extaordinary. I can not take my Eyes Off of Her.
First of all, how could they expect it to beat out the Mentalist premiere and Grey’s Anatomy 2-hour premiere? That’s was it was against. I will be watching the repeat of the Prime Suspect pilot episode that’s being shown this evening though. I’m hoping I like it, as the previews looked great.
I guess I was spoilt in watching the original Prime Suspect with Helen Mirran from England. I find when you have watched a show like this nothing else compares.
Great show. Get off of Jersey Shore you fools. First Detroit 187 gets cancelled and now this one is going away. The American public has their head up their Adam Henry.
I had to go with The Mentalist instead of Prime Suspect.
Watched the dvr of the episode tonight. Very impressed with it. Saucy and fresh. I am a big Bello fan and continued to be mystified she cannot find a hit. Love the hat. Hope it picks up steam and word of mouth salvages it.
But considering “The Protector” was axed it is clear today’s producers are idiots.
I can understand why people bailed after the first 15-20 minutes. But it got better. I’m a big Maria Bello fan and she did not disappoint. My only complaint is that Prime Suspect takes place in but is not shot in NYC. Guess I’m spoiled by all those years of Law & Order. I hope NBC gives Prime Suspect a chance to develop an audience. It’s a solid show with a lot of promise. Oh, and I love the guy who plays Jane’s dad.
this show was great!!!! I will be turning in regularly, and I usually don’t watch network TV. I was not familiar with Maria Bellow but thought she did a great job, loved the last scene! It is gritty and seems true to life.
Good gritty performances…one of the best of the current crop…Bello is suoer…but it appears american tastes are going lower and lower with banal sitcoms.
I thought the show was phenomenal. Please give it a chance. Great acting! And I usually don’t like every police show
I thought the show was Extraordinary! I think the acting and Maria Bello were great! I hope it stays on for many seasons!
We watched for maybe 15-20 minutes…..trying valiently to see if this show was going anywhere……for us….it didn’t. Totally boring. Weird camera work, kind of like Homicide of old, but not as good.
I dunno exactly what was wrong, I guess watching people shun her and sending her on pointless, childish errands…for what???? Again, dunno, didn’t hang around long enough maybe to find out? We hung in about 10 minutes longer than we really wanted to.
I guess you can tell, I deleted the “series record” option and we won’t be back.
Watch this show. Thursdays at 10/9. It’s great. Screw Jersey Shore and watch something with good performances, not bad ones.