What happened to Pure Genius? Recently, star Augustus Prew spoke with TVLine about the CBS series and why it’s likely to be cancelled.
The drama follows top medical professionals as they team up with cutting-edge tech experts and try to push the boundaries of modern medicine to save lives. The cast includes Prew, Dermot Mulroney, Odette Annable, Reshma Shetty, Aaron Jennings, Ward Horton, and Brenda Song.
Season one of Pure Genius finished in January after CBS decided not to order more episodes—a bad sign for any chance of a renewal. Additionally, ratings for the medical drama were not good. Over the course of 13 episodes, the series averaged a .86 rating in the 18-49 demo and 5.342 million viewers, making it one of the network’s lowest-rated and least-watched new series for the 2016-2017 season. It’s unlikely the show will be renewed for a second season.
Speaking to TVLine, Prew said he thinks Pure Genius had an identity crisis:
But if I’m being honest, I think we got caught between two different shows. I think CBS wanted something a little more procedural, and [executive producer] Jason [Katims, of Friday Night Lights/Parenthood fame] wanted something a little more character-driven.
Prew later added that the show’s lack of direction was what brought it down:
CBS and Jason had slightly different visions of what they wanted the show to be, and as a consequence we weren’t enough of either, if that make sense. If it’s going to be a procedural, we should have done a procedural and taken out of the character development. And if it was going to be about these characters and their lives and coming to terms with their own mortality — which is what I wanted the show to be about — we should have pushed that further. … It lost its reason to be. I think that’s where we fell down, if I’m looking at it under a new light.”
What do you think? Did you see Pure Genius? Do you think CBS should renew the show?
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