School is out — permanently — for the cast and crew of NBC’s Rise TV show. The peacock network recently cancelled the musical drama series so there won’t be a second season. But, did the execs make the right decision?
An NBC high school drama from Jason Katims and Jeffrey Seller, Rise stars Josh Radnor, Rosie Perez, Auli’i Cravalho, Damon J. Gillespie, Marley Shelton, Rarmian Newton, Ted Sutherland, Amy Forsyth, Casey W. Johnson, Taylor Richardson, Joe Tippett, and Shirley Rumierk. The series centers on Lou Mazzuchelli (Radnor), who is the fictional analogue to Lou Volpe in the Michael Sokolov book, Drama High. Although he is committed to his students at Stanton High School, Lou knows he needs to shake things up, in order to rekindle his passion for teaching. To that end, he petitions to direct the school’s theater program, but soon realizes he signed up for a whole lot more than he originally expected. Soon though, the faculty, student body, and even the town residents find themselves caught up in the new spirit at the school.
The Rise series debuted in March and got off to an okay start with a 1.23 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 5.50 million viewers. It was no doubt aided by following the season finale of NBC’s biggest drama, This Is Us.
Week two saw a small drop when it moved to its new 9pm timeslot, following The Voice. Week three saw a sizable drop and the show fell to a 0.80 demo rating with 4.32 million. The ratings have dropped a bit since then but have remained pretty consistent. NBC cancelled the show last week, likely because they expect a show like this to draw better numbers when it airs out of The Voice.
Some would argue that Rise had some stiff competition on the other networks, remained pretty consistent for the past several weeks, and the series had just 10 episodes in its first season.
Unfortunately, there hasn’t been any word of the show finding a new home for season two so tonight’s finale looks like the end of the road.
What do you think? Did NBC make the right call or, should the network execs have given this show some more time to prove itself? Would you have watched season two?
I was truly getting into the show. When you allow characters come into your home, you get attached. Should it have been cancelled ? I would have liked another season, however I understand why audiences weren’t going cuckoo for the show. It was missing something. What ? I’m not sure. But we’re getting so used to HBO and specialty channel shows with the grit and rawness. I guess that’s what they were trying to prove within the show when they went full force with the original content. But where would they go now ? Since most of the show was… Read more »
NBC, this is a mistake to cancel Rise. We love Rise. It was by far one of my favorite shows. My elderly mom loved it and our family loves watching it.
I hope it will be renewed or picked up by another network. Give it a better time slot and another chance.
Not happy with NBC. 🙁
Rise needs to be picked back up! God forbid they keep on a show that has to do with real life struggles. Parents divorcing, affairs, coming out, trying to figure out who you are, high school struggles, etc. They keep on the dumbest shows that have NO business being on. I was so glad to see a show on that finally addresses real everyday struggles. Getting fed up with NBC and other stations canceling great shows and not giving them a chance!
Our family LOVES the show and cannot believe it was cancelled. What a disappointment. So many deep story lines had us running to the TV each week to watch. In a world of so much surface level drama, we enjoyed the realness of Rise. Hopefully it’ll be picked up by another network…
Rise should be renewed or picked up by another network. It shows the real-life kinds of pressures on today’s teens struggling to find themselves amid conflicting demands put upon them by teachers, sports coaches and themselves.
I think NBC is making a huge mistake cancelling Rise. I watched every episode and really enjoyed this show. I would have continued to watch a return of season 2 and feel so disappointed that they didn’t give this show a chance when it seems the ratings were pretty stable from week to week. Boo to you NBC! Not cool!
I watched every episode and found them very emotionally compelling! Although at times a little too liberal for my liking, I still loved the family structure and drama. The talent of the entire cast cannot be denied. The acting and singing were amazing. I am very disappointed that the show was cancelled and would definitely have continued to watch every episode going forward. Hopefully a station with some balls will pick it up and stand by it.
It is almost ironic that RISE would have debuted during the season when real high schools are rehearsing their musicals/plays, going to state competitions, preparing for proms, and administering state testing and end-of-course-exams non-stop. I think this show might have had more of a chance during the fall season when students were just beginning with their studying, rehearsing, performing, etc. I know I was promoting it in all of my theatre classes, but many kids were just so busy this spring that it didn’t hold their interest right away (kids who did follow my advice caught up with me weekly… Read more »
I absolutely love this show and just finished watching the season finale and I’m heartbroken that it’s been canceled. Yes the NBC executives have made a mistake!!!
I cannot beluwve NBC cancelled this show! If NBC would have cancelled “Cheers” for low ratings from the first year we would have lost out on years of quality television. The network should do as the director in the show does and “buck the system” and give this show a second chance! I know the show was grim at times, but it IS real! The character development is steady and happiness can evolve from continued life situations! PLEASE renew “Rise” immediately! Thank you!
I add my voice to those who ask, request, beseech the network to give us a second season of “Rise”. It is one of the few shows i watch and recommend. It makes me feel for the characters (played by wonderful actors) who face the many challenges in our society. The finale made me cry and i want to follow these characters through their joys and tears. We need shows like this; it is as good as “This Is Us”, so to get better ratings publicize it !!!!!!!!
I just watched the final show of RISE. I cannot believe the show was cancelled. It the only show on TV that has some substance to it. This is what the world is going thru. I cannot believe there are such bigots out there that would cancelled this show. Please give this show a second chance, or if another network would pick it up. The actors on this show were remarkable. I just cannot believe there are so many ignorant people in this world.
So because I did not watch this show, I am a bigot? Ignorant? Perhaps I have better things to do with my time than watch the TV show? Like spend time with the family…
Yes we are watching too much of singing on TV nowadays.
There is too much of EVERYTHING these days! We have thousands of channels on cable & satellite now. It’s not like the early years of television when we only had 3 major networks. If we don’t like something we can change the channel. I think the show should be given a chance though. The kids are very talented.
I also loved this show! Please pick up on another network! It was just beginning to develop and wasn’t given enough time to do so. This is a talented cast and the writers just need to either pick up the pace or spend time really developing each character instead of hinting at each. It showcased talent but also was beginning to hit on timely topics like homosexuality, censorship, trying to fit into someone else’s expectations for you, substance abuse….we were in…and ready to see where it went. I looked forward to Tuesdays and pitting this show against the Voice didn’t… Read more »
Please don’t cancel Rise I love the show and the actors are all great!!
Agreed!