Last week, ABC debuted their new romantic comedy, Romantically Challenged. Do the ratings reflect some viewer love or will the show be dumped after one or two dates?
Romantically Challenged follows Rebecca Thomas (Alyssa Milano), a recently divorced single mother and attorney from Pittsburgh. She’s reentering the dating world after 15 years away and is scared to start over. Thankfully she has the support of friends who are going through challenges of their own. The rest of the ensemble cast includes Josh Lawson, Kelly Stables, Kyle Bornheimer, Camden Palmisano, and Sierra McCormick.
Last week, Challenged debuted behind Dancing with the Stars, the reality show that’s having one of its most successful seasons in years. The sitcom attracted a 2.9 rating in the all-important 18-49 demographic and 10.67 million viewers. That put the premiere in second place for the timeslot, right behind established The Big Bang Theory on CBS. On the downside, it lost about 40% of its lead-in demo and nearly half of the total viewers.
This week, Challenged dropped to a 2.6 in the target demo and 9.06 million viewers. That’s a loss of 10-15% from last week and the sitcom was easily trounced by CBS’ Big Bang this time.
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While the ratings for Challenged look okay on their own, the real test will be how well it performs when it doesn’t have a strong Dancing with the Stars lead-in. Samantha Who? was in a similar position last year and, without a strong lead-in, the ratings didn’t hold up and it was cancelled.
For the moment, it’s unknown what Challenged’s fate will be. There are only six episodes in season one and two have aired already. Episode three is scheduled to air this Monday, May 3rd.
According to an ABC spokesperson, that’s the last one scheduled. On May 10th, there’s a two hour edition of Dancing. Challenged could return on May 17th because there’s a half-hour slot between Dancing and Castle. After that, who knows? Monday nights are filled with the new seasons of The Bachelorette and True Beauty.
ABC typically shows some faith in one or two new and/or struggling shows a year. The network could shelve the remaining episodes and decide to bring Challenged back next season — providing the ratings don’t keep dropping.
But, what do you think? Is Romantically Challenged worth your time or not? Anything you particularly like or dislike about it? Cancel or keep it?
Image courtesy ABC.
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22 Comments on "Romantically Challenged: New Alyssa Milano Sitcom on ABC; Cancel or Keep It?"
I love Alyssa Milano, and I do like Romantically Challenged, i hoped it would be better, but it’s not….i am sure if we watch enough we will eventually like it, but yeah it’s not that good sorry….and i am the one who had been waiting for the show for a year now
WHY WASTE THE TIME AND MONEY TO JUST DO THREE SHOWS! IT’S A CRUEL JOKE TO GET SOMEONE WATCHING AND THEN PULL THE PLUG. ALL OF YOU NETWORKS THAT DO THAT WILL PAY BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL STOP WATCH FEARING OF WASTING THERE TIME ON A DOOM SHOW!!!!! THE SHOW IS FUNNY AND WOULD BE A MISTAKE TO CANCEL!!!!!!!!
Any “comedy” show with a laugh track should be cancelled. The viewer is smart enough to know what is funny. We don’t need coaching. Ms. Milano is hot and she can be funny but this show sucks. Why keep this show and cancel Better Off Ted which was funny and had no laugh track?
I love the show. I think ABC is making a mistake cancelling it so soon. WTF after onluy 3 episodes. Give it some time to get going. Networks do this to me all the time. I’m stilling mourning Pushing Daisies.
I really wanted to love this show, I think Alyssa Milano is fantastic, but it’s like a bad Friend’s remake. I do have to say this past episode was better, the one about the reunion.
A lot of Australian and New Zealand fans of the show on the net, and from the promo’s on E! . Can’t wait to see Romantically Challenged aired on Foxtel, SKY, Austar, and Freeview channels here in Australia and New Zealand. Just like many UK fans want to see it aired on SKY.
I couldn’t stand this show. I watched two episodes of it, mainly because I like Alyssa Milano, but I was sitting there saying “WTF?” I agree with those saying “bring back Samantha Who?”!!!!! Christina Applegate was FANTASTIC in that show and it was 10 times better and made me laugh more than “Challenged”…
I like this show and hope it doesn’t get cancelled. Alyssa Milano is pretty funny but i think the best actor on the show is Kyle Bornheimer who plays Perry!
It might be good, but The Big Bang Theory will probably kill it. Otherwise, I would watch it more.
Week 1 was weak; really bad writing. Week 2 wasn’t much better. Only Alyssa Milano fans could’ve seen this as anything but mediocre. Week 3 had a couple of chuckles in it and it seemed that less of Kelly Stables is a good thing. All in all I’d say if Romantically Challenged goes the way of the Dodo I won’t be broken hearted.
Man! This show is bad!
This show is a ‘How I Met Your Mother’ wannabe. It is a poor version of a great show.
i find it very funny, i hope they keep it
I think it’s a good show. ABC should give it a chance and let it air for an entire full length season.
Didn’t find it funny at all. Going to give it another shot, but I would much prefer that they brought back Samantha Who?.