As you may know, ABC recently debuted a new series for Sunday nights called Scoundrels. Will it survive long enough to see season two?
Scoundrels follows the legally-challenged West family. The patriarch has been sent to prison and his wife is determined that she and the rest of her family not follow him. The TV show’s cast includes Virginia Madsen, David James Elliott, Leven Rambin, Vanessa Marano, Carlos Bernard, and Patrick Flueger (in a dual role).
The dramedy kicked off on Sunday, June 20th, with a poor 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic and only 5.23 million viewers. For the timeslot, that put the premiere in third place in the demo and second in total viewers. Not a good start.
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In week two, viewership for Scoundrels took a significant dive. The demo fell to a 1.0 rating and total viewership came down to just 3.66 million. That put the dramedy in last place in the demo and in last place for viewers.
Unless more people start watching, it’s hard to imagine that Scoundrels will be back for season two. ABC has lower expectations for summer TV shows but these numbers are terrible no matter how you look at them.
A total of eight episodes of Scoundrels have already been produced for season one. Hopefully the network will let the viewers see all of them and not pull the series off the air early. Right now, it looks episode eight will air on August 15th.
What do you think? Is Scoundrels worth watching or would you just cancel it already? (Want to know how The Gates is doing? Go here.)
Image courtesy ABC.
I realize that Wolf is in prison but I would also like to see more of his character. He is still trying to run things from behind his cell and it seems that could be portrayed. I know in a later episode of the second season of “Outrageous Fortunes”, he is released with an ankle bracelet to monitor that he does not leave the house. I wish that episode could be moved up to the second season here if we are lucky enough to have it continue. I believe that Scoundrels needs a new night and time slot and it… Read more »
i am enjoying Scoundrels more and more each week. the characters are being developed nicely. Needs more Wolf though to have some spark. Would love to see it continue. Maybe not against a show like True Blood which is already established. Needs time to develop just as other shows have. Give it a chance.
What did you think of Patrick John Flueger’s last night – playing Logan and Cal?
Being a remake of the successful New Zealand made ‘Outrageous Fortune’, it’s been hard to watch & not make comparisons. Viginia Madsen makes an excellent Cheryl (originally played by NZ actress Robyn Malcolm). The thing I’m finding hardest to watch about Scoundrels is that there is no guts or grit compared to the NZ production. It’s too clean cut. David James Elliot is no Grant Bowler (Ugly Betty, True Blood & the original Wolfgang West). I don’t know why the American production has been toned down. For whatever reason though, it’s lost it’s edge, that the Kiwi’s were able to… Read more »
Clairzilla,
The show has been “toned down” as you stated because our permissible airings on TV have much stricter codes to abide by. I think New Zealand is much more liberal.
Bernadette
Thanks for your reply Bernadette. It’s a shame that the rules are stricter in the US as the writers would be able to have more freedom to allow the characters (who are not law abiding etc) to be more realistic.
I hope Scoundrels is given a second season, I would love to see the characters develop away from their Outrageous Fortune roots. I think there’s lots of potential for Hope and Heather (Hope especially) to be the real stars!
This show is really starting to take off, do we really need a lost type of gimmick in every show we make
?
Management should continue the show. The plot is somewhat different in which the Mom is trying to keep everyone honest. I prefer to watch a new show than reruns of old shows. Mangement need to take into consideration who was on tv opposite the show.
Bottom line: Continue the show and make evaluation after eight episodes air.
This show has a tremendous amount of potential. The characters need time to develop. It is much too early to be deciding it’s future. Give it time.
give scoundrels a chance it gets better with each episode !!!!
I thought I was on the “The Gates” page so my comment was about that show not Scoundrels.
Leave the show on and develop the story lines. Why do shows with so much potential get shot down before they can become a good show? There are several story lines going on with a potential to connect to each other. Just let it work.
Love it! It’s different and quirky.
I think it has potential…needs some more development…the “bad” son needs modified, he’s annoying, as is the oldest daughter. I agree that just the fact that it is not a clone is the best thing it has going for it. Needs more Vanessa Marano!!!
Think this show is not being given a chance. The time slot is terrible. How about a weekday slot? Maybe paired with Castle. You know, one show focuses on the police and the other would focus on the “Scoundrels.” The premise of the show is different as far as US TV is concerned. We do not get too may new ideas from the networks. They always want to clone a successful show — that does not help a new concept.
SEAL76 – don’t be so quick to judge. The first show has to spend time introducing the characters etc. Watch the next two shows and I think you’ll see it gets more interesting. I also think it should be billed as a comedy and not a drama.
Watched the first episode. It sucked. Get rid of it ASAP
Need to watch more than ONE episode to form an opinion, good wine takes time!