Both CBS and NBC have launched new TV shows that revolve around smart blonde women who hold important government positions in Washington, DC. CBS’ Madam Secretary has already been renewed for a second season. What will happen to NBC’s State of Affairs? Will it be renewed or cancelled?
State of Affairs follows a top CIA analyst (Katherine Heigl) who assembles the President of the United States’ Daily Briefing (PDB), weighing the vital security issues that face the nation. She has a close personal relationship with the commander-in-chief (Alfre Woodard) as she was once engaged to the president’s now-deceased son. The rest of the cast of this dramatic thriller includes Adam Kaufman, Sheila Vand, Cliff Chamberlain, Tommy Savas, and David Harbour.
Taking over for NBC’s highly-rated series The Blacklist, State of Affairs debuted in November to a healthy 2.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 8.69 million viewers. It was a solid start that was no doubt aided by its strong lead-in The Voice. Some people were also possibly expecting to find a new episode of The Blacklist in the timeslot instead.
In week two, despite still having a strong lead-in, State of Affairs’ ratings dropped more than 36% to a 1.4 in the demo with 5.39 million. They rose up a bit in week three but have been falling ever since. Last week’s installment hit new series lows with a 0.7 in the demo and 3.62 million viewers.
Though NBC had high hopes for this series, State of Affairs is just not measuring up. The network is poised to finish airing the 13 episode season (there are four episodes remaining after tonight’s) but it’s hard to imagine that they’d consider renewing it for a second season with poor ratings like these.
NBC entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt recently said, “I’m disappointed in what it’s been doing [in the ratings] the last couple of weeks… It’s a show that I think is a really fine show, so I’m scratching my head a little bit about why we can’t get more people to be there for it.”
There’s still time for the numbers to improve but it doesn’t seem likely they’d be good enough to save the show. Hopefully the season finale will offer viewers some measure of closure to the ongoing storylines.
But, what do you think? Do you like the State of Affairs TV show? If you ran the network, would you cancel or renew the series for a second season? How would you improve this show if it was renewed?
Renew
I love this show, but I have feared from the beginning that it gives the audience too much credit for understanding how our government works. My own experience is that the American public is just not familiar enough with the mechanics of the federal government to understand the intricacies of this program. I don’t particularly want you to dumb it down, but I’m not sure there is any other way to get the audience numbers you need.
Please give it a second season and hope the audience can find the show.
Love the show. Looking for a renewal
RENEW!!!’
Renew, Renew!!
I would cancel this show. Can never get past Katherine Heigle as the lead.
I will be so upset if this show is not renewed. Its my absolute favorite show on my favorite network! Its my favorite show on any network! Its incredible and I don’t know why the ratings seem so low.. the twitter pages are full of fans??
This is a great show, love it don’t cancel it PLEASE
This is one of the better shows on television today….. crisp stories, good dialogue, and intriguing timely story lines…. I became a fan with the first episode and am now a dedicated watcher. I can only hope that NBC will grant a 2nd season to a excellent show.
I love this show and would definitely renew!!
Let’s face it. The first episode, the pilot, wasn’t that great. Critics were all over it and rightly so. However, the fault lies solely with ‘State of Affairs’ original producers and to some extent the NBC network for allowing a bad script (which they had to already know) to premier this way. They certainly watch the monitor. They go to rushes. It had to be obvious. The cast and crew deserved better. Katherine, aka Charlie was trying to be way too many things in the allotted one hour pilot. It couldn’t have been easy. As a result, the show had… Read more »
I love this show and would not like to see it cancelled. I watch it every time it is on and then watch it again online to be sure I didn’t miss anything as it moves quickly!!! Good show
ratings might be low maybe because of its time slot,too late.maybe if they can move it to 9 ratings will go up.
My wife and I look forward to every episode of SOA. It is intense and exciting. We do not understand why the viewers seem to be turned off. Hopefully things will change and there will be a season 2.
I love this show…. Want to see it renewed.