FOX first announced this show back in 2010 and it took this long to bring Terra Nova to the small screen. Some viewers have been “chomping at the bit” to see it but, for the most part, it looks like the general audience isn’t all that interested.
Per the fast affiliate numbers, last night’s two-hour premiere of Terra Nova attracted a 3.0 in the 18-49 demographic and 8.99 million total viewers. Though those numbers are okay, the network was surely hoping for much bigger considering the size of this new series. It was in third place for its timeslots, beaten by ABC and CBS.
Aside from Friday night’s return of Fringe, this was the network’s weakest scripted series premiere so far this season.
Compared to last season’s 8pm premiere of House, the network was down by 29% in the demo and 16% in viewers. On the positive side, Terra Nova improved over last year’s Lone Star premiere by 230% and 219% respectively. That was, as you surely remember, the fist new show of the season to be cancelled.
So, while Terra Nova isn’t a out-of-the-gate bomb, it’s not an immediate hit either. Its fate will ultimately be decided as we see how future episodes perform.
NOTE: The weekly ratings are now available.
What do you think? Do you like the Terra Nova TV series? What’s your gut instinct? Do you think it’ll be cancelled like so many other sci-fi shows or be renewed for a second season?
Image courtesy FOX.
Love Terra Nova. Don’t Cancel it. I wasnt to sure about it but once I watched it I love it and have my family loving it. Give it a chance.
A MESS. One of the characters explains WHY crushing an ant in this pre-historic second-chance for mankind won’t unpredictably alter the future – “…we are on a different ‘time path’….” if so, what the heck difference does it make what they do???? It would seem to be just as well, since they are all too fond of zooming around in their “FOSSIL” fuel powered dune buggies (incidentally – what ARE they using to fuel their jalopies?) Really – those Ray Harryhausen/claymation birds didn’t poop all over everything? And what kind of viral (not internet) material might have lurked in that… Read more »
LOVE TERRA NOVA AND started watching because I enjoyed Shelley Conn in the BBC America series the “Mistresses “and wanted to see her acting in this Sci-Fi adventure and now I am hooked!! Great special effects and Jason and Shelley make a good pairing!!
I watched the pilot episodes but was very unimpressed with the pedestrian dialogue, poor CGI and many, many illogical plot actions by the characters and won’t be watching again-no real advance on ‘Earth 2’, another Spielberg production that only lasted one season.
So let me get this right, “we” in the future have figured out Time Travel, but can not fix the air quality or the planet. I would have thought that to be the at least easier to achieve than time travel, but I’m incorrect it seems. 🙂
DVR’d the first episode. I have been trying to finish watching it, but it keeps putting me to sleep. Literally. I’m at the part where the cute girl is leading the grumpy son around by his nose, and they jump off the waterfall. I have turned over, and listened to them talking, and fell asleep twice there. I think I’ll just delete it.
It’s understandable that the slow-paced opening (which I personally don’t mind at all) is putting you to sleep, but it’s the first hour you need to really appreciate the developments in the second hour. All I can say is that Terra Nova is a lot more than a teen drama and if that part’s putting you to sleep, fast forward a bit and see if something else interests you. At the waterfall, they come across these cryptic equations scribbed on rocks, which lead to a greater mystery. Have you gotten to the explanation for “Sixers” (the rebel faction seeking to… Read more »
Kat, you were right..I gave it one more chance, and the third time through since I was awake (lol), I picked up the things I missed, including them finding the markings on the rocks, the fact that the Commander doesn’t want people going to that area, etc. Also, the second hour, which finally had some action in it, where the commandos had to go out and extract the stupid kids, was pretty good. I will keep watching. The only thing I don’t like NOW, is since I now LIKE the show, it will turn out that FOX thinks the 16… Read more »
Dear God I hope they don’t cancel it. I want at least three seasons out of this show. Fox breeds to get with modern times – just because only 9 million watched the premier as it aired, doesn’t mean only those people watch it. I and millions of others ditched over the air television, and get all our shows with hulu plus or Netflix. Nielson ratings mean nothing in the age of streaming video.
Meladi, I cannot agree with you MORE. I have been visiting this site for quite awhile and of my most frequent complaints is regarding the network exec morons and the fact that they use tech that is 60 years old to compute their “ratings.” No, its not 1952 anymore, everyone is not watching in real time, with a black and white TV with an indoor antenna. We’ve now got cable, satellite (with east coast feeds), DVR’s, Hulu, NetFlix, Itunes, and so on. Personally I DVR most of the shows that I watch, because I work at night, and also so… Read more »
I enjoyed the show but I’ve said from the start it will get canceled with no season 2 unless it pulls in massive numbers. Unfortunatly, anything sci-fi doesn’t last at all. They need to ditch the Nielson Rating system and just track through the cable and other tv providers what people are watching. I think they would find that the shows they keep canceling have a lot more viewers than they give them credit for. For every 10 people with a Nielson box or diary there are probably 50-100 people that don’t have one that watch the show. Get with… Read more »
Terra Nova is far from perfect, but it’s a joy to watch and just about anyone should find something to like. At its heart, Terra Nova wants to be equal parts Avatar, Jurassic Park and Lost. The unspoiled sci-fi setting gives the characters (if not the audience) the exploratory wonder of Pandora, while the monsters share a lot of creative DNA with Stephen Spielberg’s prehistoric opus. But these things do not a serial story make, and that’s where the Lost-style mystery comes in. There are several questions and conflicts established in the pilot, with the best among them being the… Read more »
This show was really good! To many wannabe TV critics hating on every new show these days! I hope it doesn’t get cancelled I can’t believe I’m even talking about it being cancelled after one episode! Give it a chance for Christ sake
I loved it, which a bad sign. Most shows that I like get cancelled quickly.
New shows that I see once or twice and decide are not worth it, end up
running 4 or more seasons.
Well it’s fox. THEY WILL CANCEL AT LEAST BY SEASON 3. I was surprised as hell when they renewed raising hope. But they did. This show is much more expensive. So just know YOU ARE NOT GONNA GET ANYTHING GOOD FROM THIS SHOW. YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED BY THE END!!!!
I’m saddened to hear that this show and Fringe didn’t do well. Those are pretty much the only shows I watch on FOX, now that they’ve cancelled Dollhouse, Human Target, etc. And Terra Nova was fun! You had to stick around for the second hour to really get the pay off, but it was worth the wait. Of course, the emotional payoff in the first fifteen minutes or so, the Shannons’ journey to escape an unlivable future and their hope to remain together as a family in a new place, was pretty amazing. The rest of show didn’t quite live… Read more »
Hi, OK, I am french from Montreal Canada. Sorry if my english is not perfect. This first episode of Terra Nova is honestly great. The cast (Stephen Lang and Jason O’Mara…).Stephen bring me to the series after his outstanding performance in Avatar. He’ s back ! And the question is. Who are the most dangerous, All dinosaurs or Commander Nathaniel Taylor? For the nostalgic audiences of The Jurassic Park movie series and most recently Avatar, Terra Nova are the best you can expect from (the ingredients) of this two huge success. With minor slight weakness on CGI effect,(You quickly forget… Read more »
No second season for this one, methinks. I’ll watch it, but I hope the dialogue improves.