Last night, ABC unveiled their newest Thursdays at 10pm show. Will The Assets be a hit like Scandal or, another ratings disappointment?
Based on the book Circle of Treason, The Assets follows the real life story of CIA counter-intelligence officers Sandy Grimes (Jodie Whittaker) and Jeanne Vertefeuille (Harriet Walter) as they search for Aldrich Ames (Paul Rhys), the most notorious traitor in US History. Others in this 1980s drama include include Stuart Milligan, Julian Ovenden, Christina Cole, and Ralph Brown.
Airing opposite new episodes of Elementary on CBS and Parenthood on NBC, The Assets was in a distant third place. It premiered with a dismal 0.7 rating (a 0.66 actually) in the 18-49 demographic and 3.77 million total viewers — the lowest series premiere in the history of the four big networks.
This is in huge contrast to the ratings of Scandal, the drama that usually airs Thursdays at 10pm. That’s ABC’s second-highest rated show, averaging a 3.1 demo rating with 9.11 million viewers, and is one of the few shows on ABC to be up year-to-year.
Scandal is scheduled to be on hiatus until February 27th. What’s more, the show recently had its episode order cut to 18 episodes, likely to accomodate for Kerry Washington’s real-life pregnancy.
The Assets was scheduled to fill the mid-season gap but now that plan looks questionable. ABC has billed The Assets as an eight episode mini-series and, based on these dismal numbers, there’s no way they’re considering making a second round.
One has to wonder if the network will even air all of the seven episodes they have left. The ratings are sure to be worse next week and will likely see the series pulled. ABC could simply fill the timeslot with Scandal reruns and get better numbers.
If ABC cancels future airings of The Assets, I suspect they’ll either burn off the remaining episodes on Saturday nights or release them online.
But, what do you think? Do you like The Assets? Do you plan on watching the remaining episodes? Why do you think it performed so poorly?
I wondered what happened to the show. It was one of my favorites. Not very nice of ABC to just leave us hanging. Put the rest of the episodes on.
That’s a bummer, I really liked this show. I wondered why it hasn’t been on after The Taste on Thursday nights. Do they not realize it takes time for people to catch on. Seinfeld didn’t have good ratings in the beginning but NBC had faith in it and it ended up being one of their top shows. ABC wants ratings instantly, they don’t want to work for it. To bad, I hate The Bachelor and I’m not a fan of a lot of their shows anymore. Probably why I prefer to watch the USA network, less reality and more laughs.
Think you should keep it. It is true and interesting. If people do not get it then they can always turn the channel to brighten their horizons with a stupid reality show. Or better stay on ABC and watch a uninteresting show that you force into your line-up.
Think you should keep it. It is true and interesting. If people do not get it then they can always turn the channel to brighten their horizons with a stupid reality show. Or better stay on ABC and watch a uninteresting show that you force into your line-up. I only watch Blacklist on your station. Other than that I stay away from NBC.
This is a great series. It was refreshing to have something so engaging instead of the “drival” tv reality shows normally available. quality TV is a rare….. Most shows are of stupid content with the same old, same old topics with “canned laughter”. Very disappointed it is not available to watch.
I’m so disappointed! This was a great show, intelligently written & well-acted. There’s so much garbage on Network TV, plenty of it on ABC. I like scripted dramas, not “reality” like The Bachelor & Shark Tank (both of which are designed to embarrass & humiliate idiots looking for their bit of fame) or laugh-tracked comedies. Believe me, if it’s funny, I’ll laugh without being cue’d. Revenge is no longer interesting & Scandal is winding down too. When a series has to keep adding minor subplots & characters to keep going, it’s pretty well done. Both of those should have been… Read more »
Just when I see a,show I like on and they cancelled I’m.
I hate abc .iwas so into this well written show and the idiots cancelled it . I refuse to watch Another reality show! Please abc bring the assets back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s called the scheduling game. The idiots at the network bury it between other network’s hit shows and then expect viewers to watch or do they. The ABC programmers say: See no one likes these shows. Why you may ask do they do this?. These shows are expensive. Reality baby food is cheap to make. These green executives are huddled in the conference room and say: Let’s give them what they want and make our numbers for the year. This exercise has made their point. The bosses at Disney will be happy and who needs quality anyway. It just gets… Read more »
Too bad, another one bites the dust. Seems to go along with the dumbing down of America, of course the shark tank would rate more attention than American history. Sure hope they release the rest of it for those of us who would never watch the shark.
My husband and I enjoyed the mini series the Assets. Unfortunately, we were not home either the 2nd or the 9th of January so we DVR’d the series. I hope they put the series out on DVD’s. I think networks better stop looking at the 18 year olds for their gauge on whether to show a TV show or not. I am sooooo tired of these stupid reality shows that we never even turn on network TV. Whoever are running the networks should wake up and grow up and start producing series like The Assets for adults and not children… Read more »
My husband and I enjoyed the show and can remember the chain of events this show was based. I would buy the DVD to see the remaining parts. It is a shame that some shows have remained on the air and lack any story line or even acting ability.
What a disappointment to find out that this show was cancelled. What a bunch of Bone Heads. ABC is really showing everyone how much of a loser network they are, and then to put Shark Tank on in its place OMG.
what really why? really Why? Did it make the cia look too bad?
This sucks! I kept trying to find out why my DVR never recorded subsequent episodes and now I see it’s been cancelled. It was a great show! If it didn’t pull in the numbers, it’s not the show’s fault… it’s the network’s. How about give us the rest of it… somewhere, sometime!