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?
Yes. Bring it back or sell it on DVD.
Great show! it’s a shame abc didn’t give it a chance to be discovered by viewers. It is a well written and well acted show. ABC you should know not everyone is interested in inane comedies and reality shows. This show is a winner, I hope another channel picks it up and takes the time to advertise it a little. it is every bit as good as The Americans
My husband and I watched the 1st show. The first 2 minutes made me want to change the channel. Second rate acting, and most of all that MUSIC… cheap make-believe orchestra. Anyway, he wanted to see the 2nd of the series, and I have to admit it drew me in. Acting was better, and music wasn’t as cheesy. We think ABC should have made some kind of announcement when it decided not to run any more of the series. Not nice drawing us in and then pulling the plug.