Tonight marks the last episode of The Event for 2010. NBC plans to relaunch the series in three months, on February 28th, after letting their new series The Cape have the timeslot. Is it a risky move? Not really. Ultimately, they don’t have much choice.
The Event follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter), a young man who’s investigating the mysterious disappearance of his girlfriend. He slowly begins to uncover the biggest cover-up in the history of the United States. Others in the cast include Sarah Roemer, Laura Innes, Ian Anthony Dale, Scott Patterson, Clifton Collins Jr., Taylor Cole, Lisa Vidal, Bill Smitrovich, Zeljko Ivanek, and Blair Underwood.
The series debuted in September to decent ratings with a 3.6 in the 18-49 demo and 10.88 million total viewers. That’s a healthy sampling but, considering all of the promotion that NBC put behind it, the programmers were likely disappointed by its third place rank in the timeslot.
While some viewers clearly love the show, more than half who watched the first episode have already lost interest. The Event has been losing viewers, sometimes as much as 15 or 20% in one week, and to date has never shown an increase week-to-week in the demo. The most recent installment garnered just a 1.7 rating in the demo and 5.19 million viewers.
You can blame the network for not doing a better job of promoting The Event but clearly there’s a problem with the series when people who already watch don’t feel compelled to return week after week.
Will this February “relaunch” help? Based on recent TV history, the answer is no. Just look at V and FlashForward. People who were interested in The Event have either already tried it and stuck around or given up on it. Those who haven’t watched previously are very unlikely to give a try because they assume that they’ve missed too much backstory already. On top of that, when the show returns, the ratings will likely be lower than what they are now. By the time The Event returns in February, many casual fans will have already gotten involved with other shows.
The one thing that The Event has going for it is the fact that it’s on NBC. The peacock network continues to struggle and The Event is currently the fifth most-watched scripted program on the network. If things go as expected, it will drop much lower on the list next year. Still, with the exception of The CW, NBC is the only network that would consider giving this series more time. They’ll surely let all 22 episodes air.
The Event returns on Monday, February 28th and will have 12 more original episodes to air at that point. Will there be a second season? We’ll have to wait and see but hopefully the producers will plan ahead and not end the show without any resolution.
What do you think? Does The Event have a chance for survival? What could NBC do to save this show? Anything?
Image courtesy NBC.
Bring it back!!! That is not right to keep us hanging like that!! They did the same thing to me with Meadowlands…another great show that just disappeared!! Please bring it back!
NBC ought to run all the episodes in 2 hour blocks on a nightly basis before playing the new ones. This would allow regular viewers to catch up on the storyline and bring in new fans. My observation is that the broadcast networks rarely give Sci Fi shows a chance to build an audience. My God, they canceled Star Trek, one of the most profitable TV franchises in history after 3 years! You are right, they will probably cancel this fine show and replace it with more reality show drek, leaving sci fi fans with only the SyFy channel which… Read more »
NBC Universal, which owns SyFy (what a stupid name for a channel), cancels more great SciFi shows than anyone can count. Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, etc… and then they show junk like Ghost Hunters Headquarters, Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters Academy, Ghost Hunters International, Scare Tactics, and WWE Smackdown. Apparantly NBC is only intersted in showing shows that require little thought. I’d rather watch reruns of Lost in Space (what a great show from the 60’s) than Ghost Hunters or WWE, but given The Event is the ONLY show we watch on traditional NBC, if they lose yet… Read more »
I really enjoy this show and it’s the only one I turn my tv set on for. I will be so disappointed if it’s cancelled. Guess I’ll have to throw out the tv set.
I love this show but don’t always catch it. Lots of people like me probably TVO it and watch it later. Jason Ritter is a very good actor and I really enjoy the series. If they promote it the way they should and do some special promos showing the progress on the show to date on prime time it should do very well. I like it better than Lost and it made it despite problems understanding the plot.
This show is vague. It should try to make more sense. What is the real theme to this show? It is hard to understand. Also it is very much like abc’s Flash Forward. That show skipped around a lot and after a while you don’t know what’s going on.
We love the EVENT. During the 1st season we had what is called The Event Night. The fam & friends get together just to watch it. (shameless plug for AT&T Uverse) All episodes were recorded and we watch the previous week 1st then When the weekly Event begins we have discussed it and we’re all caught. If a lot of fun especially if you’ve missed an episode. I’m happy The Event is returning. I’m sick of all the fake reality TV. Let the Writer write good drama, Sci-fi, mystery, political and love stories…. fact or fiction but real TV.
My husband and I have enjoyed watching the Event. We find watching new TV shows interesting as opposed to the same ole thing.
This is the first mini-series that I became interested in since “LA Law.” My biggest complaint is that almost one half of the hour was spent on commercials. Having said that, I was disappointed that the show ended suddenly. When it comes back, I will have forgotten the details that were hard enough to follow as is. I’m really not sure that I will tune in when the show resumes Feb. 28.
I and MY wife enjoyed this show emensely and look forward to more episodes in the month of Feb/2011
I think the Event is a great show. I honestly feel like NBC is not doing very well with advertising the show. They talk about the ratings being low but what do you expect when your competing with Monday night football. Horrible time slot for the 1st season. Thank you for the 2nd season! I honestly cannot wait!
I liked the show; the last episode aired left everybody hanging. I speculate the the heroine (don’t remember her name) will find she is one of THEM:( I have it scheduled for February 28th. As far as saving the show NBC needs to promote and be consistent in air time. I’m still a bit provoked that they messed up KINGS which was one of the most original series in along time. p.s Why are the non-sequiter note “This post is over a month old….” The note just preceding this one is Jan. 11, 2011 at 5:27. It is now Jan.… Read more »
I like it! Of course, I liked Flashforward too! Both shows are almost like a sci-fi soap opera but it keeps me interested. Glad they are bringing it back.
Ordinarily I don’t care for sci-fiction shows but this one is different and draws me each week to watch it. Looking forward to the 2/28 continuation. Happy it has not been cancelled.
I’ve been a pushover for sci-fi since Boris Karloff played Frankenstein’s “bionic creation”. Altho the Event’s plot is a little far-fetched, the acting and cinematography are outstanding. Since the X-Files ended, the Event and Fringe have helped me recover from sci-fi withdrawals. Thanks!! NBC, for bringing the Event back in Feb-2011.