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.
We have been talking about when the Event will return at work.
We don’t understand how this could be cancelled, it is so much better
than many other series. The Cape is only so=so, mabe some day it will
be less cartoonish and find its legs. But THE EVENT has story lines,
surprises, action (not the silly kind) and it has kept our interest all the
time it has been off the air. Let them tell their whole story, their way.
Its got to be better than what’s out there now.
This is more proof that ratings don’t work and the networks don’t know a good show even when it’s there production. I went through this last year with fastforward and I have worried from the start that the event would suffer the same fate.
Stop the reality shows and produce and more importantly, promote your shows.
I always remark, how can there be so many channels and shows, yet there is nothing worth watching. Answer, people don’t give a bleep about their work anymore, both television and the rest of society.
I loved this show and now I hear that it may be cancelled. I’m so tired lately of watching one good show after another go down the tubes. I don’t anything is wrong with the programs; I think there is something greatly wrong with the viewes we have out there who obviously enjoy junk like “Jersey Shore” or “The Bachelor” more than really decent television viewing. Never in all the years of watching television have I seen so many decent shows drift off the screen and yet idiotic junk like “Wipe Out,” “The Housewives of Whatever County,” The Supernanny,” etc.… Read more »
I do what Joellyn does and record the event in bunches…love the show! Ever since my two favorite shows (LOST & 24) were taken off the air i’ve had nothing to watch, please don’t cancel the event!
Please! Keep this one intelligent, engaging show. It is very powerful and many of my friends and family are anxiously awaiting its return.
I haven’t watched The Cape either, and I doubt that I will. Since my fave Heroes went off the air, I’m just not in the Superhero mood anymore. One thing to keep viewership up would not to have these 3 or 4 month hiatuses, and to actually PROMOTE the show. They did promote it well in the beginning, which frankly is why I watched it, but then they seemed to stop. I don’t believe the ratings either. The Event is very entertaining, and well-acted, with a great ensemble cast. Most probably, people are recording the show to watch several episodes… Read more »
I have not watched The Cape at all. The Event is great show that will hopefully return and withstand the ratings.
This show is amazing. I watch it with my husband. It is the best show on TV.
I hope they don’t cancel this show!! I’ve been waiting and waiting for it to start up again…I’m hooked!
Can’t wait until the return! Just 2 weeks! I agree about the polls. Everyone I talk to who watched returned every week!
I love this show!!!! Was so sad when they took it off to run “The Cape.” Tried watching that once but it was stupid. My only problem with The Event was finding out when it was on. Can’t wait for it to come back in a few weeks 🙂 Will tell all my other friends who are also fans.
The Event has the potential of being the next Lost. Give it time to create the mystique, the followiing is there and now that football is over and the NBA is in holding between the all star break and the playoffs, we need some entertainment.
I was able to watch the show on-line and I am really enjoying it. My biggest fear is that it will be cancelled without any resolution. If NBC does this I will ban the network.
Please don’t cancel this show. There is nothing good on tv and all the
Reality shows are disgusting. First flash forward now this? I as following the story line just fine.
I don’t know where these polls are coming from but I (and everyone that I talk to) cannot wait for this show to return!!! NBC keept this exciting, nail-biting show & do not replace it with another mindless “reality” show!!
I totally agree! I love this show!