NBC’s struggling serial drama, The Event, returns tonight after 13 weeks away. The network has been giving the series some nice promotion and is bringing it back with a two back-to-back episodes. Will that be enough?
The Event had a solid debut back in September with a 3.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 10.88 million viewers. Unfortunately, it fell nearly 20% in week two and another 17% in week three. The ratings kept falling until they seemed to even off at a 1.7 rating and about 5.5 million viewers. That’s a far cry from the promise that the series once held.
NBC put the ailing series on hiatus at the end of November, promising a big relaunch in late February. That return was later bumped to tonight to make room for The Cape, another casualty of the timeslot.
Networks have tried putting serial dramas on long hiatuses in the past and they just don’t work out. Many viewers assume that a series like The Event has already been cancelled, that they won’t remember what was going on, or have gotten into the habit of watching other shows. Whatever the reason, a show like The Event has to fight to get the viewers who were watching pre-hiatus to return, never mind attracting new ones.
Sadly, it seems that it will take a ratings miracle to save The Event at this point and NBC certainly hasn’t shown a lot of confidence in getting new people to give the show a try. More than half of the audience who were interested enough to watch the premiere, left over the course of the first 10 episodes. Of those who did stick around, it’s reasonable to expect that a sizable percentage have moved on after 13 weeks.
If you check our season rankings to date, you’ll see that The Event is currently in the middle of the pack with a 2.2 rating and 6.86 million. If the new episodes can attract the same number of pre-hiatus viewers, it will slowly sink lower down the list. If The Event starts doing Cape-like numbers (a 1.2 in the demo), it’ll fall much quicker.
Either way, unless the ratings turnaround or NBC has no faith in its new pilots, it’s very doubtful that The Event will be coming back for season two.
What do you think? Will you be watching The Event? What could NBC do to save this series or is it too late already? Is it worth saving?
Image courtesy NBC.
My feelings are hurt… That’s all I can say. 🙁
I SWEAR THEY BETTER PUT THE EVENT BACK ON AIR OR I SWEAR I WILL BE H3LL OF PISSED OFF….. I LUVV THE EVENT LIKE SO MUCH.. I WOULD DO ALMOST ANYTHING TO BE ON THE SET @ LEAST…. BUT I CRYED WHEN THEY CANCELLED THE SERIES.. I WAS YELLING AND KICKIN OVER CHAIRS.. I SWEAR 2 GOD I DID.. I KEPT ASKIN MY FATHER ARE U SURE THAT SHOW SEASON START AGAIN IN THE FALL?…AND HE SAID IT WILL START IN THE FALL.. I MEAN DO I HAV 2 WAIT ALL SUMMER 4 THE SHOW!.. BUT I LUVV THE… Read more »
Thanks Wendy Williams! Got my hopes up falsely! She had a segment on about new shows starting and old shows new seasons beginning tonight. I was so excited to see that “The Event” was coming back on. Then I found that her show was a repeat and originally aired in March! What a let down! Bring the show back! We loved it!
I absolutely LOVE this show!! When I heard it might get cancelled I was soooo mad. Shows like this are absolutely amazing because they keep you coming back for more.. if you have the patience for it. LOST was my favorite show ever and I watched every episode. Even though I wanted it to end just so I could figure it out, I want it back again. The same thing goes for The Event. The cliff hangers drive me crazy, but the show is just way too good to cancel. If you guys can keep LOST and 24 going, you… Read more »
PLEASE do NOT cancel the Event. I love the show and have the same feelings I had while watching 24!!! Can’t believe each episode is over so quickly and can’t wait to see the next episode!!!! Have recommend the show to many people and they feel the same way!!!!
Please keep the Event going, especially with whatever you want to call that last episode! There’s much more to tell.
I LOVE The Event!!! I set my DVR to record it every time it was on (!) so that I could watch it again after I had just sat there watching it at its original airtime just to find the smaller details I may have just missed!!’ I always was on the edge of my seat every Monday night while watching this FANTASTIC show! I was always excited to see how the writers were going to merge all the story lines together! And each week brought us closer and closer to that pay-off! I was and WOULD STILL BE a… Read more »
please keep the event alive
This was a great show…I’m a huge sci-fi fan and most mainstream TV shows don’t appeal to me, especially ones on the major networks. The only show I watch on NBC or network television is The Event. Hopefully they will continue it on the SyFy channel.
The Event has drama/action/suspense/thriller all rolled up in a great tv series. This is the only show on tv that I really look forward to watching EVERY WEEK. In fact, this is the very first time that I’ve EVER written to a network to save a show. This show keeps you at the edge of your seat from the the very first episode to the very last episode. Every last episode consisted of crafty writing. And, then, to end the show like that!!!! Are you serious!!!! At least the very end could have made sense!!! What was that!!! I don’t… Read more »
I love The Event. My whole family watches it! All my shows on nbc have been canceled, please don’t cancel this one! I LOVE THIS SHOW!
How can you take such a GREAT SHOW, leave off on the final show of the season the way you did then just up and cancel it. That is Atrocious, Absurd and down right plain RUDE. This is an Awesome show, the last episode was REALLY a Cliff hanger. PLEASE, DO NOT CANCEL THIS SHOW. YOU CAN’T, THEY DID THIS THE LAST TIME IT WAS ON BUT THIS TIME AROUND IT IS 100 TIME BETTER THAN EVER.
You can’t cancel this show.
How can the producers leave off the way they did with the final show. This is aweful, they can’t cancel this show. Do the producers ever even think about the fans?
This is OUTRAGIOUS……
I think this is a clever show. Not all the actors are equally skilled but the plot is there. Unfortunately with peoples’ short attention spans things don’t move as fast as many would like.
If the Event gets a second season, I would hope they move things along. It’s one of the few shows that has real potential!
I love The Event it is getting better and better. This is not the time to cancel. didn’t they learn anything from the 24 series?:?