When The Event was being promoted last summer, the producers made a point of saying that the series would be different from ABC’s failed FlashForward series. It turns out there were more unintentional similarities than they would have liked. Like FlashForward, NBC’s The Event has been cancelled after one season on the air.
The Event follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter) who’s investigating the mysterious disappearance of his girlfriend. He slowly begins to uncover a huge cover-up that’s beyond belief. 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 serial drama started out with healthy numbers on September 20th, registering a 3.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 10.88 million viewers. Unfortunately those digits started to fall immediately. The series lost 19% of its demo viewers in week two and another 17% in week three. From there, things basically just got worse and worse.
 Loading ... |
NBC announced that they were putting the TV series on hiatus over the holidays and indicated they would give it a relaunch in early 2011. That’s never a good sign and it certainly didn’t help the ratings. The Event lost more than 26% in the demo between its last episode in November 2010 and its first in March 2011. The ratings stabilized but not at an acceptable level.
The Event currently averages a 1.8 in the 18-49 demographic and 5.72 million viewers. As poor as that is, the average is only that high because of the early season numbers.
It’s no surprise that NBC has decided to pull the plug. There are two episodes remaining in the series and thankfully they’ll provide some sense of closure for the devoted fans that hung in there.
What do you think? Why didn’t The Event survive? Why did so many people bail on the series, even before the long hiatus?
Wondering where the rest of your shows stand? Check our NBC cancel/renew page.
Image courtesy NBC.
Viewers interest because the execs kept putting it on hiatus. Why oh why can’t we get back to a full 23 episode season, like in the 70s and 80s? This constant breaking for 6 months at a time leave viewers in the lurch … hunting for something else to watch.
I, personally, will really miss this show. I think NBC is making a grave mistake in cancelling it. I also agree with the others … and will find another network to watch. Apparently, NBC cares more about false ratings, than its actual viewers (those who own DVRs and watch online).
Unfortunately, everything on today has been dumbed down to today’s viewer. There will never be shows where you have to focus solely on the show. Individuals today like to multi-task & you can’t do that watching the Event. Which makes it unfortunate.!!
If FOX (or Lifetime or TNT) picks up THE EVENT, V, and FLASH FORWARD, they’ll blow the networks out of the water. There’s a silent majority that isn’t being registered/accounted for by the bland three, whose viewers on average are idiotic and would rather watch “funny” shows like THE MIDDLE and trashy ones like THE BACHELORETTE or yet another cop show. Big mistake on NBC’s part. Now there’s nothing left, including the news, that I watch on their network.
Neilsen Schmeilsen, I find it interesting , some of the demographics still in use for tv ratings!!As a 61 yo male,I’m most likely not in NBC’s target “zone”,but I know my time in blog”o” sphere has led me to believe that myself and 1000’s of others in the silent majority,watched “THE EVENT” with a religious ferver!!We will be soon launching a petition to stop the planned cancellation!! Real (accurate)viewing #’s can only be attained with a grass rooted e-mail campaign!!!
The event was great. The last few episodes with the vice president trying to kill off the president were intense, as intense as episodes of 24. Riter, who I assume is part of the famous Riter family, did a great job. It seems like it should be a 1 season show, like a super long miniseries, since we should be able to fight the aliens and win victoriously in one season. Same way we should finish off the V invasion. No point in continuing the show after you win the war.
I just this minute found out that the show had been cancelled and I am seriously bummed about it. I agree with the person above who compared its intensity to an episode of 24. I found the casting to be intriguing and the plot lines changing enough to keep me coming back to find out what will happen next–and that is what you need in a show like this. I guess we will never discover what sort of creature will be born now that Riter’s gf is pregnant. And what the event is really afterall. Oh well. I too hate… Read more »
this show is great, granted it should air on the syfy channel instead but its too early to kill this show. they shouldnt have taken that mid season break. i thought the show was canceled then, and didnt even know it was back on untill febuary. also i only watch it online via hulu and i dont know if they count that in the ratings, also they were probably competing with the monday syfy lineup which used to be on fridays.
I agree and the SyFy (SciFi) channel has put junk on on Friday nights!
I’m reading these comments and I don’t think people watched the same show I did. It was canceled because the writing was awful – full of problems. Plot manipulation is what happens when a writer writes himself into a box and has no logical action to move the story to the next step, so they manipulate the action with illogical, contrived, and just plain stupid action to move the story along, completely destroying the suspension of disbelief necessary to effortlessly enjoy the show. Then the dialogue – the big reveal in the house where the reporter explains they’re called EBE’s… Read more »
I think what science fiction fans are really craving is that next, good series. Star Trek is now long done and we’ll only see ‘cool updated modern Trek’ once every few years, or as fast as the cost of insane CGI comes down. Star Wars is long done. Stargate is there, with its spinoffs and such. The Event looked to be something that helped fill that sci-fi void. It was close, but not close enough, and the problem in its title is that continuity might even be hard. However, some bad acting exposed a lot of loose writing, particularly in… Read more »
I think initially the show introduced too many characters and plot lines. In addtion, the show kept being cancelled and was put on hold which made it hard to follow. Then the speculation if the show would be cancelled for good. No one wants to invest time in a show that will be cancelled, especially since the networks never give the show an ending. If networks invested in a full season for new shows that obviously have potential, ie cast, plot , writers, then viewers would be more likely to stick with a show. NBC cancels most new shows, esepecially… Read more »
Another good show axed & it will be replaced with some stupid reality show or another show that the “powers that be” will axe this time next year. It’s a viscous cycle. Here’s the problem … for the past 3-4 years I have invested time in watching new series only to have them axed. Each time this happens it makes me hesitant to invest in any new shows the following fall. If you’re like me, you are tired of getting into a series just to have pulled. For this reason, viewers such as myself, will stop giving new series a… Read more »
The show is being cancelled because the plot is too “deep” for the general public to embrace. It takes too much “thinking outside of the box” and IQ to even fathom the events that take place in the show… Truth of the matter is, people see conspiracies portayed in LIKELY scenarios that may have actually occurred/may occur and they’re quick to dismiss… Funny how desnsitization worksm, huh? Oh well… I hope the writers don’t give up and lobby for the show to get picked up by another cable network, maybe FX or Spike… I would say TBS or TNT but… Read more »
Please save the best show on TV.
I think viewers started bailing because in the middle episodes it wasn’t that strong, but it has come back here at the end with episodes that are very similar in suspense to 24– absolutely riveting. I’m a huge fan and think it is the best show on TV at this point, but apparently the public at large does not agree. We have shows like Castle that are absolute crap that get renewed and shows like this that are outstanding and… eh, no surprise. It’s not about art but money. And the collective IQ of this country is so low that… Read more »
I loved the Event I thought it was a good show The start was kinda weak But as the plot was building and the middle shows started to shine I really got into it ! NBC Why would you cancel it I know all about ratings But do you realize how many people watch the show via online ! Or DVR The networks should account for the people that watch online/DVR not just the certain few that report back via ratings I will never watch NBC again ..Most people are starting to get tried of all the good shows being… Read more »
I have to agree with Terry about Leila! I don’t understand how Sarah Roemer got that role. None of the actors are amazing or anything, but they work. They do their job. I especially like Zeljko Ivanek as Blake Sterling, he has a kind of presence around him. And Laura Innes is very good as Sophia. Jason Ritter and Sarah Roemer are NOT good actors, though, and Roemer is frankly terrible. It’s a pity, because she’s on camera a lot.
Is NBC going to wrap up the show with answers or leave the audience hanging?