NBC is hitting the road with another new reality series, The Great American Road Trip. Is the show worth watching or, has the competition run out of gas before it barely got started?
The Great American Road Trip follows seven American families in a countrywide competition. Each in their own RVs, the clans travel to various landmarks and compete in challenges. The winning family gets a prize whereas the three worst performers must take part in a second challenge. The losing group of the second contest is eliminated.
Hosted by Reno Coiller, the series premiered on Tuesday night and the families visited Springfield, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. Unfortunately not many viewers from those cities, or anywhere else, were watching.
NBC paired the debut of Road Trip with the very popular America’s Got Talent in hopes that most of Talent’s audience would tune in an hour early to watch the new show. It didn’t happen. Road Trip attracted just 4.66 million viewers and a 1.3/5 rating/share of the 18-49 demographic.
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Road Trip was handily beaten by a repeat of NCIS (10.43 million and a 1.9/7) and barely scored better than ABC’s disappointing Superstars (4.2 million and a 1.3/5). One week earlier, a repeat of NBC’s Talent attracted 8.2 million and a 2.3/8 in the same timeslot (per the ratings overnights).
The peacock network isn’t pleased with Road Trip’s performance and immediately sent it packing to a new night. The reality series will now air on Monday nights at 10pm, taking the place of Law & Order reruns. Not surprisingly, NBC is plugging the Tuesday night timeslot with encores of America’s Got Talent.
Seven more episodes of Road Trip have already been produced. Given that it’s Summer and ratings expectations are lower, it seems very likely that NBC will air the entire season.
The network is so desperate for content that they’ve already scheduled Road Trip reruns to air on Sunday nights at 7pm. Given the early numbers, that may change.
However, unless viewership picks up, there would be very little reason for NBC to renew it for a second season.
What do you think? Is the competition worth watching or just slightly less painful than driving with squabbling kids in the backseat? Should the network keep Road Trip or just cancel it already?
Image courtesy NBC.
This show is a frickin’ train wreck. Anyone who likes this show is a waste of DNA just like the contestants.
My family of 5 really like this show. It is a show that we can watch as a family without having to worry about bad language or anything inappropriate for children in it. Most shows now are not family oriented. We would love to have the chance to be on this show. I also do not think that the show was publicized enough before it actually came on. We try to watch it every tim it comes on. I say keep it, but just advertise it more.
Great for the whole family, not as foul as most reality tv
I also loved the show! I am a teenager and we as a family watched it and were excited by the idea of trekking across America in an RV; something we never have had the slightest opportunity to even dream about! The families (for the most part) were entertaining and we could pick out our favorites right away–not to mention the ones who we want to see go home. Try to keep the show if possible!
We wanted to know how we can sign up to be on your show? We really enjoy watching your show. We camp alot and I really want to be on your show.
thank you
Michael Evangelista
Good Family Show
LOVE IT,KEEP IT!
I love the show,I wish I could be on it…..
We own an RV so we were interested in the things that usually go wrong on an RV trip as they do to everyone. There is nothing real about this trip and it was a boaring hour. Did anyone bother to give these families a driving class before putting them on the road and let them but the other drivers at risk! No reality here just a big joke! We have done the cross country in the RV and we were more amusing then any of these couples and we were just 2 adults. We had to put up with… Read more »
We, too, stumbled across the show sunday 7/12. We enjoyed it and loved seeing our home town, though agree the kids battles were tiresome. But we hope it stays on to see the end.
I vote for canning the show. It’s nothing more than another waist of of a television time slot. All this “reality”, talent, and game show style TV has polluted prime time with dumbed down shows for dumbed down people. Can this garbage and start producing funny, creative television again.
I have only watched it a few times, again stumbled across it..but enjoy it with my entire family. I too would like the opportunity to try and submit a chance to apply my family for a second season if available, but see no indiaction on whether or not there will or will not be one. It shows the good/bad and ‘real’ life of family – in all circumstances and how to overcome things when pulling together. I think it is awesome and when all pull together with individuals strengths- ANYTHING can happen.. and that afterall ..is what family is about.… Read more »
I thought this show was GREAT!!! It’s nice to see a family reality show like this and I get to watch it with my children. They were even excited and asked me to sign us up so I hope this show will start to get great reviews so that we may sign up for the second season. We watch shows like The Amazing Race and Survivor but these are not shows that children can be apart of. I dont think the Great American Road Trip got enough publicity. I didnt really see any commercials for this show and we kind… Read more »
We changed the name to Great American Road Rage. This has to be the most annoying show ever developed. Arguing, arguing, Silvio’s hair, arguing, arguing, make it stop! Why would anyone want to watch this horrid hour of nonstop arguing and the angst of children locked in a motor home for hours on end. It’s like a bad dream. I have enough anxiety in real life, we turned this off after 20 minutes and deleted it from our DVR’s list. This show is garbage. And that’s being kind!
I’d like to finish watching the show… I don’t know why the Exec’s think you can slap any old reality show together and it will make money. The day of the reality show is at an end for the most part. Creators of reality shows need to be very careful to get the right formula down for the right audience. I like reality shows if they’re done right. Ones such as Survivor, Amazing Race, and new one’s such as Here Come the Newlyweds, and Expedition Africa are enjoyable to watch…