NBC had high expectations for their new Thursday night action drama, The Player. Unfortunately, the ratings have not been good and the network has now cut the show’s episode order. Has the series already been cancelled or does it still have a shot at being renewed for a second season next year?
Set in Las Vegas, The Player follows a huge game in which world events are predicted, gambled upon and influenced by a shadowy elite. Controlling the game is the “The Pitt Boss,” a mysterious Mr. Johnson (Wesley Snipes). “The Dealer” is Cassandra (Charity Wakefield) and she recruits rogue FBI agent Alex Kane (Philip Winchester). As “The Player”, Alex is driven by the need to find out who killed his wife. Damon Gupton also stars.
Debuting on September 24th, The Player got off to a poor start in the ratings, averaging a 1.16 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 4.86 million viewers. The second episode’s numbers were even worse with the installment drawing a 0.95 in the demo and 4.58 million.
Week three’s numbers were worse and then the series hit new lows in week four with a 0.74 demo and 3.99 million. Last week’s episode did a little bit better but the numbers were frankly still terrible.
To be fair, The Player has had to contend with tough competition from NFL football games and ABC’s highly rated How to Get Away with Murder. Unfortunately, NBC doesn’t seem to be cutting this series any slack. While NBC’s Blindspot has received a full season order, the network has cut the The Player’s order down to nine episodes.
They’ve also already committed the show’s timeslot to other programming. In the new year, the Thursdays at 10pm timeslot will be taken over by new series Shades of Blue starring Jennifer Lopez and Ray Liotta.
Though NBC has not officially cancelled The Player yet, the ratings are so bad that it’s as good as cancelled. Barring a miracle and sudden upturn in the ratings, there’s just no way the network execs will want to order any more episodes.
But, what do you think? Have you been enjoying The Player TV series? Do you think it should be cancelled or saved and given more time to prove itself?
We enjoy this show! At least complete a full season and plotline!
They have said it all, this movie looking at the name alone i was attracted to it. Let’s give the movie a chance to at least complete the season, it is very interesting, the producers of the movie can do a little better by making the crime in the movie more interesting and the promoters can work hard by promoting the movie to increase the demographics. i would love it if this movie is continued.
BRING IT BACK !!! most Tv serves as background noise… while i do other tasks …only checking in occasionally ….found the focus interesting ,,,, the action sequences captivating, but then a like indiana jones…was looking forward to more character development ,,,disappointed.supremely so.!!! i hope someone else picks it up …i’ll be hoping for UK,AU,DEN…etc like The Bridge.or the original Traffic on bbc of course that one was translated into a movie,,,,I watched the original
thanks for the Rush…
lilliK
NBC will not do anything about this…because, if they do so, it would be like an executive admitting that he didn’t know what he was doing putting it up in this time slot. Whoever set up programming for this show (especially after wasting all of that money to PROMOTE this new show) will never accept the blame. He will just say….the viewers didn’t support it.
Save this show, up against football?????????? NBC bad programming……….Save it
Keep this show we love it I know you get your episode information from somewhere but you need a new system because every year you cancel at least one show we like. You cancel this one and we will not be watching your network ever again …. And we meant…..
Why? Why cancel one of this years BEST New Shows? At least let it finish the season and let Alex find his wife Ginny! This is a Great show that is action packed and never a dull moment. All the characters work well together. I could see canceling other shows that for the life of me I do not understand how they are still on like Two Broke Girls, Or some of the reality shows that are just lame and a complete waste of time. Please Bring back The Player!
I love this show. It hasn’t been given enough time to prove itself and it did have a lousy time slot. I’ll be watching less and less on NBC, that’s for sure.
i don’t think it should’ve been cancelled. it was a good show. these networks don’t give shows a chance anymore. they want the super huge ratings right away and if a show doesn’t do that then its cancelled. alot of the classic shows (like buffy) didn’t have super huge ratings but they had a loyal fanbase. i also think that its a bad idea that it was put on thursday. alot of the networks moved their shows to thursday nights. nothing barely comes on mondays or fridays anymore. nbc should cancel the voice: its past its prime and no one… Read more »
Great show! Marketing blunder and poor time slot. Shame
Agree whole heartily!
They should not cancel this show..please don’t cancel !!!!
Networks need to either give shows time to develop or wrap up the storylines for those who’ve invested time watching the shows.
This show should NOT be cancelled! The article states it’s up against a difficult night of TV, football and “GAWM” – then relocate it to another day as they do with other programs. Give it a chance!! Obviously NBC doesn’t care about it’s audience! Well you do ‘carp’ like this you loose the audience! This is a good show – a lot of great action and great cast. The mystery is intriguing – it’s simply enjoyable. NBC execs have no idea what the heck they’re doing!!! That’s why NBC is always at the bottom of the ratings.
Also, when it started, it was underutilizing Wesley Snipes. I just started watching the show because I was interested in watching a show that somebody of his caliber would consent to be involved in.
It’s a good show.
Whoever does the programming at NBC needs to get a clue. Nothing will do well in the time slot across from “How to get away with Murder”…. for that age group.
In yesteryears, things were moved around to try different time slots. AND great, ESTABLISHED shows were put up against successes on other channels – – not a brand new show, trying to appeal to the same demographic.
(When I was young, I wanted to work at a network in programming and scheduling —and this stuff annoys the heck out of me.