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?
I loved this show. Bring it back. Why are you just looking at 18-49 year olds. Why don’t those of us over that matter?
Need 1 more season to find out if it worth cancelling… I enjoyed watching this kind of tv series… maybe change the title to “The Pit Boss, The Dealer and The Player” and get these 3 characters involved in a more action-packed scenes.
Yeah I believe that it should get another season to prove itself with a different tideas slot. This is an awesome show.
Disappointed that this show has finished as I really enjoyed it. Better than a lot of the other programs they run.
I definately loved this show. They need to bring it back. Great story line. Another network should try to get it if NBC don’t renew it.
I really liked the show. It was fresh and the acting was spot on. This show was canceled too sickly. Very hard to go up against the NFL!
my husband and I love this show, one of the few shows on TV without the deviant garbage..lots of action. so tired of the reality garbage on TV. please don’t cancel this one!
It’s a shame.The Player was the best new show of the season by far.. Great action, good plots, and very interesting characters. “Reality” shows and fantasy shows suck.
Sheryl
I also agree. This show was good. Another one bites the dust on these wonderful networks we r stuck watching. Pretty soon will stop watching abc, nbc,cbs cause they always take good shows off and put on stupid reality shows . BRING IT BACK
I agree,love the cast,concept is fresh & the mystery about his wife!
I can’t believe that they would cancel another great show probably to replace it with another ridiculous reality show.
If anyone is listening, this show should not be cancelled, it has you on the edge of your seat. I love the cast and the concept it is based on, it is fresh!
I thought that the show was good it was entertaining to me I love the plot in the series. I really hope that they do a season two bc I want to know if they find Alex’s wife or not it was just getting good and they ended the show people have to start watching it and give the show a chance bc there are shows out there now that do worse ratings then this show and they still get to air on tv it’s not fair that this show can’t go further or move on
Absolutely loved The Player; hope it returns either on NBC or another network–probably would be better on a cable station or something like Netflix or Amazon for more adult situations. Martial Arts and other fight scenes were TERRIFIC!!
Love the series can’t believe they cancel another great series
Did enjoy this series. Sad to see it cancelled.
Omg that show was great the action was awesome the actors and actresses were on point you guys always take great shows off the air why would you have it airing during shows that are already seasoned like how to get away with murder please bring back the player dedicated fan
Me and a lot of my friends really enjoyed this show, You need to bring back THE PLAYER honestly it was better then Quantico and Blindspot put together. It had way more action; for example from the start of the show to the end of the show it has you on the tips of your seat, you can’t look away if not you’ll miss something important, a good dialog, and pure big actors in it like Mr. W. Snipes. They need to bring that show back immediately. If they were going to cancel anything it should have been Quantico or… Read more »