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?
Best show of the week. I wait every week for The Player to start. I usially am a NFL watcher but for that hour I switch to the NFL game only during commercials. Even this past week when my team the Dolphins played.
Perfect show! The characters are great, the actors are great, the episodes are great, and the mystery running through series is great!
Great show with a great cast. Do not cancel this show.
Aww man I hope they don’t cancel this show I like it more than a lot of other stuff that’s being played on tv I love the action in it.
Love this show. Full of action and suspense!
And now that Thursday night football is over The Player is bound to have higher ratings. This show is steadily improving, NBC is trippin’.
The more I watch it, the more I like this show. It’s been sort of a slow burn for me, but the storyline has been getting stronger. It’s a shame they didn’t give this more of a chance/
Completely agree!! NBC needs to give it a shot. It’s a great intelligent action packed show. No Believable Chance network never gives shows like this a chance. The execs think all of America has jello brains similar to theirs. They have a hit show and don’t even know it!!!! ABC, NBC, FOX, TNT, USA, TBS, ION, someone please pick up this show. Whoever makes these decisions certainly has the inability to recognize a gold mine. Other networks will at least move its time slot to see if there is a true audience for this show. This is premature cancellation and… Read more »
This series should be saved and moved to another timeslot or if they are impatient like NBC usually is, let it be picked up my cable, Hulu or Netflix. Let it follow the Voice on Tuesdays. Philip Winchester from Strikeback deserves BETTER than this.
Please don’t cancel “The Player”! Perhaps show receiving low ratings due to poor advertising. Great show with Philip Winchester, co-star of Showtime’s “Strike Back”. I finally found another action show I liked.
Bad mistake nbc. Love this show. Wesley is amazing which is why he is star! Good to see him back on the screen- big or small.
Really enjoying the show, lots of action. Wesley Snipes is great as the Pit Boss. The realationship between Alex and the detective (Damon Gupton) intriguing. Hope to see what happens next.
Love the show!!!!! Plenty of action, suspense, and mystery. You definitely need to give it a chance!!!
And yet another show I like that the networks don’t give a chance to succeed just because it isn’t huge! This is why many don’t bother with network tv anymore. Give this show a chance in a different slot where it isn’t up against FOOTBALL!
I don’t know why I even bother trying to watch NBC anymore. They cancel the good shows and keep the horrible ones then they wonder why the other networks are kicking their butts. If this gets cancelled, I can only hope that it gets picked up by some other network. The Player is really good and action packed. Definitely worth a watch.
I love the show. Change the day and it will be a winner!
Please do not cancel The Player. You networks never give new shows a chance and leave crappy shows running for years! Please give this show a chance.