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?
Of NBC had high expectations for The Player, they sure had a funny way of showing it. The promotional campaign for this show was poor, and that’s sad. This show has so much action and week by week it just keeps getting better and better. Philip Winchester is amazing. He is the next best action star out there. NBC needs to keep this show going.
Very well stated, so little effort in promotion.
Keep the show. At least move it to another time slot, or make it a show that plays during the summer. It gets boring watching reruns all summer long!
Love The Player! Great show!
I’ve watched every episode. It started slow, but this week in particular it’s really hit its stride. I love it either way, but it could really do with spending more time on character development. Every week there’s more questions, but without people buying into the characters it’ll be tough for this show to ever increase the numbers. First few weeks are crucial for new shows, and this had loads of action, and not enough stories.
Love The Player. Give it a chance. Wait until Thursday night football is over as it surely is impacting who is watching weekly. I DVR it so I can fast forward through the commercials. Should you decide to cancel I hope the last episode solves the mystery of The Player’s wife. BTW I am a 62 year old woman,
now my in laws called to say The Player rules!
Really hoping NBC reads the comments from below! After posting I thought of a ton of other reasons this show should continue with a large group discussion of a completely different group! We all love it!!! Please give this one another chance!!
The Player is a great show and I’m so tired of the good shows being cancelled. It’s going against NFL Football seriously NBC give it’s fans a break and leave the show on!
This show is great! Very well written and filmed with great effects! Up against NFL football is bad but try another time slot or another day and run them again! There is great hope for this…! Phillip Winchester has all makings of the next “big action star” of today and tomorrow! He was great in Cinemax’s “Strike Back” and delivered consistently every week! Please re think this as there’s very few shows all of my friends are talking about and this is one along with Bind Spot which stars Sullivan Stapleton which also starred in Strike Back with Phillip Winchester… Read more »
Give the player a chance, I am sure there have been other shows that started out slower than the player and at least last one lousy season. The player’s a good show, you need to advertise more, or is it the lead man(Wesley Snipes) the wrong color, wouldn’t surprise me.
Keep the show. It gets better every week. I love it!!
Very entertaining show. Please don’t cancel NBC execs!
I LOVE The Player! It would be a huge disservice if they cancelled it.
I enjoy the show. It is different than most shows and enjoy it. I hope it doesn’t get canceled.
Keep the show. I love it!