Last May, Rob Morrow said goodbye to Numb3rs, a CBS TV show he’d co-starred on for six seasons. Now, he’s back in a new legal drama on ABC. Will this one last as long or will it be quickly cancelled?
In The Whole Truth, Morrow plays a powerful defense attorney who was raised on the wrong side of the tracks. Maura Tierney is on the opposite side as a Senior Trial Assistant District Attorney whose father was a sheriff. Viewers are shown how each side builds their case, using their own version of “the truth.” The rest of the cast includes Eamonn Walker, Sean Wing, Anthony Ruivivar, and Christine Adams.
With on-screen talent like this, last night’s premiere could be described as a crime. The Whole Truth only mustered a pitiful 1.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic and just 4.89 million viewers. It came in at a distant third (last) place in both categories. It also lost viewers as the hour progressed, ending with a 1.3 rating and 4.6 million.
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To give you some historical perspective on how bad this is, last year’s Eastwick debuted to a 3.0 rating and 8.5 million viewers — almost double Whole Truth’s numbers. Eastwick dropped in the ratings nearly every week but it took until November for the numbers to go as low as The Whole Truth’s premiere.
Eastwick was, of course, cancelled and only 11 of the 13 episodes ran. It seems highly unlikely that, unless Whole Truth has a big turnaround, ABC will wait that long to pull this one.
So, what do you think? Did you watch The Whole Truth? Why do you think it’s not attracting viewers?
Image courtesy ABC.
I really liked The Whole Truth it presented a murder case in a very different way. It showed both sides the defense and the prosecution and I felt involved. I know that a lot of people like to be spoon fed thier entertainment, this guy is good that guy is bad- case closed. I think this show is quick and smart maybe that’s why I liked it. I felt like a member of the jury the whole time and was able to see how and why a jury can be swayed. Given a chance it should find an audience a… Read more »
I thought it was important to NOT know about the teacher side. It’s a lawyer show, not a cop (good/evil) show. I though it pretty much stunk though and am not coming back for next eppi.
I vote to cancel it. I have recorded most of the new pilots, and this was the first one that I have not decided to record a second episode. Morrow’s character was great. I enjoyed him, but Maura and the rest were not interesting at all. The clips and back and forth really didn’t tie things together well. And the first case was really bad. At the end of the trial, I am wondering how they can convict the guy because there was no real evidence, and the defense clearly showed reasonable doubt for every point the prosecution made.
I really liked it though I will admit I did feel like I was missing out on alot of information. I agree with Nicole. I needed more from the teacher/ only suspect. If they’re not going to have multiple suspects then we need to know more about the one we get. It would’ve done wise to copy L&O in that respect. Other than that one detail, the only reasons I can think of why people didn’t watch it is maybe because they’re die hard SVU fans, they just assumed it was going to be the same old stuff that’s in… Read more »
I felt that the acting was very wooden. I expected more info on why the teacher killed his student; its a good premise to let the audience know if the person really was guilty or not guilty; but they need to give us more info on why.
I thought this series was good. I like Rob Morrow and Maura Tierney. I hope ABC gives it a chance. The 2 hour premiere of SVA probably hurt this show. I saw it on the repeat on Friday. ABC please keep it – it is a good show.
I hope that ABC gives The Whole Truth a shot. I enjoyed it, and I think more people will get to understand what it is about once they start watching. The competion was also tough with a two-part SVU. STICK BY IT.
i thought it was very good, very fast paced, interesting and both stars are good no mater what they do
Wooden performances all around. Teacher’s story was glossed over; prosecution/defense interactions were spoken of when they should have been shown. Tierney was much better in News Radio; Morrow in Northern Exposure – maybe that’s the solution: turn this turkey into a comedy! Anyone for Cop Rock?
I was looking in the latimes for “whole truth” but could not find it so thought maybe it was called “the defenders”. When there are so many new shows, it’s confusing.
The “guide” on dish & cable and newspaper guides should have a symbol for new shows.
I loved it. Although i would have liked to have seen more with the accused teacher character. What were his motivations? No flashbacks of him committing the crime. I was more interested in this character and was left wanting more to understand why it happened because he looked so nice and not like a murderer. Other than that, I will tune in again!
i totally agree!
I think the 2 hour premiere of L&O SVU hurt the ratiing. I think that ABC should at least wait until people realize that L&O SVU is really still just the “Benson & Stabler Show” and then they will tune in to see the Whole Truth. give it at least a shot! The networks panic too soon and viewers do not get a chance to find a new show they like! For heavens sake, I cannot watch everything at once. In fact, I watched The Defenders and tivo’d the Whole Truth and plan to watch it on Saturday night.
Nah, Justice was ten times better than this. There is no one to root for. In most legal shows you root for Alan Shore, or Perry Mason or Sam McCoy, but in this show, the prosecutor and the attorney are equals and the payoff is the verdict, not good over evil or whatever.
I thought it was very lame.
The show seems to be a mildly reworked version of “JUSTICE” another stinker from Bruckheimer
it got the law wrong…in NY State Court the defense sums up 1st & the prosecutor last…why the other way around in this show? is it really filmed in NY or a back lot in Burbank? it doesn’t look like NY…bring back LAW & ORDER…I think this was the show they meant to cancel