Three Rivers: Poor Premiere Ratings; Cancel It or Keep It?

Many Moonlight fans are still upset over the cancellation of CBS’ Friday night vampire series. CBS is counting on viewers wanting more of the show’s star, Alex O’Loughlin, and put him front and center in the new medical series, Three Rivers. So, will O’Loughlin’s physician outlive his vampire character?

Three Rivers revolves around a team of elite surgeons who work in the high-pressure and emotional world of organ transplants. The leader is Dr. Andy Yablonski, (O’Loughlin) a workaholic with a quick wit.

His co-workers include rebellious Dr. Miranda Foster (Katherine Moennig), womanizing Dr. David Lee (Daniel Henney), inexperience coordinator Ryan Abbott (Christopher Hanke), dedicated head of surgery Dr. Sophia Jordan (Alfre Woodard), and Pam Acosta (Justina Machado), Andy’s best friend.

Many have suspected that the drama was in trouble even before it got out of the starting gate. Amid some negative early reviews, CBS decided to bump the pilot episode and air the second installment instead. The second episode, which is set to air next week, is called “Ryan’s First Day” and might be a little confusing since returning viewers have already seen Ryan working at his job.

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Based on the early ratings, that may be the least of CBS’ worries. Three Rivers debuted last night with a disappointing 9.17 million viewers and a 2.0/5 rating/share among adults 18-49. It ranked in a distant third place in total viewership and a distant fourth place in the all important demographic.

Three Rivers retained a little more than 70% of its lead-in audience and, in the same timeslot last year, Cold Case brought in almost two million more viewers.

Based on typical ratings trends, even fewer people can be expected to return next week. If you look at it that way, Three Rivers’ life expectancy doesn’t look very good.

Is Three Rivers worth saving or should CBS do a mercy killing and cancel it now? What do you think?