Going into the fall season, CBS’ Vegas series was one of the new TV shows with the most buzz. Many people were expecting it to be one of the hits of the season. Has it measured up? Should it be cancelled or renewed for a second season?
Airing on Tuesday nights, Vegas takes place in the Las Vegas of the 1960s and revolves around Sheriff Ralph Lamb (Dennis Quaid), a former rancher, and his clashes with Vincent Savino (Michael Chiklis), a Chicago mobster who moved west to set up his operation. Others in the cast include Carrie-Anne Moss, Taylor Handley, Sarah Jones, and Jason O’Mara.
The show debuted back on September 25th to a 2.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 14.85 million total viewers. While the viewership was strong, CBS was likely expecting a much better demo number — especially considering the show’s high-profile talent, positive reviews, and the show having a strong lead-in like NCIS: Los Angeles.
In week two, the ratings dropped 20%, to a 2.0 rating with 12.11 million. In week four, they dropped another 20%, to a 1.6 rating with 10.8 million.
The numbers have remained fairly steady since then and the 15 episodes that have aired thus far have averaged a 1.7 demo rating with 10.9 million viewers.
While that demo might be enough for a show on NBC, it’s not likely good enough for CBS. Right now, Vegas is one of the network’s lowest-rated weekday series in the demographic which advertisers favor. Vegas has a lot of total viewers but so do many other CBS shows.
Last season, Unforgettable occupied the same timeslot and performed better than Vegas — averaging a 2.3 demo rating and 11.3 million viewers. It was cancelled.
The network ended up making a deal with Sony TV to bring Unforgettable back for a short season this summer and both sides likely made some financial concessions to make that happen. Word is that most of the supporting castmembers have been dropped. A deal like that is not likely to happen with Vegas.
Unless the ratings start to climb, it doesn’t look very likely that Vegas will be back for a second season.
On the positive side, the series will be back on March 19th and there are seven new episodes yet to come.
What do you think? Do you think CBS should cancel Vegas to make way for a new show? Or, should they renew Quaid and company for a second season? If you were running the network, would you change anything try to attract higher ratings?
I love this show. It’s different from anything else. I enjoy the actors and the 60’ish looks. Give the show another season.
Really enjoy Vegas, as I do NCIS, NCIS LA, CSI, criminal Minds….KEEP VEGAS!
I think you should give Vegas another season. My husband and I love the show. Dennis Quaid and the whole crew were great! give it a chance, I think a lot of good shows get cut way to soon. Keep Vegas!
Good show leave it alone
I like CBS. Criminal Minds is an example of my loyalty to the network along with Letterman and Ferguson. But I am willing to shell out subscriber dollars for pay TV because they deliver, in the long run, character development, dialog and plot that sees beyond two weeks of ratings. CBS has not directed its rich resources into developing the long game of seeing characters play out over time. Instead, the networks must get a pulse rise every week for ratings, thus selling the story and program short every time. The result is that you get a lot of sparkle… Read more »
Great show – great writing, great acting, great production. Watching it here in Ireland and it’s refreshing to see a show with fine actors portraying real characters with flaws and ambiguities – real people, not the cardboard cutouts that fill so many shows. Give it a chance, the potential is there – it’s a great show, give more people time to find it.
I watch the show, but, guess I am not in the demographic that counts
I LIKE VEGAS AND WATCH IT EVERY WEEK…….GUESS THE PROBLEM IS……IT ISN’T SET IN 2013……..AFTER ALL YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO MAKE US OLD FOLKS HAPPY REMEMBER THIS PARTICULAR TIME………
Keep Vegas going CBS. Seinfeld & Everybody Loves Raymond had a slow start too.
Love the show Vegas… its new give it a chance… keep Vegas!
Vegas is the only show I watch on network TV. They slow played the mafia angle too much early on, but the plot has developed nicely over the past few episodes. My wife and I really hope it gets renewed. DENNIS QUAID IS IN IT.
My family and I really like this show. It is my favorite new show of this season
I love the show. The cast is perfect. I think the problem was it was up against
several shows that have been on for a long time. Monday and Friday nights don’t have
that kind of competition. Give it another season.
I dont no about anybody esle, my husbund and I love this show. sure had killings, but they werent like some of theses cops show that are on the tv. I love the actors . So do hope it comes back on.
The writing is great, actors fit the roles they play, and the 60′s story line is perfect. When a show is launched, they should look at it’s competition, all new shows need time to take off. Give it a chance and a other season.