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?
This is one of the few shows on television that I actually watch. Please don’t cancel it.
keep Vegas. i love the show and look forward to watching it every week.
This show has really picked up the last several weeks. My answer is HELL NO don’t cancel this show!!! great story lines great acting!!
Keep the show Vegas. It is interesting, exciting – not the usual trash being put on the 4 major networks.
Please keep the CBS show Vegas on TV every week as we sure look forward to watching the show. Sheriff Lamb sure makes a great Sheriff we love watching him.
it’s one of the best show’s since i dont know when
VEGAS deserves a second season. The way it got moved and had reruns between episodes was not fair to its audience or its cast. This is a great show
We enjoy the show VEGAS and overlook some of the obvious “flaws” because the show is in a growth period. What about the idea of a CSI and VEGAS cross over? How? Isn’t “Greg” of CSI an expert on the mob era of Vegas? Why not have a body found, or some new case come up, that links to the time of Savino and Lamb? Flash backs……It would be fun.
I hope that CBS will keep VEGAS and give it a second season.
I like Vegas too. Please do not cancel this show. It is very suspenseful and has mega talent for actor/actresses.. I think they should make a movie..
KEEP Vegas !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please do not cancel Vegas. It is not all sex or off color jokes. Characters have values. Right or wrong you know where they stand. It is entertaining. Please keep it on the air.
One of the best shows on TV.. Please don’t cancel.. Different spin than all the blood and gore on t v… Fun and well acted
I love Vegas….please do not cancel it……look forward to it every week…CBS has the best shows going….so let VEGAS remain as one of those.
ME TOO 🙂
We love this show. It is different then other shows aired. We like the theme. Mob and cowboy sheriff as the main stars and the underlying themes of love and murder. DO Not cancel.
I agree… There is something about the show for men and women to love..
Please don’t cancel Vegas! I loved it on Tuesdays but even more now that it’s on Fridays, along with my other favorite program, Blue Bloods.
CBS can continue to air it’s ridiculous reality shows and its so-called “comedy” programs that aren’t funny at all, if that’s what CBS wishes to do — but PLEASE KEEP THIS QUALITY SHOW ON THE AIR for those of us who prefer quality over crap.
My husband and I LOVE this show! It’s intelligent, packed with action, and true to the Las Vegas era that the show represents. Our friends also love this series and we are all Seniors–as there is very little of substance for older viewers to watch on the major networks. This is one of the few gems for us to watch on TV. The production is excellent and we BEG the network to keep the show going…
I agree.. I loved that era… and they should keep this on for us older people… 🙂