Wayward Pines: Cancel or Keep the FOX TV Series?

The world of network television can be a confusing and scary place, not unlike Wayward Pines. TV shows can disappear without any explanation. A show can be touted as a big success and then, the next week, it’s gone. So, how’s Wayward Pines been doing? Will it survive to see a second season? Should it stick around? Cancel or keep it?

On Wayward Pines, Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke (Matt Dillon) drives to the bucolic town of Wayward Pines, in search of two missing federal agents. One was a former partner and they once had an affair. A truck slams into his car, he wakes up in the local hospital, and things start to get really strange. The cast of this thriller series also includes Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Carla Gugino, Toby Jones, Shannyn Sossamon, Charlie Tahan, Reed Diamond, Juliette Lewis, and Tim Griffin.

The series premiered in mid-May to a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 3.76 million viewers. It wasn’t an impressive start for a new scripted series but FOX had made the pilot available online for a week at the end of April.

That may have been one of the reasons that the ratings grew in week two — by more than 20%. Episode two garnered a 1.2 in the demo with 4.589 million viewers. The numbers have fluctuated a little since then but they’ve essentially held steady. Thus far, the season’s averaged a 1.15 in the demo with 4.04 million.

While the ratings certainly aren’t very impressive, Wayward Pine’s relatively small audience seems to be pretty devoted and consistently watches. What’s more, FOX has been having a hard time establishing scripted series and this is their only dramatic offering thus far this summer.

While the numbers could certainly be a whole lot better, I suspect that FOX will renew Wayward Pines for another run for next summer.

But, what do you think? Do you like the Wayward Pines series? Would you watch a second season? Cancel or keep it?