Image Credit: Jack Rowand/ABCFans of science fiction who don’t want to see the genre fizzle out on network TV should start tuning into ratings-starved shows like V and FlashForward. ABC’s alien drama starring Elizabeth Mitchell hit a series low 2.5 rating/7 share among adults 18-49 last night after opening with a first-place 2.8/8 last week. The drama only retained 66 percent of its lead-in from Lost, which finished its time slot with a 3.8/10. The news was just as bad for FlashForward’s third outing last week: ABC’s Thursday drama dropped to a series low 1.5 rating among adults 18-49 and a mere 5.0 million viewers, down from the prior week’s 1.8 and 6.2 million.
Lost isn’t necessarily breaking records, either – at least, not good ones. The drama was at a season low last night and down significantly from its Feb. 2 debut (a 5.5 rating in 18-49). Still, the heavily-serialized drama continues to attract a valuable and rabid fanbase, which is catnip for advertisers. And the audience is sure to return in anticipation of the show’s finale on May 23.
Meanwhile, the reception for the April 1 return of Fringe wasn’t particularly dramatic; it earned a 2.2/7 in 18-49 and attracted 5.8 million viewers, down 33 percent and 25 percent, respectively, from last year when it ran on far less competitive Tuesdays. It is still boosting Fox’s performance in the Thursday time slot by 10 percent in viewers, however, which is why the show earned a third season pickup.
For more on the science fiction genre:
‘Lost’: Networks search for a successor
I love sci-fi…GOOD sci-fi. Flash Forward and V just don’t measure up. I also hope Lost fans are punishing ABC for their stupid-ass countdown timer.
Lynette Rice, DON”T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT LOST LIKE THAT!!! DON”T YOU EVEN DARE. LOST IS THE BEST SHOW OF ALL TIME. IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE COMPLETELY. WHENEVER I’M IN A BAD MOOD, I JUST THINK ABOUT LOST AND MY DAY GETS A LITTLE BRIGHTER. EVERY TUESDAY, I HAVE A HUGE SMILE ON MY FACE AND WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME WHAT ARE YOU HAPPY ABOUT? I SAY “BECAUSE LOST IS ON TODAY!” SO DON”T YOU DARE SAY LOST DOESN”T GET GOOD RATINGS. GO LOOK AT GREY”S ANATOMY OR NCIS, THEY DON’T EVEN GET THE SAME 18/49 RATINGS THAT LOST GET. DON”T YOU EVER DISS LOST!
wow. I’m a LOST fan too but…wow.
yeah what exactly did she say about LOST besides reporting the ratings? It’s everyone else’s loss if they missed last night’s STELLAR episode! But no sense in taking it out on the writer reporting the numbers!
http://www.lostaddictsblog.com
a shame about V and FF though. Both shows have a lot of promise and ABC will probably end up dropping both.
yikes, just realized there are a lot of anti-V and FF people here LOL Whoops, looks like I’m in a minority. But I will say, nothing will ever compare to LOST!
I think you like LOST the most. Ridiculous.
Are you… insane?
I think maybe Moe’s gone dark.
Um…assuming you can hear anything after screaming from the top of the Empire State Building…after season one, Lost wasn’t able to hold its position as a ratings powerhouse. Remember when CBS bragged about Criminal Minds beating Lost in the ratings during the fall portion of season 3? That’s pretty much when the turning point happened. Since then, Lost hasn’t gone beyond 12 million. It’s not bad by all means, but it’s a far cry from the 18 mil it once possessed.
Take a breath there, Moe.
“Lost” is an aptly titled show. I couldn’t follow it at all!
Take a deep breath!!
I liked Lost in season 1, but in 2 season they lost me, I tryed to come back back…it so boring, they like a dog chasing its tale.
woh moe – dude, get a life!!
I think Moe was being facetious. At least, I hope so…
Amen! I so agree!! All of these mindless reality shows. Please!!! CSI…same bs every week. Lame. People who can’t appreciate intelligent shows like Lost and Fringe are just as lame as the shows they watch.
Oh God, toMoe, what an arrogant pr*ck you are. To many Lost and Fringe aren’t intelligent, they are all hype and style, with zero substance. Mysteries with zero or crap resolutions. Not saying CSI is the greatest show on earth…but lets not be snobs that provoke the rest of us to want to b*tch slap people like you, mmmkay?
Okay, Moe, I got you. I even agree, but please let go of the caps-lock next time ; ))
Happily ever after was Losts best episode in season 6 so far, and rabid watching fans are the future of TV. If you watch it on your iPad or wherever else, Lost created an example that others will try to follow. V tried very hard last week, and upped the ante this tuesday. I guess it will be over after only seven episodes with the season finale next week. FlashForward was an okay SF book, but had no chance at the hands of Brannan Braga, TVs most untalented guy ever.
But genre TV will not go away, after V and FF failed. Fringe has promise, and was renewed for anothe season. And then, the next Lost will come from somewhere we don’t expect…
I think Moe might be the smoke monster.
good god, lol….wow!
To Jon. I think you may be right about Moe.
I think you need to evaluate your life more if a TV show is that important to you…
Adam, that joke was stale in the fall of 2004. Just so you know.
Ignoring the crazy person and responding to Charles, you hit the nail on the head. I hate this headline and all the suggestions that the SciFi genre is dying, us fans aren’t saving it, when in reality, we aren’t supporting the shows because they are AWFUL! Sure, being in the SciFi genre certainly doesn’t help, but it’s not solely to blame for the ratings. So let’s get something straight: V and Flashforward aren’t failing because they’re SciFi shows, they’re failing because they are BAD shows.
Oh, and the superlong hiatus didn’t help matters either. But I think these two would have fizzled out anyway.
the superlong hiatus that so many of these fledling shows take is ridiculous. I heard Caprica won’t be back until October! I hope that is just a rumor but if it is true it is ridiculous. V is ok but again, the long break in midseason did it no favors.
Caprica’s season is done, so the next season may be October. That’s better than series like Dexter for instance, where I think it’ll be September before its back on.
Lost and BSG have us all spoiled. It’s difficult to enjoy shows with sub-par writing and acting like V and FlashForward. I suspect it may be some time before we have another show that measures up. Too bad the nets passed on Michelle Forbes’ Day One pilot from a few years back – I suspect it may just have inherited the throne.
You make another good point, Drake. When Scifi is done right, it can be fantastic. But when you don’t have a cohesive vision of your own or good writers, Scifi is bad. When it’s bad, sometimes it’s really really bad.
Yep, they both suck.
Did you try Defiyng Gravity?
No argument from me regarding V & FF – but NO serial can withstand long breaks and constant rescheduling (When you have to devote an entire episode to reminding viewers what the show is about [FF], you’ve been off the air too long)
Fringe is an excellent show – good writing/acting/production) – but extended breaks and murderous scheduling will kill it dead. Thursday @ 9 – why do they do this to their own shows? Why go head-to-head for a smaller piece of the pie? I’ll never understand it….
Yes, the countdown clock was an awful decision! Some executive should be demoted.
I love how the performance of V and Flash Forward are being seen as referendum on Sci-Fi on TV, rather than on how poor networks are at launching new shows.
They released these shows with a few meandering episodes then took a break and want to act like the fans failed rather the cocaine sniffing executives.
Networks have zero faith in their programming now. They kill good shows within weeks just because they don’t set the world on fire and then act like the consumer is to blame for not trusting them enough to invest in shows.
Why should we invest our time and dedicate hours of our lives to shows that will more than likely get killed, moved to another night, delayed and just plain ruined by the networks inability to tell good stories and not try to stretch a 10 episode season into a 24 episode season.
I think shows should move to a quarterly format. Give us a full, short season and then take time to craft another well thought out mini-season later.
Instead we get half filler episodes and half meaningful ones.
No one is winning here with the current format other than shit reality shows that survive because they always offer the reward of change each week. Every week you can guarantee someone will get kicked off and new drama will develop.
You just don’t get that on many scripted shows on the networks now.
Well said, Frank – i agree completely.
I was bored one day and on a whim decided to watch a couple of FlashForward episodes online. This was right after they went on hiatus, and they still had all the episodes on the ABC site. I ended up watching them all over one weekend.
While I have not become as attached to the characters as I have on Lost (I don’t find the leads particularly likable, which is a problem; my fav so far is Aaron who has a side-story, but is not part of the main storyline), I found the plot and pacing to be pretty engrossing, and I am looking forward to how everything plays out. This is actually opposite of how I felt about Lost’s time-travelling arc, where I really disliked the story direction, but stayed because I was invested in all the characters.
I really want to like V, as I loved the original. So I’m giving it a chance, even though it didn’t really grab me from the get go.
I don’t think V is too bad… not as boring as those drama’s on CBS… but i like sci-fi so maybe that’s why.. Flash Forward i don’t care
I love Flash Forward. Think it’s a wonderful idea. I watched the original V on SyFy last weekend and enjoyed it immensely in a nostalgic way. Don’t care about the new V. At all.
I agree – good SiFi or fantasy is great. Not crap like V or Flashforward or the even worse Legend of the Seeker (which should have been great based on the material they had to work with). Can’t stand Lost – I got lost trying to understand it, but can’t wait for HBO’s series of A Song of Ice and Fire – which luckily the author is involved in. With all the really fabulous material out there you’d think that the networks would be able to dream up great series, but apparently not! (Or maybe the authors don’t want their work distorted and destroyed.)
I forgot to add – thank heavens for Dr. Who and Torchwood!
I’m not a fan of any specific genre and I freaking love Lost. I watch V, FlashForward, and Fringe too. I wouldn’t watch these shows if they were bad so I totally disagree with tvgirl48. I also watch Doctor Who and Torchwood but they are simply cheesy light weight fluff. Still watchable but not as good as the others. So I don’t think you are being very honest amadeline. Your assessment is totally wrong!
Egad, the source material for LotS is some of the most gawdawful derivative garbage ever sold. If he hadn’t had Jordan’s ‘Wheel of Time’ to mine for characters/concepts, where would that right wing hack be? Goodkind’s writing is TRULY awful. As for Torchwood and Dr.Who being fluffy cheese….Say wha?? Russell T and Co produce some of the tightest scripts/productions on television! Guess there’s no accounting for taste…
Reality shows are SOFA KING WE TODD DID!!! TV shows these days are so embarrassing. Why can’t people appreciate shows that make us think. Granted, V isn’t at the top of my list…but it sure is a hell of a lot better than any reality show I’ve ever come across!
Amen to that. People insulting these shows and I don’t love V. I do enjoy Flashforward….LOVE LOST. But most of the problem I can see are these long hiatus’s they take. Same for Fringe what the heck was that. These long breaks are what are killing these shows. Keep them on a Mon/Tues/Wed..stop fighting for the thursday spots that is what is going wrong with Fringe it is an excellent show. And the moment we hear might be cancelled we quit watching..give shows a real chance you idiot network execs
Thank you Charles, that is just what I was going to say. GOOD sci-fi. I’ve tried both V (loved the original ’80s series) and Flashforward (love the IDEA of this show), but neither one holds my attention. Now, Fringe, on the other hand, is doing the genre proud!
These two shows kind of suck. Not only that, they teased the audience with a couple episodes and then went on hiatus for months. A strong, loved show like LOST or 24 or something might be able to pull that off, but not 2 new shows that aren’t very good to begin with. And right on Charles….that V countdown timer during LOST is pure BS.
You got it!!!
The problem is that “V” and “Flashforward” aren’t all that good, even though they appear to have many of the elements to be good, including excellent casts. I blame the conception of each series, and get the sense that thos who created “Flashforward” asked themselves how they could create a show that was just like “Lost” without actually being “Lost.” That’s a a weak way to begin a series, IMO, science fiction or not.
I agree. They thought up the premise and didn’t have any long term storyline.
Bad idea.
Mikey, the problem with Flashforward is not the lack of a long-term storyline. The show creators apparently plotted out the entire story for like the next five years. The problem is that the story they came up with was too complicated and epic and focused on plot over characters. Lost worked because it started out with the PEOPLE stuck on an island, then gradually made the story more epic AFTER the characters were established. Flashforward, on the other hand, has an epic story that steamrollers the undeveloped characters. Character is everything!
Agreed. They are trying to lure people who watch Lost, but it is not the same. Lost drew me in from the first episode. The Lost season’s had it’s highs and lows – but the Lost concept is original. I gave them a try, but I have no interest in watching V or Flashforward.
While “Flash Forward” hasn’t executed well at all, the premise is still strong enough that people should give it a chance. Sometimes it takes awhile for a series to find its groove…
the premise is strong and the acting is good the problem is that i don’t really care about any of the main characters…the soldier in afghanistan, the lesbian fbi girl – the fiance of john cho – are SO boring and ultimatley, i don’t really care what they saw in the future or what they are doing in the present.
you don’t care about them also bc the script is bad and the acting is week, and the direction doesnt know how to develop anything. last time i watched people just sad lines to reveal info,nothing was believable.
Same thing with V, my god, i swear special effects from Star trek in the 90s were better, it looks ridiculous…
I agree, Steve, that FlashForward has a strong premise. And I agree with LR that the acting is good! But I also really like some of the characters. Okay, I hate that babysitter, and don’t care for Sonya Walger’s character, but the rest are great. And I could watch John Cho and Dominic Monaghan all day… (The first because he’s funny and likable, and the second because he’s such an interesting actor!)
I don’t know. I guess I’m in the minority here because FlashForward is one of my favorite shows. And I like the characters in it–especially Bryce, Demetri and the girl who had a flashforward of being pregnant. I think people need to give it more of a chance.
Totally agree
Maybe off-topic… but what do people think about that upcoming show Happy Town? The previews look pretty good.
I will tune in.
It did look interesting, I’ll give it a shot
It reminds me of that murder-on-an-island show that was on CBS last summer.
Thinking of Harper’s Island? I loved that show, and still do. One of my favourite shows of all time.
yes – my guilty pleasure of last summer. I’m going to give it a try.
I thought of Harper’s Island, as well. IMHO, the show was OK, if you like camp (I eo. I laugh at the bad directing, writing and acting on ScyFy movies).. Many don’t, this I realize, and I respect their opinion. But I like the idea of a self contained series in one season. I’ll give this a shot, but as it seems to be horror based, I doubt it will succeed on a major network. Possibly cable, but not ABC, CBS, Fox or NBC.
I’m looking forward to it.
I’ll give it a chance.
im looking forward to happy town, it gives off a harpers island vibe in the commercials. and yeah im lame but i enjoyed it last summer
flashforward and v are just awful. i like scifi, i’ll watch almost anything to give it a chance, but these 2 shows are just unwatchable. ill support scifi shows, just not mediocre c grade ones. support awful shows(FF & V) or you’ll never see a good one(LOST) again is not a legit reason.
I love genre television, but agree with others that we want GOOD genre television. I love Lost and Fringe, but FlashForward is horrendous, and V is a bit of a mess. Networks can’t expect us to watch whatever crap they shovel out just to keep a genre alive.
Now fringe is a show that network screws up big time. Competitive slot doesn`t help nor does the network`s negligence. They have the best actor on TV on that show and don`t even bother to campaign him for Emmy? For shame!
Yes…Michael Emerson of lost…and I don’t know who plays the role of Dr. Bishop on Fringe…but WHAT and actor…AMAZING!!!
Lost and Fringe are waaaay overrated, and people watch those shows.
Thats right how dare ABC run that countdown clock the entire length of LOST. I guess the suits at ABC are that stupid. As for V itself well you just cant’t remake old shows time and again especially if the first one was a classic to begin with. What don’t anybody have an original idea anymore.
Punishing ABC for the counter? Yeah, that’s a great reason to let good shows leave the air. I actually enjoy V – and I REALLY like Flash Forward, which is hitting its stride right now imho. If they don’t survive I’ll be really bummed. The Flash Forward DVD cover design didn’t help – it looks like it’s got a giant disco ball on the front which is not the image you’re trying to protray to snag new viewers.
It is a good reason. They need to show the LOST fans some loyalty. Its not over yet, and us LOST fans deserve the best, V and Flashfoward are practically cast molds of LOST and they owe LOST alot. enough said
I’ve tried to get into Flashforward, but it just isn’t working for me. I missed last week’s episode and forgot to set the DVR; now I don’t even care what happened.
Disney channel had a 24-hour countdown clock to the beginning of “Good Luck, Charlie”. Having it during only one show seems quite mild.
I’m with you, Joblo. I’m a big fan of FlashForward too. I’ll be disappointed if it goes off the air.
The people who missed LOST last night really missed out.
True. SUCH a good episode!
Er, it was nice, but the whole idea of the sideways universe has become such a mess. They keep rebooting this show each season since they have no real plan. Now they are rebooting it mid-season?
They don’t reboot the show each season, but each season evolves from the previous one and has an overaching story and storytelling device. And the Sideways universe has been fascinating if you understand what’s going on.
I don’t have a DVR, so I don’t know much about how they work, but could that have something to do with low ratings numbers? Would that make a huge impact?
Agreed with others.
Watch old V and then new V. The old one had something the new one is lacking.
Sci-Fi TV is currently withering on the vine.
Thank goodness Doctor Who is back on BBC America soon. The Beeb knows how to make good sci-fi.
Yes, I liked the old V better.
The new V and FlashForward are both really bad, and I watched each hoping they would get better. I think it is that the heroes are FBI terrorism experts, and not scientists, which was the case in the original V and the book of FlashForward. Sci Fi has to have some science in it, not just cops and robbers.
I agree completely! I think it’s because the original V took its time introducing the characters so that we actually cared about them. The new one felt really rushed at the beginning and kind of aimless now.
I agree V could have been great but they drag out all the suspense to the point that it just becomes boring. You sit through almost 50 minutes and something happens in the last 2. It just doesn’t make it worth watching.
Honestly, I was willing to give V a chance- but I’m less than enthused with the new show runner. I know, hard to tell after only one episode, but the unbelievably cartooney CGI fangs for Anna killed it for me.
I’m so tired of the media pointing out that Lost’s ratings aren’t what they used to be. Guess what? People aren’t going to magically start re-watching the show at this late point! This show is too unusual and complicated to allow for that. Give the show props for what it is, what it achieved, and let us finish out the season without suffering through lame-brained observations about the ratings.
Not to mention it`ll kick butt on DVD where people can watch all seasons in a row and get better grip of complicated storylines.