Image Credit: Michael Desmond/ABCThe series finale of FlashForward went out with a whimper on Thursday: The last of the two-part goodbye only averaged 4.95 million viewers and attracted a 1.3 rating/5 share among adults 18-49 — matching its lowest ratings to date and dropping 41 percent from its season average. The night belonged to Fox, which premiered the seventh season of So You Think You Can Dance. The competition posted a 3.0/10 among adults 18-49 and averaged 8.2 million viewers.
Fox won the night in viewers and the key demographics. CBS aired repeats while NBC bowed the new comedy 100 Questions, which only averaged a 0.8/3 and 2.52 million viewers. At 9 p.m, ABC aired the special Hollywood Salutes Matt Damon: An American Cinematheque Tribute, which earned a 0.8/2 in adults 18-49 and averaged 3.34 million.
For more on FlashForward finale:
FlashForward finale: Did advance planning do more harm than good for show?
Too bad for FlashForward because it was a good finale. I wish the series had been given one more year. Another victim of the long winter hiatus.
I agree. I thought it was a good finale too. Only wish I could see what happened next! I wonder if ratings were down since people knew it was no more. When it was filmed, I don’t think they knew there wasn’t going to be a second season, otherwise, you think they might’ve tightened up a few loose ends?
I gave up on the show once it looked like it was going to be cancelled. Now that ABC has a history of killing shows before they can get rolling, I’ll probably never invest myself again now that Lost is gone. Loved Lost!
I think they knew it was coming to an end because at one point they skipped all that time up to where Dimitri was going to die. You could tell that they wanted to get up to D-day in case it did not get picked up. However in the hopes that someone would see the potential the shows has they left it pretty open ended so someone would pick it up. My guess is they would have ended season one around when Dimitri was going to die. But in the end all the flashforwards made sense.
They never knew it was coming until may 14th – on May 20th they aired repeated commercials which stated that it would be the shows “Season” NOT “series” finale. Ergo, why it’s a cliffhanger ending. Which is a shame, it was a quality show.
This type of show should always come with an alternative, just-in-case final episode for each season that wraps up most of the loose ends and explains the main mystery. I know it would be extremely difficult to pull off, but at least it would leave the fans of the show with a better sense of closure. Flashforward wasn’t too bad. We knew there was some group that conspired to create the flashforward, and that the conspirators were trying to use the flashforwards for their own gain. More details about it all would no doubt have surfaced in later seasons but, as much as I loved Lost, this show did a much better job of explaining its mysteries and introducing minor new ones as it went along, instead of painting itself into a corner by piling on question after question that can only be explained with “suspend your disbelief, or else.”
I hope some other Tv channel do flashforward… i dont know why it got such low rating … its a great show ever..
read the book, it’s probably better anyway.
Me too chattypatra. I really loved FlashForward.
it WAS a good finale!! how can you expect ratings to be UP when you announce the show is cancelled?? So stupid. Cancel V – bring this back!!
V stinks bring back FlashFoward I started watching it on hulu loved so much I watched all the episodes in two days, if they had put it on a different night it would have done a whole lot better.
I didn’t like it at all..it fizzled alright…V is soooo much better. That woman who plays Anna is creeepy!!!
I agree. Killing Flash Forward is stupid.
They’re lizards. What more do you need to know?
This show sucked. Good riddance. Terrible acting by Fiennes and no chemistry between him and Walger. Dmitri was a poor character as well. V is no better and should have been canceled too.
100% I agree with you.
V is for dummies on pot
hey-
im a dummy on pot and i cant stand v
At least Keiko and Bryce are together and Dmitri is alive — those were the stories I cared most about. I enjoyed the finale. Goodbye, ABC…
Yeah, I wonder… did the long hiatus and the fact that three weeks ago the news broke about FF being canceled have anything to do with people not watching? Being sarcastic FYI.
You hit the nail on the head, Joe. That’s exactly why I’ve fallen behind in watching FF episodes. I do plan to catch up and finish watching the season online sometime, but I didn’t tune in live because ABC already gave up on the show. ABC is building a terrible reputation of axing its best shows. V is all right (it was better before the hiatus), and FF is pretty good (but it improved after the hiatus – minus the Aaron/daughter storyline). What a shame.
FF suffered from several LOST issues. First, it wasn’t as good. Secondly, there is backlash against Serial Drama (also thank Heroes). Thirdly, there are only so many shows that can gather the kind of commitment required.
Blacklash against Serial Drama? Why would people do that? After CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, NCIS, NCIS: LA, The Mentalist, Law & Order x 3….people should’ve backlashed against procedural dramas years ago. A serial drama gets hurt because viewers typically have to pay attention to what is going on more often, and there are too many people who just want their ‘quick fix’.
I wish the show never aired. ABC has a history of putting shows on the air only to take it away from us….The Middleman, Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Defying Gravity…and I have been reading alot lately of an Alias reboot…I loved that show, but come on! Is ABC really that desperate for Lost/Alias. We want a Happy Days remake….come on…it would be so poetic….”
I loved Alias, but now for sexy spies I’ve got Chuck!
I felt the same way about “Invasion” when it was on ABC four years ago. It started out strong, but it fell victim to ABC’s erratic scheduling. It, too, ended on a cliff-hanger. Thank goodness the DVDs are available. ABC has ruined more good shows because of their ding-dong scheduling than I can count.
I feel the same way. V’s season finale was pretty awesome also but if I had to choose I’d pick flash forward. Someone should pick it up. And they should make more episodes as packed. The problem for me sometimes is that the story line moved really really slow
I agree, It was a great finale.
It is sad that the show got such raw deal. By splitting the season and putting it on hiatus the network ensured the doom of the show. The momentum was lost before it had a chance. The audience got the hint it was on the chopping block and left. Then by canceling it before the finale most viewers turned to other shows. Why get emotionally invested in a show that was canceled.
It was an original show with a great premise ~ sad it was cut down before it had a chance to shine
i am pissed
I’m confused by some of the viewer comments. What erratic scheduling did “Flash Forward” face? It was on Thursdays. Everyone here on the EW board that is praising this show managed to successfully find it on television and cared enough to continue watching it. A hiatus isn’t an excuse. The show had a big audience for its premiere but gradually lost its viewers before the hiatus. A couple weeks before it returned in spring, ABC put out several commercials promoting its return. Loyal followers such as yourselves returned. Programming can’t be faulted here. The show just didn’t appeal to everyone and/or wasn’t exciting enough to those millions who tuned in to the first episode.
Hey it’s PENNY! If I had known that Penny (of Penny and Desmond from LOST) was in FF I might have watched it
yea charlie from lost was also in it, definitely not as good as lost but was ok show
They should have hired Josh Holloway and definitely Michael Emerson.
I really hope Josh Holloway shows up on V next year.
I loved this show…overall good finale..will miss it..maybe syfy will pick it up but at this point that’s just wishful thinking. I agree with Chattypatra these long winter hiatus’ hurt more than they help.
It’s not the winter hiatus that hurt the show, it’s the fact that it just wasn’t very good.
Yeah. It wasn’t doing that well in the ratings before the hiatus. Granted, it didn’t help matters much. But I doubt the show would be going strong even if the hiatus didn’t happen. Not the show’s fault, the networks expectations were too high. ABC needs to realize, the success of Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Greys Anatomy was a fluke. There will prob not be a year like that one – with three shows one the same channel becoming big hits in their first year – for a looong time. Nurture shows and let them build up over time.
Exactly. Well stated, Andy.
It’s a combination of both the hiatus and the quality. I watched the first portion but stuck with it until the return. I watched the first one after the hiatus and realized that the time I spent not watching it made what little interest I had for the series apparent.
What would you expect, the show was cancelled, why bother watching the ‘ending’, which was really not an ending. The decent story is left hanging, never to be answered. ABC would have been better off cancelling V instead.
We liked Flashforward, then lost track of it when they brought it back from the winter and switched nights. Once we missed that first episode, we never went back to it. We definitely weren’t going to watch the finale after they announced it was canceled. Networks need to stop taking the winters off. Do shorter “mini-seasons” like HBO and Showtime. It makes much more sense, especially for shows that require continuity.
It didn’t switch nights. It had the same 8 p.m. Thursday time slot all season long.
I did the same thing. I was really into it in the beginning, but after the break I just couldn’t get back into it. I even considered getting caught up just to catch the finale but why bother? It was canceled anyways and watching would probably have just left me wanting more.
Me, too. But for me, it suffered in a direct comparison to Lost. When Lost wasn’t on, could trick myself into thinking it was better than it was. When Lost returned, I stopped watching FF.
yeah, seriously. i really liked the show alot, and am bummed its been cancelled. I stopped watching when I heard it had been cancelled. why bother watching it esp since i assumed they wouldn’t tie up loose ends. Did they? Is it worth watching?
They tied it up as much as they could as the producers knew the show may not survive beyond one season. The finale was actually really good and left this viewer wishing there was another season to look forward to.
The finale was really good and I’m disappointed that it isn’t getting renewed, but I can’t blame people for not watching it. What is the point since the show got cancelled?! I hope we at least get a wrap up for the show!
so you don’t want to watch the actual show but you want a wrap up? wow…
flashforward didn’t change nights; it’s always been a thursday @ 8 show, which is one of abc’s highest rated nights. v has consistently rated way higher than the show, so canceling it over flashforward would have been ridiculous. i’m sure abc doesn’t care about the ratings since cancellation, but it makes no sense to me why you stop watching when it gets cancelled. why don’t you want to see how it ends if you’ve invested so much time in it?
Because we did not find out how it ends, we fine out there a other flashforward which a tons more question. Personnally I wish I did not watch the final, then I would not be so disappointed that they cancelled it.
I loved the premise of this show and thought there was great potential. I stopped watching after 4 episodes because it was going nowhere and just wasn’t compelling and started watching again when Simon appeared and the pace picked up.
The show was decent, but could have been better. I felt the casting was off, but the show did well internationally.
The novel FF is based on is totally different from the show and won’t get a resolve but is worth a read especially if you like sci fi but then if you like sci fi, you probably read it already.
What is the name of the book? I really enjoyed FF and was sad to see it end. I wathched the finale anyway even though it was going to end. It was very good; I was on the edge of my seat
Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer. Great book.
Yeah, the book’s nothing like the show but it’s still great.
Personally, I thought that while the show had an extremely neat basis/concept, over all it was another collossal screw up from ABC.
1. This was a hour long show that had 35 minutes of new material every week. The first 5 minutes was the worst out of sequence recap one could put together.
2. The 21 episodes went nowhere week after week and really only had enough material to fill 10 episodes.
3. The show was nothing but scene jumps that basically went nowhere. Soap opera’s move at the speed of light compared to this show.
Like Lost, the writers crippled this show.
I live in england and I really love this show, In England we have mini series for everything and it helps keep the show fresh but we sometimes have to wait to long for shows to return, can’t wait till Monday wen the finale airs but hiatus killed some viewers here as well
This show is a case study for wasted potential. If it had been centered on anyone but Mark, maybe it would’ve connected better with an audience.
FlashForward was much better than Lost…at least you could follow the plot! And as for V, send the aliens back and get it over with. Anyone else feel left hanging about the FlashForward kangaroo?
Yes, in the very beginning they told us to watch for the kangaroo.
I saw him, but did not get any significance.
I loved the show. I wish they would have had a second season, but if people are not interested in the show I can’t blame them. You win some, you lose some.
Hello! This was the second season!
What? Shaft, FF has only had one season. It did not get renewed for a second season.
You think there were two seasons because the first season was shown in two parts, one before the Olympics and one after, which didn’t help the ratings at all.
I found the characters boring, so I stopped watching it. If you don’t write compelling characters, it doesn’t matter how good the actors or story is.
Benford, okay, but Dmitri and Janice were very interesting characters.
I agree–the only characters I really cared about were Dimitri Bryce and Keiko. And maybe Lloyd’s son. Benford was a tool!