Two cable shows delivered impressive premiere numbers for their respective networks: Syfy’s Being Human and Discovery Channel’s Flying Wild Alaska both spiked high for their first airings.
Philippe Bosse/Syfy
Flying Wild delivered 2.6 million viewers for its first episode at 9 p.m. on Friday and an even better 3.5 million for its second hour at 10 p.m. In some demos, this marks Discovery’s best series launch yet. By comparison, the premiere of another recent series, Gold Rush Alaska, opened with 2.9 million viewers.
Being Human had 2 million viewers Monday night, making it the network’s most-watched winter launch since 2005. If you add a couple repeat airings, the first episode reached a total of 3.8 million viewers. Syfy also points out the show has the network’s largest female audience since Warehouse 13 launched a couple years ago.
Being Human is a great show on BBC. The US version was very good last night. But only because it didn’t stray too far from the original format. Keep it up.
It was kind of late when I watched Being Human on DVR, so I shut it off in the middle, and haven’t finished it. I liked the beginning, but I found the actress playing the ghost hugely irritating, so hopefully I was just tired at the time and it won’t s uck.
Rob, unfortunately, you weren’t just tired. I liked the show but the actress playing the ghost was completely irriating & constantly overacted every scene.
Finally got around to watching it on Hulu yesterday… You weren’t the only one to find Sally annoying. And I love Annie in the original. She’s just grating.
I agree Sally plays the role with too much intensity. It was as if she was cast because she somewhat looked like Annie not because of her acting.
Yeah, I liked the pilot, but some of the acting was a bit overdone. The best actor is the werewolf, then the vampire. And some of the dialogue’s a bit awkward (some of the sister’s lines, “bobbsey twins” I think was also used)
I was disappointed that the Syfy’s Being Human was, for the most part, a scene-for-scene remake. I was hoping a different take, since most people who will watch the remake have seen the original.
I was worried but I think they did well with the remake and they introduced new characters and some altered plot lines.
That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. The first episode of the US version of The Office was basically a shot for shot remake, but then it went off and followed its own path. Ditto Life on Mars US. The pilot for the US version of The IT Crowd was also a shot for shot remake although it was never picked up so we’ll never know if they would have changed things up.
I doubt most people who watch have seen the original, given that only certain cable broadcasters even carry BBC programming and a limited amount at that. I’d love to see the original, but it would have to be via DVD.
I really enjoyed watching Being Human this morning On Demand. Actually had some LOL moments. I tried watching the British version and found it boring which is unusual. Now I have to tune in to find out what happens. Good job SyFy.
the acting on the British version is much better, but I was actually glad that SyFy didn’t totally twist the show beyond recognition. The guy playing the werewolf is actually decent. The girl playing the ghost is really annoying, and the guy playing the vampire is just flat. But since I really miss the British version, this one will suffice until I can get my “real” Being Human fix.
I AGREE 100 PER CENT!! I JUST LOVE THE BRITISH VERSION, AND I MISS IT, SO I WILL TRY TO WATCH THIS. THE GHOST IS ANNYOING AND ADIAN IS MUCH BETTER AND HOTTER IN THE UK VERSION
Why didn’t SyFy just purchase the British version of Being Human to show here? The Brit version is so much better!
A stale vampire and annoying ghost. But I agree the werewolf actor was good.
BBC America owns the rights to the original, and I’m sure they weren’t selling. SyFy did purchase the rights to the Canadian version, which is the one that is being credited as “theirs”, it’s actually a co-production between SyFy and Space. So it’s not completely SyFy’s fault if you don’t like it.
I thought Being Human got off to a slow but steady start. It definitely picked up at the end and I will be tuning in next week to find out what happens. That’s the point, I guess.
As for the ghost (was her name Sally?), I agree that she was annoying, but I also think that’s how her character is supposed to come off in the first few episodes. She just discovered that she’s not alone and now she has an outlet to rant about her feelings and her ghostliness. She hasn’t figured out how to control herself yet, but I think she will in future episodes. Give her some time.
i will decide after they do the neighborhood dinner episode. I liked how the british version went from poignant, to scary, to funny… these actors have their work cut out for them, but i actually like the ghost the best… lol
by the way, the werewolf also stole the show on the bbc america version.
The only thing that is better than the original BBC production is that the English is American, but not British and it is quite more understandable for foreigners like me
that’s my advice…
If you haven’t watched the original – do it
British shows do not transfer well to the US. Take Coupling for instance, it was a hilarious show here in the UK but was destroyed by it’s transition to the US screen. However, being from Blighty and having already watched the ‘real’ Being Human i’m quite impressed by the US version. The ghost is annoying though.
I need to see more of Sally before I can really judge her. I liked Josh, the werewolf boy, but I loved Aiden, the vampire, and I HATE vampires. I thought the actor was very expressive. There was a lot of emotion going on in his quiet scenes. The set up for the cliff hanger, I saw coming but seeing it coming actually made it worse when it happened. Will tune in next week for sure.
“Being Human” just continues SyFy’s transition away from SciFi, and into breezy fantasy fare. With the cancellation of “Caprica” and “Stargate Universe” (the first intelligent Stargate series…), it’s like the average IQ of SyFy series has dropped in half. It’s just sad. SciFi on television is now almost as bad as it was in the 70′s.
Did you even watch?
I don’t associate the quantity of skin and gore seen in just the first five minutes with breezy fantasy fare. I’m not taking exception to you disliking it but you make it out to be Twilight or the Vampire Diaries when it’s a whee bit darker and certainly more adult and gruesome.
I rather liked the the American Version of Being Human BECAUSE they moved the story along more quickly.
I love the Original Version on BBC however the US version introduced characters and plots in the VERY 1st EPISODE which the original didn’t until much later.
Like the whole Vampire Secret Society along with it’s sociopathic leader.
I’m looking forward to watching the US Version to see were it varies.
I hope they do change it up somewhat.I don’t want to watch an EXACT duplicate of the BBC version. That would be BORING !
As far as the actors go I do like the BBC ghost much better.
Syfy has gotten off to a pretty good start! I’m fortunate enough to have watched the UK version even though it has been a while since I saw the UK pilot so it didn’t feel as weird as I thought it would. The UK version was great but I have to say season 3 was very very disappointing. Syfy has a real opportunity because UK season is only 6 episodes while Syfy is around 15-20 episodes a season. Coming from Canada, I`m used to the US season length so I was always really disappointed when the UK show would be over after only 6 episodes! I think it will be impossible for the US version to copy the UK one for this reason. They’d be out of story lines by episode 15.
I`m undecided on US Aidan. I just hope he develops more of the same endearing sense of humor as UK Aidan. It helped to differentiate him from all the other countless vampires on TV. I’m already feeling optimistic about Josh because while George was funny he was also very annoying sometimes. And nobody could ever replace my undying love for Annie!! US shows tend to suck the personalities out of female characters so fingers crossed Sally gets better!