Ratings News – “Bionic Nears Cancellation”..apparently

15 Nov, 2007

According to Syfy Portal Bionic is now on ‘life support’ after it produced an average showing in this weeks ratings:

The NBC remake which was supposed to lead the network’s fall schedule could be a casualty by the end of the year after Wednesday’s outing pulled in a 4.0 rating/7 share, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research. It beat only “Gossip Girl” on The CW, and was pounded by “Criminal Minds” on CBS, “Private Practice” on ABC, and even “Kitchen Nightmares” on Fox.

The rating also was slightly lower than the 4.1/6 “Journeyman” got as a “Heroes” lead-out on Monday, and helped to drag down what was already a weak Wednesday schedule.

“Bionic Woman” seems to be on life support right now, and it’s not helping its cause by losing more and more viewers each week while other shows have stabilized — including “Heroes” which has disappointed fans so far this year. Time will tell how much longer NBC leaves the show on its schedule.

Fast Nationals usually provide a snapshot of what Americans are watching by pulling numbers from the top urban markets that includes both live viewing and same-day timeshifted viewing. A rating point generally represents more than 1.1 million households while the share indicates the percentage of televisions turned on that was tuned to the specific program. These numbers typically shift when final ratings are issued.

Hmm..seems fairly ’stable’ to me, considering last week was 4.1/6 – I think I’ll await the final ratings before getting too hysterical, thank you very much. Obviously the show needs to be gaining viewers but things are just starting to look good under Jason Cahill. All is not lost.

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Jim said in 11-16-2007 @ 05:44:11

I wrote the following in the watchingbionicwoman.com blog, regarding an LA Times article that called for “more action and less Beca” on the BW:

“I could not get access to that LA Times article, but I agree with it wholeheartedly if your summary is accurate; MORE ACTION! We need to cut down big time on the romantic and familial love angles, and focus much more on JAMIE SOMMERS KICKING ASS!! That felt good to get off my chest. We need to see Jamie “showing off” her bionics a little, show some attitude, intimidate some men, we need some real GIRL POWER, and we need it now to salvage this show!”

Well, I agree with our host that this last episode showed some signs in this direction and I will join him in holding out hope. I just pray it is not too little, too late.

Jim said in 11-16-2007 @ 05:52:41

I meant to add one more thing. I recall seeing an interview with Michelle Ryan as the series got started. She suggested that what she was most interested was Jamie as a woman, a “real person”, and admitted that the show could turn into something far out or unreal, and she was pretty firm about keeping it “real”. Linking this to my comments above, I fear perhaps the show has emphasized the human too much, and left out the surreal, which makes show about bionic people unique. I am suggesting we need more balance.

Page 48 said in 11-16-2007 @ 18:28:24

I’m with Jim (and the LA Times, apparently). Less is more when it comes to Becca and the Boyfriend. More focus on the business end of the show, less on adventures in babysitting. Sydney Bristow had Will and Francie, but they weren’t just bumps on a log, like Becca, they were involved in the plot, in Will’s case, heavily involved. Becca is NOT involved in anything. Send her to college or boot camp or whatever.

I also hope that changes are made BEFORE it’s too late. The show is improving, there is lots of work to do yet, but will it get done in time?

Roco said in 11-17-2007 @ 02:50:52

I like Becca but you both make good points. Page48, it’s true that they need to involve Becca in the main plot and not have her seperate from the Burket element on the show. I always thought the plan was to use her ‘hacking’ skills as a way of concentrating the main plot, but so far it doesn’t seem that way. Jim, you make a good point about the ‘realness’ of the show. It’s true that they seem to be forgetting that BW is afterall a sci-fi show and that it’s possible to intergrate ‘gritty reality’ with ‘fantasy’. So far they haven’t maximised the science fiction element that this show begs for. All of this suggests that the show lacks a true ‘identity’, as a result it has been a bit inconsistent. I hope the writers are reading feedbac such as this, because it’s clear that with more action, tighter/intergrated storylines, better usage of characters, more gloss, less floss (lovey dovey relationships) the show could be a major hit. Don’t get me wrong, I like Tom and Jaime, but it’s just too ‘forced’.

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