Cancellation Watch Breaking News: Cult Gets Moved to Fridays, Kiefer Sutherland Considers Life After Touch

Robert Knepper is none too happy about this move

The woes for the mid-season genre entries continue.  The CW has announced that new series Cult will be getting kicked to Friday nights at the 9 PM EST hour beginning on March 8th.  That's after the show has posted a consecutive 0.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic its first two weeks on the air.  That score barely counts as a ripple in the Nielsens and had this show on unsure footing from the start even though it airs on the fifth place broadcast network.  The CW has apparently decided to burn off the episodes produced for Cult's first season on Fridays and will almost certainly cancel the show at the end of the season.  Of course getting cast to Fridays hasn't necessarily been the kiss of death for shows of late, with Grimm doing quite well on on that night for NBC and Fringe sticking around for a couple of years there as well.  But with a poor lead-in from struggling Nikita, the network execs at The CW can't be under any illusion that Cult will perform any better on its new night.  I was hoping, with the show getting some pretty positive buzz (because it's actually quite good), that the network might give it a more of a chance by rescheduling it after one of their better rated shows.  It definitely couldn't do much worse than Beauty and the Beast in the post Vampire Diaries slot which has been losing over half of its lead-in's audience for most of the season.  But apparently The CW is not going to put much effort into trying to keep Cult alive, despite the fact that it looks like a promising show and has received more accolades thus far than Beauty and the Beast.  At least Cult will get to air out its full season, though, which is more than I believe we can expect from ABC's Zero Hour or FOX's Touch. And speaking of that latter show, NBC has announced that they have cast series star Kiefer Sutherland in theier crime-drama pilot The Black List, indicating that he probably doesn't have much faith in his current show.  Expect an announcement any day Touch and Zero Hour, likely that they will be getting yanked from the schedule.

And with Cult almost certainly on the way out, it has to make you wonder if there is now a Robert Knepper curse on genre shows akin to the Summer Glau curse.  He joined Heroes in its fourth season and the show got axed, Stargate:Universe in its second and it went under, and now Cult looks to get the boot.  What happens if we team up Knepper and Glau in the same series . . .

---

Why Were They Cancelled? 
The Plight of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television in the Face of the Unforgiving Nielsens and Networks

Ever wondered why your favorite science fiction and/or fantasy show disappeared from the television schedule, never to deliver anymore new episodes? The reason why, most likely, is that it was cancelled because its ratings were low. And this book looks at those many cancelled sci fi/fantasy shows as well as the Neilsen ratings and television networks that dictate their fates. Available now for only $2.99 on Kindle from Amazon.com.

Cancellation Watch: It Will Take More Than a Tiny Cult to Keep The CW's Cult Alive

Get the Quickest Updates on Sci Fi TV Ratings at the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site

CW mid-season entry Cult aired its second episode last night, pulling the same abysmally low numbers as the show's premiere last week.  It could only muster up a 0.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic with less than nine hundred thousand total viewers (based on the preliminaries).  That's lower than Syfy's Being Human (which pulled a 0.4 rating on Monday) and lower than the Canadian imports Lost Girl and Continuum that cable network airs.  Heck, that's probably lower than some repeats of Dora, The Explorer that aired on Tuesday.  The good news for Cult is that its numbers didn't drop with its second epsiode, but then it can't really fall too much lower (without going into negative numbers).  I discussed the prospects of Cult and the two other mid-season underperformers (Zero Hour and Touch) in my Monday column, and as I mentioned there Cult has the best chance of the three because it airs on fifth place network CW.  And in fact, that network has announced the finale date for the show (May 14th), so it looks like they plan on airing out all the show's episodes despite its low ratings, which is more than either Zero Hour or Touch can hope for.  But at this point, it seems very unlikely that Cult will continue beyond the current season.

FOX's The Following slipping a tick in the ratings on Monday as it posted a 2.8 rating in the 18-49 demo and 8.6 million total viewers.  But that's really nothing to worry about as this show halted the slide it was experiencing for a few weeks and is now back in very safe territory.  In fact, it is currently FOX's highest rated scripted show based on season averages, so its future (if not subject matter) looks pretty bright at this point.

ABC's Once Upon A Time was preempted on Sunday for the Oscars, so check back next week to see if it makes any progress towards pulling itself out of its current ratings slump.  Keep an eye on the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site for the early returns from the rest of this week's shows and you can see the Cancellation Alert status of all the shows currently airing plus the final results from prior seasons at my Cancellation Watch page.  And for questions on how the ratings work and my Cancellation Alert statuses, you can see the Cancellation Watch FAQ.

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2013 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.

---

Amazon Prime: Get Free 2-Day Shipping, Instant Access to Thousands of Kindle Books, and Free Streaming of Recent Sci Fi TV Shows Like These:
 

New in Comics: Guardians of the Galaxy Prequel, The Rocketeer, and More

A few choice selections from the comics due out February 27th:

Guardians Of Galaxy #0.1
Marvel

Description: Move over Avengers the Guardians got this. Star-Lord. Gamora. Drax. Rocket Raccoon. Groot. and the Invincible Iron Man?!

The Marvel Universe just got bigger as the legendary cosmic epic returns in the hands of superstar creators Brian Michael Bendis (Avengers, All-New X-Men) and Steve McNiven (Civil War; Old Man Logan). In this special prelude issue meet the man behind the Guardians: Star-Lord and discover how this child of Earth became the leader of the rag-taggiest of teams in all the Galaxy.

All setting the stage for next month's historic Guardians of the Galaxy #1. This is the start of something big, Marvel fans.

By: Brian Michael Bendis, Steve McNiven

Rocketeer Hollywood Horror #1
IDW Publishing

Description: You wanted more Rocketeer... and you've got it! Missing scientists! Plucky girl reporters! Betty and Cliff on the rocks! The mysterious Church of Cosmicism! And who is the sinister Otto Rune? Pulp thrills the way you like them as the Rocketeer comes up against a brand-new adversary in... 'The Hollywood Horror!'

By: Roger Langridge, Jason Bone, Walter Simonson

Last Zombie The End #1 (of 5)
Antarctic Press

Description: The explosive final chapter begins!

In the aftermath of Before the After's shocking cliffhanger, the team are imprisoned by a brutal despot, the last surviving member of pre-apocalypse Chicago's notorious political machine. Warner faces torture, Planters is on the run, and time is running out for everyone_especially Ian, who is succumbing to the zombie virus raging through his veins. 26 pages of undeath-defying thrills!

By: Brian Keene, David Hutchinson

Uncanny Skullkickers #1
Image Comics

Description: The UNCANNY SKULLKICKERS: Two hard-headed mercenaries kill monsters and cause havoc in their search for money, fame and adventure!

A bold new direction! A perfect jumping-on point! A newly added adjective! Our nineteeth issue, but also a new issue #1! It's all here, people! Don't make us use more exclamation marks!!

By: Jim Zub, Edwin Huang

More of This Week's Comics at This Link 

Cancellation Watch: How Long Before Zero Hour, Touch, and Cult Get Pulled from the Schedule?

Get the Quickest Updates on Sci Fi TV Ratings at the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site

NBC's mid-season genre entry Do No Harm already got pulled from the schedule because of its abysmal ratings after only two episodes (more on that at this link).  And since then, three other mid-season shows have bowed to pitiful numbers (Zero Hour on ABC, Touch on FOX, and Cult on The CW), so how quickly should we expect to see them yanked?

ABC's Zero Hour is the one I expect to go first.  It debuted--in the same brutal timeslot that killed last Fall's Last Resort--to only a 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic.  Then it sunk to a 1.1 rating this last week, getting beat by Vampire Diaries over on fifth place network CW.  I actually expected them to announce that the show would get pulled from the schedule on Friday, but there's been no word yet.  At best, I'm saying this one gets only one more episode before getting the boot and an announcement could come at any time.   On FOX, Touch returned for its second season (after having its premiere bounced around several times) and could only muster a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demo.  That's low for the Big Four broadcast networks even for a Friday night, and then it dropped further to a 0.7 this last week.  Sure, FOX stuck with Fringe for two plus seasons on Friday nights pulling low ratings, but that one was usually above a 1.0 score and it already had several seasons behind it and was just chugging up to the magic 88 plus number of episodes that the syndication market wants to see.  Touch only has a single season of thirteen episodes under its belt so far, so it's a long way away from an episode count that would interest the syndication market.  I don't expect this one to stick around for more than one or two more episodes either.

Of the three currently struggling mid-season entries, The CW's Cult has the best chance even though its debut last week barely registered in the Nielsens with only a 0.3 rating and less that a million total viewers (some basic cable airings that beat it that night include repeats of Seinfeld, Friends, The Nanny, and Drake & Josh).  Cult's only saving grace (apart from being a halfway decent show) is the fact that it airs on the fifth place network.  The CW may give it some time to find an audience, especially considering the fact that the show has received some positive word of mouth early on.  And they may also do what the Big Four almost never does, try and reschedule it to a different timeslot where it has a better chance.  Tuesdays have been a disaster for The CW of late anyway, so they have to understand the challenges that show faces with scheduling (but then this is networks execs we are talking about . . .).  Maybe they will bump underperforming Beauty and the Beast from its post-Vampire Diaries timeslot for a couple of weeks and see if Cult will do better there.  And even if they don't try rescheduling the show, it has a much better chance of airing out all of its episodes than either of the two mentioned above.  In any case, don't get attached to any of these shows, because they could be gone within the next couple of weeks and almost certainly by the end of the season.

Below are the full ratings results for last week's shows.  I already covered the early week shows in my previous mid-week column, and the numbers for the Wednesday through Friday entries are below.  And you can keep an eye on the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site for the early returns from Sunday thru Tuesday shows from this week.  You can see the Cancellation Alert status of all the shows currently airing plus the final results from prior seasons at my Cancellation Watch page.  And for questions on how the ratings work and my Cancellation Alert statuses, you can see the Cancellation Watch FAQ.

Ratings Results for the Week of Feb 17:
Once Upon A Time (ABC Sun 8 PM) Rating: 2.4 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
The Walking Dead (AMC Sun 9 PM) Rating: 5.6 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
The Following (FOX Mon 9 PM) Rating: 2.9 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
Being Human (Syfy Mon 9 PM) Rating: 0.5 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Low
Cult (CW Tue 9 PM) Rating: 0.3 | Trend: n/a | Cancellation Alert: Elevated
Arrow (CW Wed 8 PM) Rating: 0.9 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
The Neighbors (ABC Wed 9:30 PM) Rating: 1.9 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Supernatural (CW Wed 9 PM) Rating: 0.9 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Zero Hour (ABC Thu 8 PM) Rating: 1.1 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: High
Vampire Diaries (CW Thu 8 PM) Rating: 1.3 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
Person of Interest (CBS Thu 9 PM) Rating: 2.9 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Beauty and the Beast (CW Thu 9 PM) Rating: 0.5 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Nikita (CW Fri 8 PM) Rating: 0.3 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Touch (FOX Fri 9 PM) Rating: 0.7 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: High

Revolution and Grimm will resume in March. Lost Girl and Continuum not as heavily tied to U.S. ratings

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2013 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.

---

Why Were They Cancelled? 
The Plight of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television in the Face of the Unforgiving Nielsens and Networks

Ever wondered why your favorite science fiction and/or fantasy show disappeared from the television schedule, never to deliver anymore new episodes? The reason why, most likely, is that it was cancelled because its ratings were low. And this book looks at those many cancelled sci fi/fantasy shows as well as the Neilsen ratings and television networks that dictate their fates. Available now for only $2.99 on Kindle from Amazon.com.

Rare Sci Fi on DVD from Warner Archives: Starman The Complete Series, The Quatermass Xperiment, and More

Some Rare Cult Sci Fi and Fantasy on DVD from Warner Archives:

Starman: The Complete Series

In this TV follow-up to the feature film, the alien (Robert Hays, Airplane!) returns to Earth 14 years after his first visit. Taking on the identity of Paul Forrester, a dead freelance photographer, he succeeds in finding the son he fathered, Scott (Young Artist Award nominee Christopher Daniel Barnes, The Brady Bunch Movie), but learns that Scott and his mother have been separated. Together they search for her, but they’re hounded by a paranoid and malevolent government agent (Michael Cavanaugh, The Haunting). 5-Disc 22-Episode Collection. Newly remastered. 

Quatermass Xperiment, The (aka The Creeping Unknown)

Professor Bernard Quatermass is in charge of a manned rocket mission that has gone awry. They lost contact with the spaceship at one point and have no idea how far into space it may have traveled. When the rocket crash lands in a farmer's field they find that only one of the three occupants, Victor Carroon, is on board; the others have simply vanished. Slowly, the surviving astronaut begins to transform into a hideous creature and Quatermass realizes that Carroon may have been infected by an alien being. When Carroon escapes from the hospital with the help of his unsuspecting wife, the authorities race to destroy it before it multiplies. (IMDb.com)

Incredible Melting Man

Colonel Steve West arrives back from a trip to view the Earth from the rings of Saturn only to find that He's started melting.Distraught,He consoles himself by dining on the nearest nurse before running off into th woods to graze on the local populace.His best chum Dr Ted Nelson agonizes over Steves plight and the absence of any crackers in his house,a NASA General eats his last turkey leg.Steve eats a few more people including Teds lemon-scrumping in-laws.The local police shoot Ted for the hell of it,Steve melts into a pool of slop and is scraped off the floor.Atchka!  (IMDb.com)

Creatures The World Forgot

Set in the Stone Age, with almost no dialogue — people speak in grunts, a tribe of cavemen, specifically a pair of twin brothers, become rivals for the leadership of the tribe following the impact of a devastating earthquake.

More Rare Cult Sci Fi and Fantasy from Warner Archive at This Link



New on DVD from Amazon.com:


More New and Recent Releases from Amazon at This Link

Why Were They Cancelled? Do No Harm

NBC's mid-season series, the Jekyll and Hyde themed Do No Harm, came and went so quickly that the ten people who tuned in for this one and got attached to it must have been left saying "Wha happened?!"  And what happened is that the network just flat did not give this one a chance.  The show debuted on Thursday, January31st in the 10 PM EST hour pulling only a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 3.1 million total viewers.  That was the lowest in-season premiere ever for a scripted series on the Big Four broadcast networks.  And then it dropped even further the next week to only a 0.7 rating and 2.2 million total viewers, numbers barely acceptable to the fifth place network The CW.  So obviously this one was a ratings turkey which surely meant it wasn't a very good show and it made sense for the network to yank it, right?

Sorry.  Not buying that.

I watched the first episode and while it wasn't a ground-breaking show or anything to jump up and down about, it showed some potential.  I'd take it over ABC's horrid "sci fi" sitcom The Neighbors any day of the week (please cancel The Neighbors, please cancel The Neighbors . . .).  In fact, I found it more interesting than some other recent genre entries that are still on the air like Syfy's Being Human, ABC's Once Upon A Time (though I did like that one early on), and NBC's Revolution.  Do No Harm had some potential to grow into a decent series that could have explored some interesting moral conflicts related to duality of human nature (though the fact that it aired on the broadcast networks would most likely temper how far they would go with that).  However, NBC yanked the show before it ever had a chance.  In fact, they stacked the odds against it going in.

Do No Harm was scheduled in the Thursday 10 PM EST hour which the network has struggled with the last few years (last year's genre entry Awake died a slow death in that slot at mid-season).  And NBC's Thursday comedy block has been waning this year, offering Do No Harm only a tepid lead-in that didn't really share much in audience appeal.  The network execs had to understand that and should have tempered expectations.  The fact that the show tanked with its debut should have come as no surprise and I'd say that NBC's decision to axe it after two episodes was too much of a knee-jerk reaction.  If it failed in that slot, try moving it to a different time.  It would make a good companion show to that network's Grimm which has performed quite well of Friday nights.  Reschedule it to pair up with that one which appeals to a similar audience.  But to just give it the boot after two episodes seems like bad business.

Let's do the math on this one: this series had an order of the pilot episode plus eleven additional installments (cut back from the original twelve).  Let's figure a rough estimate of a cost of $4 million to produce the pilot and $2 million for each additional episode.   Let's assume they completed production of all twelve of those episodes, which I believe they would have because this one was a lock on the mid-season schedule since the beginning of the current season.  That's $26 million they sunk on this, and yet they just gave up on it after only two episodes which performed poorly in a known bad timeslot.  And we wonder why the broadcast networks are struggling these days?

The show did have several factors working against apart from its poor scheduling such as the lack of star power, a lack of audience awareness, strong timeslot competition from CBS and ABC (more on that at this link), but other shows have started out weak and then built into major genre contenders (need I mention Star Trek: The Next Generation?).  I didn't think Do No Harm was a particularly great show, but I would have continued to watch it for a few more episodes at least.  Now, myself and other genre fans don't have that option.

Can it be saved?  It didn't have enough time build a following, so I'd say almost assuredly no. They may end up burning off the episodes in Summer, but chances are that those won't garner much in the way of viewership.  Or they may air the rest of episodes online.  But in any case, the network stacked the odds against this one from the get go then gave up on it way too soon.  So don't come complaining to us that people aren't watching your shows when you don't even give them a chance.

For more about how the ratings work, how the networks rely on them, and the plight of other science fiction and fantasy shows that have been cancelled, check out:

Why Were They Cancelled? 
The Plight of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television in the Face of the Unforgiving Nielsens and Networks

Ever wondered why your favorite science fiction and/or fantasy show disappeared from the television schedule, never to deliver anymore new episodes? The reason why, most likely, is that it was cancelled because its ratings were low. And this book looks at those many cancelled sci fi/fantasy shows as well as the Neilsen ratings and television networks that dictate their fates. Available now for only $2.99 on Kindle from Amazon.com.

Cancellation Watch: The Following Rises, Cult Debut Barely Registers, and What's Up with Once Upon A Time?

Get the Quickest Updates on Sci Fi TV Ratings at the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site

FOX's The Following improved its numbers this week after starting on what looked like the same sort of death spiral that got Alcatraz cancelled last year (which aired in the same Monday 9 PM EST timeslot).  The Following rose to a 2.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 8.4 million total viewers.  That's up 21% from the 2.4 rating that the show sunk to last week, and perhaps it indicates a turnaround in the show's numbers which dropped in consecutive weeks since its second episode (similar to the trend that the J.J. Abrams produced Alcatraz followed last year).  As long as The Following stays at a 2.5 rating or higher, it should be safe.  If it sinks closer to a 2.0 score (which seems unlikely at this point), then it's starting to approach bubble territory.  Last year, Alcatraz had dropped below that 2.0 threshold by its fifth episode, so it should be a good sign for The Following that it has reversed its slide by that same point.  Keep a close eye on this one, but I believe it is quite safe for now.

Over on The CW, new series Cult debuted to disastrously low ratings last night as it only managed to pull a 0.3 rating with less than one million total viewers (based on the preliminaries).  Those are bad numbers even for a CW show (lower than Nikita!) and unfortunately this one follows the trend of poor debuts by genre mid-season entries so far in 2013.  But I'm not counting Cult as sure to be cancelled just yet.  The one thing it has going in it's favor right now is the fact that it airs on the fifth place network.  Despite the show's exceptionally poor bow, The CW may still give it a chance to build an audience (it's not like they have a ton of other shows waiting in the wings).  And hopefully they will try to adjust its scheduling and maybe move it to timeslot where it has a better chance of getting noticed (Tuesdays have been a disaster for the network this season), because based on the first episode this is a pretty good show.  I'm not completely writing this one off yet, but the odds are against it already. 

Over on ABC, Once Upon A Time saw a small increase in its numbers this past Sunday as it pulled a 2.4 rating in the 18-49 demo and 7.61 million total viewers.  That's up from the series low of a 2.2 rating it had the prior week, but not by much.  This show has suffered from some pretty major competition since returning from hiatus in January which included the NFL Playoffs, the Golden Globe Awards, and the Grammy's.  But this past Sunday, it was up against most of its usual timeslot competitors (though The Amazing Race did have its season premiere in the same hour), so I would have expected it to improve more.  It's still one of the higher rated Sunday shows, though, and we will see how its numbers track in the coming weeks.  But it's actually approaching a critical juncture as it wraps up its second season.  Typically when one of the broadcast networks renews a show for a third season, they are pretty much rubber-stamping it for a fourth.  Because three seasons gets a show to sixty six episodes while four takes it to the magic number of eighty eight which is what the syndication market prefers (and that's typically when a series really starts to turn a profit).  So if a network doesn't think a show has the steam to carry it for two more seasons after its second, they may go ahead and cut it loose instead of shelling out the money for another twenty two episodes then cancelling it and ending up with a product that's less appealing to the syndication market.  I'm not raising any red flags on Once Upon A Time just yet, but I have to say that its numbers have sunk low enough that there may be some cause for concern.  Fans of this show should definitely keep a close eye on the ratings in the coming weeks.

And over on AMC, The Walking Dead had another strong performance on Sunday night.  It dropped from its mid-season return numbers, but still pulled an amazing 5.6 rating in the 18-49 demo and over eleven million total viewers.  This one continues to deliver a runaway hit and has already been renewed for a fourth season.

Keep an eye on the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site for the early returns from the rest of this week's shows and you can see the Cancellation Alert status of all the shows currently airing plus the final results from prior seasons at my Cancellation Watch page.  And for questions on how the ratings work and my Cancellation Alert statuses, you can see the Cancellation Watch FAQ.

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2013 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.

---

Amazon Prime: Get Free 2-Day Shipping, Instant Access to Thousands of Kindle Books, and Free Streaming of Recent Sci Fi TV Shows Like These:
 

New in Comics: New G.I. Joe Ongoing, Hellraiser Dark Watch, Shadow Year One, and More

A few choice selections from the comics due out February 20th:

G.I. Joe #1
IDW Publishing

Description: YO JOE! The truth is out: the world knows the G.I. JOE team is real. Now Duke leads his squad directly into the public eye, confronting COBRA on American soil! The best of the best just got better, as Fred Van Lente and Steve Kurth lead the charge and we roll out one new G.I. Joe title a month for the next three months!

By: Fred Van Lente, Steve Kurth

Hellraiser Dark Watch #1
Boom! Studios

Description: The new era of Hellraiser begins!

As promised, Clive Barker did not only return to the Hellraiser universe, he re-imagined it. Nothing is as simple as it seems - the old ways have been destroyed and a dangerous new world lies in its wake. The Cenobites and their order are no longer hidden -- how does the world respond, knowing that Hell is real? Where are Elliott Spencer and Kirsty Cotton? Who will rule, and who will serve?

Rising star Brandon Seifert (WITCH DOCTOR, HELLRAISER: THE ROAD BELOW) joins forces with the legendary Clive Barker to begin this amazing new chapter in the history of one of horror's greatest franchises.

By: Clive Barker, Tom Garcia, Tim Bradstreet

Shadow Year One #1
Dynamite Entertainment

Description: THE SHADOW is a character that has lasted through decades on the pages of pulp magazines, over the radio airwaves, thru the silver screen, and in the panels of comic books. Shrouded in mystery, his origins have been explored and hinted at over the years but never fully revealed.

Much is known of Kent Allard/Lamont Cranston's years spent in the Orient and Central America-wherein he gains his powers and purpose but not how he first developed his persona as the Master of Darkness.

Eisner Award-winning author, Matt Wagner is joined by artist Wilfredo Torres in an exhilarating 8-issue limited series that will explore the dynamic events that first drew Cranston back to the States, how he first met his companion and lover, Margo Lane, how he began to assemble his vast network of agents and how he first adopted the famous black hat and cloak as his alter-ego's disguise-all secrets that, up until now only The Shadow knew!

By: Matt Wagner, Wilfredo Torres

Dejah Thoris & Green Men Of Mars #1 (of 4)
Dynamite Entertainment

Description: The princess of Helium is kidnapped and taken to the underground cave hideaway of the brutal rogue Thark, Voro, who threatens to destroy the recent peace between the red-skinned Heliumites and the green-skinned Tharks. But Voro doesn't want a ransom. He's a butcher. For Tharks who never lost their taste for red meat, common Helium women are always in demand, but the incomparable Dejah Thoris will be the rarest of delicacies.

By: Mark Rahner, Lui Antonio, Jay Anacleto



Vitriol The Hunter #1 (of 6)
IDW Publishing

Description: They own the night... they yearn for the day!

In this gothic sci-fi adventure, Billy Martin (guitarist of Good Charlotte) and Brent Allen bring a new grisly horror to life! As Basilika City's last great hope, Vitriol stands as the only force that can stop Lord Barthus and his heinous vampire regime from overtaking the city.

By: Billy Martin, Brent Allen

More of This Week's Comics at This Link 

Cancellation Watch: Zero Hour Stumbles With Its Debut Giving Us Likely Another Genre Show Headed for a Quick Exit

Get the Quickest Updates on Sci Fi TV Ratings at the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site

ABC's conspiracy series Zero Hour debuted this last Thursday and (surprise, surprise!) laid a big fat egg with the Nielsens.  Just as I had previously predicted, this show struggled mightily to find an audience in the highly competitive Thursday 8 PM EST timeslot that previously sank Last Resort.  Zero Hour's series premiere pulled only a 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 6.4 million total viewers.  Last Resort debuted in that hour last Fall with a 2.2 rating, and it was already in deep waters with those numbers.  It continued to sink throughout the Fall months and ABC announced the show's cancellation in late November.  With Zero Hour bowing to a score 36% lower than Last Resort's, I highly doubt that the network will wait as long before giving this one the axe.  It might last longer than the two airing's that NBC gave Do No Harm before yanking that one, but I don't see Zero Hour sticking around for too many more weeks.  Some may point out that last Thursday was Valentine's Day and that impacted viewership, and there is some truth to that.  But the TV by the Numbers guys pointed out that the overall numbers were only off by about 6% from the prior week, so it wasn't a huge impact.  Zero Hour needs to be averaging at least a full point higher than what it currently has for even a chance at survival, and it's a long ways off.  And the typical trend after a show's premiere is for the numbers to go down, so don't get attached to it, it will almost certainly be gone soon.

And speaking of numbers going down, NBC's Touch sunk even further with its second Season 2 episode.  That one only pulled a 0.7 rating and 2.5 million total viewers this last Friday.  Those are marginal numbers for a CW show (even on a Friday), let alone one of the Big 4 networks.  I've said before, I don't understand why they renewed this one in the first place, and it looks like my predictions of it not lasting past a second season will play out.  And with the extremely poor performance of the mid-season genre shows so far (even The Following is now on a slide), you have to wonder about the chances of Cult from The CW which has its bow tomorrow.  That's not a good night for that network anyway and viewers just don't seem to be too interested in any of the new entries the networks are offering.  I will have a report on it's debut numbers out on the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site around noon on Wednesday.

The rest of the mid to late week shows all performed at levels similar to where they were the prior week, though the Thursday shows did have a bit of dip because of Valentine's Day.  I covered the return of The Walking Dead plus the current woes of Once Upon A Time and The Following in my mid-week column last week.  And you can keep an eye on the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site for the early returns from Sunday thru Tuesday shows from this week.  You can see the Cancellation Alert status of all the shows currently airing plus the final results from prior seasons at my Cancellation Watch page.  And for questions on how the ratings work and my Cancellation Alert statuses, you can see the Cancellation Watch FAQ.

Ratings Results for the Week of Feb 10:
Once Upon A Time (ABC Sun 8 PM) Rating: 2.2 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
The Walking Dead (AMC Sun 9 PM) Rating: 6.1 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
The Following (FOX Mon 9 PM) Rating: 2.4 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Being Human (Syfy Mon 9 PM) Rating: 0.5 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Low
Arrow (CW Wed 8 PM) Rating: 1.1 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
The Neighbors (ABC Wed 9:30 PM) Rating: 1.7 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Supernatural (CW Wed 9 PM) Rating: 1.0 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Low
Zero Hour (ABC Thu 8 PM) Rating: 1.4 | Trend: n/a | Cancellation Alert: High
Vampire Diaries (CW Thu 8 PM) Rating: 1.0 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Person of Interest (CBS Thu 9 PM) Rating: 3.0 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Beauty and the Beast (CW Thu 9 PM) Rating: 0.5 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Nikita (CW Fri 8 PM) Rating: Preempted | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Touch (FOX Fri 9 PM) Rating: 0.7 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: High

Revolution and Grimm will resume in March. Lost Girl and Continuum not as heavily tied to U.S. ratings

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2013 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.

---

Why Were They Cancelled? 
The Plight of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television in the Face of the Unforgiving Nielsens and Networks

Ever wondered why your favorite science fiction and/or fantasy show disappeared from the television schedule, never to deliver anymore new episodes? The reason why, most likely, is that it was cancelled because its ratings were low. And this book looks at those many cancelled sci fi/fantasy shows as well as the Neilsen ratings and television networks that dictate their fates. Available now for only $2.99 on Kindle from Amazon.com.

New on DVD: Game of Thrones S2, BSG: Blood & Chrome, and More

DVDs and Blu-rays Due Out February 19th:


More New and Recent Releases at This Link

Cancellation Watch: The Walking Dead is Kicking Butt Again; Ratings Outlook Not so Rosey for Once Upon A Time, The Following, and Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome

AMC's The Walking Dead returned from its hiatus this last Sunday, and once again the show is blowing away the Nielsen ratings.  The latest episode pulled an astounding 6.1 rating in the all-important 18-49 demographic and 12.3 million total viewers.  That outpaces that show's previous high of a 5.8 rating , which itself was a record-breaker.  Who knows when this show will slow down at this point (though the mid-season return did seem to have the show treading water, so the numbers may drop a bit next week).  And you have to know that NBC and HBO are kicking themselves for having passed over this show several years ago (though certainly it would have had a very different tone--likely more like Revolution--if NBC had picked it up).

The other genre shows on television are currently looking (way) up at The Walking Dead these days as far as their ratings (and quality as well, for that matter).  And two in particular have had notable drops this week.  ABC's fairy tale series Once Upon A Time sunk to a series low on Sunday when it only pulled a 2.2 rating in the 18-49 demo and 7.1 million total viewers.  That show had to contend with the Grammy's over on CBS, though, and it has had a rough time of it lately having to compete against NFL playoffs, the Golden Globe Awards, and also taking a couple of weeks off.  It experienced a similar slump (though not as far) around this time last year, so we will see if it starts to edge up as it wraps up its current season over the next couple of months.

And FOX's The Following continued its ratings slide as this last Monday's episode pulled only a 2.4 rating and 7.8 million total viewers.  That's a considerable drop from the 3.3 score the show had for its premiere just a few weeks ago and has to be invoking flashbacks for fans and FOX execs to the ratings downfall of Alcatraz last season.  The Following is still performing relatively well for the network, though, as it improved on the numbers from its lead-in Bones on Monday.  It's still safe for now, but if it doesn't halt that slide soon, it could find itself in bubble territory very soon.

On Sunday night, Syfy gave Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome its television debut (it had previously aired online as a web series and hits DVD next week) though it didn't make any waves in the Nielsens.  The prequel movie didn't even make it into the Cable Top 100, so those holding out hope that the network might pick this up as an ongoing series (which was already a remote chance) can pretty much hang it up at this point.  From what I understand, the online viewing numbers weren't that spectacular to begin with, and the fact that its TV debut barely registered has to be yet one more nail in the coffin. As for Syfy's Monday shows, Being Human remained steady with a 0.5 rating and Canadian import Continuum managed to eke out a 0.3 rating.  Lost Girl (also borrowed from Canada) did not mange to make it into the Cable Top 100.

Keep an eye on the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site for the early returns from the rest of this week's shows and you can see the Cancellation Alert status of all the shows currently airing plus the final results from prior seasons at my Cancellation Watch page.  And for questions on how the ratings work and my Cancellation Alert statuses, you can see the Cancellation Watch FAQ.

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome Available on DVD and Blu-ray Feb 19th from Amazon.com:

New in Comics: Ghostbusters #1, Uncanny X-Men #1, and More

A few choice selections from the comics due out February 13th:

Ghostbusters #1
IDW

Description: The Ghostbusters are gone, spirited away by some dastardly demons from another dimension! But spectral shenanigans haven't ceased in the city that never sleeps, meaning a new group will need to step up and don the proton packs.

Will the New Ghostbusters be able to rescue their predecessors, or will they share the same fate?

The Ghostbusters creative super-team of Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening return to bust out more ectoplasmic excitement in this all-new Ghostbusters ongoing volume!

By: Erik Burnham, Dan Schoening

Uncanny X-Men #1
Marvel Comics

Description: The true flagship book of the X-Men returns. In the wake of the Phoenix, the world has changed and is torn on exactly what Cyclops and his team of X-Men are--visionary revolutionaries or dangerous terrorists?

Whatever the truth, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto, and Magik are out in the world gathering up new mutants and redefining the name UNCANNY X-MEN.

By: Brian Michael Bendis, Chris Bachalo

Powers Bureau #1
Marvel Comics

Description: A new chapter of the Eisner Award-winning POWERS that sends Deena Pilgrim into the big leagues!

Pilgrim is now a federal agent and dealing with the biggest powers cases in the entire country. But will this new life close the closet full of skeletons she carries with her? (Absolutely not!) And what does this mean for her old partner, Walker?

This is a bold game-changer for the iconic crime superhero comic that started it all and an amazing jumping-on point for new readers!

By: Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming

Red Sonja Unchained #1 (of 4)
Dynamite Entertainment

Description: Picking up where Peter V. Brett's Red Sonja: Blue one-shot left off, with Sonja fleeing the scene of a murder after killing a young man who tried to test her vow. Bereft of her signature chain-mail and the reputation that goes with it, she must rely on her wits and her sword as she embarks on a new series of adventures. Guilt-ridden, penniless and on the run, she is unaware that the innocent blood she spilled has awakened the dark spirit of the demon whose pelt she wears.

By: Peter Brett, Jack Jadson, Mel Rubi

Planet of the Apes Special #1
Boom! Studios

Description: Daryl Gregory returns to the PLANET OF THE APES in this epic over-sized issue, featuring fan-favorite artist Diego Barreto (IRREDEEMABLE)! Featuring 32 pages of new story and art!

When the Lawgiver, the revered ape leader, was assassinated by a human, Ape City fell into a vicious civil war. Ten years have passed since the horrific violence fell on Ape City and a fragile peace is finding footing. Voice Alaya, once the revered leader of the ape ruling class, has been deposed and awaits sentencing in Ape City's prison; meanwhile Sully, the exiled leader of the human resistance has begun to rally forces, both human and ape. Little do they know they're both on a collision course towards an even greater danger neither can even begin to imagine...

Called 'The best PLANET OF THE APES comic ever. And one of my favorite comics of the year, period.' by Jason Aaron (SCALPED, WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN), Daryl Gregory's epic continues!

By: Daryl Gregory, Diego Barreto, Marek Oleksicki


More of This Week's Comics at This Link 

Cancellation Watch Breaking News: The CW Renews Arrow, Supernatural, and Vampire Diaries

Get the Quickest Updates on Sci Fi TV Ratings at the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site

Apparently The CW is already in the early stages of trying to solidify their schedule for next year and today they announced the renewal of their three top rated shows, freshman Arrow and veterans Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries.  The announcement is not a major surprise as these are the best performing shows on the fifth place network, though I was thinking that they might let Supernatural go ahead and opt for retirement after eight seasons.  But the ratings for that show have actually improved this season after they paired it with Arrow on Wednesday nights.  And the latter series is considered a breakout hit (which isn't saying too much for The CW) which has received high praise from fans and critics (I've enjoyed it so far as well).  And of course Vampire Diaries is the network's top rated show (again, not saying too much) and plans are currently in the works for a spin-off series The Originals.  The network's two other genre shows, Beauty and the Beast and Nikita, have not received word about their futures yet, though.  The latter has a decent chance of getting a renewal--despite its low ratings--because it has a strong following internationally and one more season will get it to the 88 episode mark which makes it much more attractive to the syndication market (which is where most series finally start to show a profit).  Freshman Beauty and the Beast has struggled in the ratings and despite the fact that the network's boss claims it "has a very long run in front of it", I have to consider it a bubble show at best.  You also have to factor in that The CW is struggling to maintain an audience as it is, so there's actually no guarantee the network itself will survive into another season.  If it does, though, we know that Arrow, Supernatural, and Vampire Diaries will be on its schedule.

---

Amazon Prime: Get Free 2-Day Shipping, Instant Access to Thousands of Kindle Books, and Free Streaming of Recent Sci Fi TV Shows Like These:
 

Cancellation Watch: Do No Harm Yanked From Schedule, Touch Returns Critically Low

Get the Quickest Updates on Sci Fi TV Ratings at the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site

As I predicted on Friday over at the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site, NBC has pulled new series Do No Harm from their schedule after the second episode sunk even further than the first.  Last Thursdays airing of the Jekyll and Hyde show pulled only a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic and a paltry 2.2 million total viewers.  Those numbers might not keep a show alive on The CW, let alone one of the Big Four broadcast networks.  So by Friday afternoon, NBC announced that Do No Harm will be exiting their schedule.  Of course that probably seems like a pretty harsh move considering it had only aired two episodes, but after it had the lowest premiere ever for a Prime Time drama, then dropped even further the following week, I guess they figure why bother with it any more.  It's not a particularly bad show, I got around to watching the pilot and it showed some promise even if it was flawed.  But apparently scheduling, lack of star power, and what was deemed an unappealing concept all worked against (I'll be doing a full post mortem on the show in the next week or so).  I've seen no word on whether NBC will air out the remaining episodes, but it seems like they could do worse than giving it a second chance in the post-Grimm Friday 10 PM EST slot when that show returns next month.  Other than that, they might burn off the episodes in Summer or just make them available online.  There were twelve total episodes planned, though I'm not certain if they completed filming all of them.

Another genre show receiving bad news this last week was FOX's Touch which returned for its second season with some pretty poor numbers.  The Season 2 premiere on Friday pulled only a 1.0 rating and 3.8 million total viewers.  That's a long way from the 3.3 rating that the show debuted with last year, but not too far from the 1.3 score that it ended its season with.  And the low debut for its second season should come as no surprise based on its downward trend last year as well as the fact that FOX shuffled it all around the schedule this year before finally letting it out of the bag this past Friday.  Now some may point out that numbers similar to what Touch had with its Season 2 premiere were enough to win Fringe a renewal the last couple of seasons, but that was a much different situation.  That show already had several seasons under its belt and the Season 4 renewal gave it enough episodes for a syndication run with the Season 5 renewal padding that out (and from what I understand, Fringe's studio gave the show to FOX for next to nothing its last two seasons).  Touch is only just starting its second season after only having completed thirteen episodes so far (it was a mid-season replacement last year and it also had a "bonus" episode before the current season began).  And it also only has thirteen for this season, so it's a long, long way away from the magic number of 88 episodes that the syndication market looks for.  And almost certainly its ratings will only go down from hear because that's the trend we typically see.  None of this is surprising and it follows my predictions from before this season began.  Expect me to be writing a post mortem on this one as well before too long.

As for the rest of genre shows from the second half of last week, Arrow improved to a 1.0 rating as did Supernatural, and The Neighbors improved to a 1.7 rating.  On Thursday, Vampire Diaries slipped to a 1.1 rating and Beauty and the Beast sank back to a 0.6.  Person of Interest remained relatively strong with a 3.1 rating, and on Friday Nikita actually improved a bit to a 0.5 rating.

Keep an eye out later today or early tomorrow on the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site for the numbers from the return on The Walking Dead as well as Syfy's airing of Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome (which was already aired online as a web series).  You can see the Cancellation Alert status of all the shows currently airing plus the final results from prior seasons at my Cancellation Watch page.  And for questions on how the ratings work and my Cancellation Alert statuses, you can see the Cancellation Watch FAQ.

Ratings Results for the Week of Feb 3:
Once Upon A Time (ABC Sun 8 PM) Rating: Preempted | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
The Walking Dead (AMC Sun 9 PM) Rating: On Hiatus | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
The Following (FOX Mon 9 PM) Rating: 2.9 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Being Human (Syfy Mon 9 PM) Rating: 0.5 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Low
Arrow (CW Wed 8 PM) Rating: 1.0 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
The Neighbors (ABC Wed 9:30 PM) Rating: 1.7 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Supernatural (CW Wed 9 PM) Rating: 1.0 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
Vampire Diaries (CW Thu 8 PM) Rating: 1.1 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Person of Interest (CBS Thu 9 PM) Rating: 3.1 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Beauty and the Beast (CW Thu 9 PM) Rating: 0.6 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Do No Harm (NBC Thu 10 PM) Rating: 0.7 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Cancelled
Nikita (CW Fri 8 PM) Rating: 0.5 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Touch (FOX Fri 9 PM) Rating: 1.0 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: High

Revolution and Grimm will resume in March. Lost Girl and Continuum not as heavily tied to U.S. ratings

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

---

Why Were They Cancelled? 
The Plight of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television in the Face of the Unforgiving Nielsens and Networks

Ever wondered why your favorite science fiction and/or fantasy show disappeared from the television schedule, never to deliver anymore new episodes? The reason why, most likely, is that it was cancelled because its ratings were low. And this book looks at those many cancelled sci fi/fantasy shows as well as the Neilsen ratings and television networks that dictate their fates. Available now for only $2.99 on Kindle from Amazon.com.