One new NBC show may need a miracle to not become the first cancelled show of the 2019-2020 season. The series in question is a freshman comedy with some major star power. It airs between outgoing comedy The Good Place and veteran crime drama Law & Order: SVU.
The show in jeopardy is the New York-set, Sunnyside, which stars Kal Penn as Garrett Modi. Garrett is a former New York City Councilman, whose career got abruptly ended when he was arrested for public intoxication. Afterward, he presses reset. He moves in with his sister and is hired by immigrants to help them fulfill their dream of becoming American citizens.
So far, two episodes of Sunnyside have aired, and sadly for the show, the ratings news has gone from bad to worse. Sunnyside’s series premiere garnered 1.773 million viewers and earned a 0.4 rating in the key 18-49 demo, per TV Series Finale.
To put Sunnyside’s ratings in context, let’s turn to NBC’s other new series, Bluff City Law. It got a 0.8 rating in the 18-49 demo. In total viewers, the freshman legal drama drew in 4.605 million. Sunnyside’s second episode slipped from its debut numbers. It drew 1.25 million viewers, down a tenth from the series premiere, per TVLine.
In the key demo, the news was not any better for Sunnyside. However, it was not far off from its debut, either. Episode 2 earned a 0.3 rating in the 18-49 demo. In comparison, a new episode of The Good Place brought in 2.1 million viewers and got a 0.6 rating. The Good Place is in its fourth and final season.
It has had time to build its viewership. Sunnyside is just getting started. In the age of valuing delayed viewership and other modes of watching, Sunnyside could keep from getting cancelled. Look at what happened with A.P. Bio. The NBC comedy got cancelled, but fans rallied for it to get saved.
In its second season, A.P. Bio's rating in the 18-49 demo did not go above a 0.5 rating. After airing what seemed to be its series finale, NBC reversed its decision, greenlighting a third season for NBCU’s streaming platform. The excellent news for Sunnyside is that it could theoretically land there as well if it gets cancelled.
Having The Good Place as a lead-in should continue to help Sunnyside. Anticipation for the series finale, which has been teased as being akin to Breaking Bad’s, should keep its numbers’ steady. As far as Sunnyside’s network future, only time will tell for sure. Hopefully, for fans, word of mouth can help bolster Sunnyside’s numbers enough for it to avoid cancellation.
New episodes of Sunnyside air Thursdays, at 9:30 ET, on NBC. The new series has been one of this fall’s premieres.
