It's a pretty bold prediction from the folks at Sci Fi Wire.With another 18% drop in viewership reported for this week's third episode, they're saying that next week's episode of V could very well be the show's last. Especially if it sees another double-digit percentage drop like this. Is that really possible?
Actually, it is. ABC has said they're bringing the series back in March 2010, after the Winter Olympics wrap up. But if the ratings continue to drop (early reports have the latest episode at about 9.3 million, way down from the 13.9 million that watched that premiere), it might make sense to cut their losses now. Long breaks haven't been kind to new series in the past. I can think of Invasion and Jericho as quick examples; why does it always seem to happen to genre shows?
The unique situation with V is that production had shut down after these episodes were made, and wasn't set to start up again until January 2010. So there are no episodes "in the can" or anything to keep ABC invested in the series. It would be all too easy to just pull the plug and be done with it, but should they?
Just a week ago, when V was drawing 10.6 million viewers, Sci Fi Wire was saying the show was fine, and would be in good shape if it could hold onto those figures. Is 9.3 million so far off the mark, or is it the precipitous drop that concerns them? Or maybe it's just that a headline like "V deathwatch" is sure to draw in readers.
ABC has already brought in a new showrunner in Scott Rosenbaum, indicative that they weren't all that pleased with the direction the series was going. Perhaps, if the viewership can level out here, or even if it drops again, ABC will still give Rosenbaum a chance to show what he can do. That break is going to be a problem, but if they can build the "second phase" of the V experience into an event the way they hyped the series premiere, it might just work.
There are elements of the new series that I really do like. It's certainly not a perfect show, but I think it deserves a chance beyond four episodes to see what it can do. I'd hate to see it go down in history as a series that didn't make it as far as the horrible V: The Series that came before it.
