Sometimes it’s hard to tell if your favorite show has any real traction with the country at large. You love it, all the Twitter fans you tweet with during the show love it, and so it can feel like everyone loves it. But, often, that is just not the case. Well, Jane the Virgin fans might want to prepare themselves. The series just debuted to record low numbers for a season premiere on the CW.
The report, from Deadline, says that the Jane the Virgin's second season premiere debuted with numbers that tie it with the scripted premieres of now-canceled shows The Messengers and Cult. Last year the series opened with 1.61 million viewers, while this season saw it begin with 1.06 million people taking in the story. That might not seem like a big difference, but that's a 33% drop from the Season 1 opening to the Season 2 debut. It should also be noted that a new show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend started off the night with crazy low numbers, 930,000 viewers to be exact, and that might have hurt the show.
Jane the Virgin has been a breakout series for the CW. It opened to critical acclaim last year and lots of pre-show buzz, not just about the show in general, but especially about star Gina Rodriguez. The network, which leans toward young, science fiction and fantasy lovers, seemed to have finally scored a crossover hit that older (though not too old, they still want the 18-49 demographic to show up) people liked, and that good-old drama, comedy and nighttime soap opera fans could embrace. Rodriguez has been nominated for eight awards for her role as pregnant virgin Jane, and even won a Golden Globe for her portrayal.
The sophomore show revolves around Jane, a young woman with a job at a fancy hotel in Miami who dreams of being a superstar novelist. But Jane, who is, obviously, a virgin, becomes accidentally artificially inseminated with her former boyfriend’s sperm. And, she then has to live with the decision to keep the baby and all the wacky challenges and wild people that choice brings into her life.
As a fan, I can say the show really is a joy to watch. It’s absolutely perfect for anyone who loves a little (or, really, a lot) of outlandish consequences, madcap pregnant lady adventures, family strife and just plain old soap opera level twists. I tell you, some of the things that happen (and often punctuated by Jane’s wild flights of fancy, Ally McBeal style) are often so WTF that I feel like I’m watching an actual daytime soap. The only goofy soap plots that the show had stayed away from so far are demonic possession and or confrontation via an angry clone.
Jane the Virgin may be losing viewers, and it is possible that just won’t stop. But, if the show is canceled after the second season it will have been a hell of a ride.
Jane the Virgin airs every Monday at 9 p.m. ET on the CW.
