NBC's Trauma is dead, but Mercy continues to survive, at least for now. Is there any hope Mercy might not be canceled and instead be renewed for fall 2010?
Highly unlikely. Mercy's two latest episodes each scored only a 1.7 adults 18-49 rating and only in freak circumstances do networks renew hour long dramas with such low relative ratings.
Note: The X axis scale isn't the individual episode airdates, but instead the final day of each week the episode aired.
great show but im afraid it will get cancelled
Mercy is surely dead. I have no clue why NBC would pick it up except that it’s one of the few dramas they have and it was doing slightly better than Trauma. Now it’s doing worse than Trauma which is pathetic.
OFF WITH ITS HEAD!
Saveable. They turned around after the first episode, but I think that was too late. Maybe that can advertise it, and get that audience back.
NBC should be canceled. That would mean, the entire operation!
Dead. NBC will want to start over and I don’t see this being saved.
The CW need to be cancelled more. 8|
Eh…Though my first instinct is to agree it’s dead as I think more on it I’m leaning towards saveable. Two things…
1. There’s a limit to the number of new series NBC can develop. Since pretty much everything is falling flat they’ll have to hang on to a few shows.
2. It’s got to be cheap to make. They only have one cast member I even recognize from previous projects and Hospital sets are a dime a dozen in LA.
Given those factors I’m going to say “Saved by the Leno Rule” (which I am defining as a show that gets lousy ratings but still stays on the air because it can be produced for peanuts)
nahh, The CW is better off than NBC. The CW has MUCH lower expectations than NBC.. they set the bar lower and target a different audience. I’d say, all things factored in, NBC is in worse condition.. plus it looks even worse off because it was once on the top, which The CW has never been.. nor will it ever be.
P.S. Is Mercy cheaper than Leno to make? Given how much Jay is probably making and the fact that he’s doing 46 weeks per year (as opposed to Mercy’s 22) it might just be.
Tom, no. A full year of Leno may cost more than Mercy (though possibly not) but per hour, Leno is a fraction of the cost.
Networks, including NBC, have been known to renew shows even when the ratings suggest otherwise. As a function of RATINGS, “30 Rock” should never have survived the initial episode order of its first season, for example. NBC may see long-term potential in a show such as “Mercy” and give it a longer time to prove itself. Personally, I enjoy the show, look forward to new episodes and hope they’ll give it every chance to succeed.
Tom, there is no way Mercy is cheaper to make per episode then Leno. Also I don’t see why NBC would be limited on how much they can develop for next year, the only obstacle they have is how much they are willing to spend.
I think NBC needs to be bold and start with a clean slate. Cancel everything except The Office, 30 Rock, The Biggest Loser, and SVU. A move like that would bring attention to the network, and they badly need it. It would be a gamble, but if they are successful it can pay off big time.
NBC should started with a clean slate (i.e. canning everything, but the shows Tommy mentioned) this year, so I would not bank on them wising up in a hurry. This year they have tried reliable unoriginal drivel (Mercy) and reliable unoriginal drivel with special effects (Trauma). Next year they’ll probably renew crap like Heroes, P&R and Chuck again and supplement it with reliable unoriginal drivel with a huge star name and reliable unoriginal drivel with shaky cam and gratuitous sex scenes.
Either way you pin it, Mercy is toast.
@Julia & Tommy: I suspect you’re right on the “per episode” basis but I’m far from sure of it. Leno turned down an offer of $40 million a year from Sony (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/arts/television/27leno.html?pagewanted=print) meaning he has to be making around that much now. There’s no way the stars of Mercy are pulling in anywhere near that. Also Leno has to have a set writing team while dramas like Mercy can use freelancers. Leno has a multi-camera setup just like a drama would. And so on. Again, you might be right but I don’t think its a foregone conclusion.
@Tommy: On the amount of new shows being only limited by money you’re just wrong on that. Talk to any network exec and they’ll tell you there aren’t that many options available. There have even been articles about networks fighting to pickup various shows.
The bottom line is that a TV show takes a lot to create. Everything has to be in place before the network picks the show up and lining up producers, stars, backing etc… isn’t easy. So there are a lot of ideas out there and a lot of talent but getting from there to pitching a pilot to one of the networks is very hard and most don’t make it that far (which in turn places a limit on the shows available to the networks)
Conventional wisdom is that Leno’s show is costing NBC $100 million per season, or about $400,000/hour. That gets 46 weeks of new episodes per year.
Conventional wisdom for costs for a one hour broadcast drama are $2 million/hour, for a 22 episode season. I have no reason to believe that Mercy is noticeably cheaper than this.
Tom, dramas are not multi-cam shows. And multi-cam means cheaper than single-cams.
Is that a typo Bill? Because if Leno costs $100 million dollars a season, that is a lot more than 44 million.
Mercy is just a fantastic show. The best show this fall on any network (broadcast or cable). I really wish people would give it a chance. I hope NBC sees the possibility that such a show has, and renews it.
Then again, what do I know. I just watched the first episode of Dollhouse’s second season, and it was fantastic. I had delayed watching it because of all the bad press.
Middling ratings aside, does Mercy offer anything to suggest it could bring cache to the network like EMMY wins (30 Rock), even upscale viewers (30 Rock), or some water cooler discussions (The Office), or discussion boards (Parks and Recreation)? — No.
It’s a competently executed, but conventional hospital drama. NBC could better spend the money on something else.
0megaparticle, Mercy fills one hour a week. Leno fills 5. If you want to compare them, either divide Leno’s number by 5 or multiply Mercy’s by 5. Or just compare the per hour cost, which is $400k for Leno vs $2 mil for Mercy.