ABC is having a rough start to the fall season thus far. Last week, the alphabet network cancelled the boring, un-Lucky 7 after only two episodes. The drama featuring a group of gas station workers betting together and hitting the jackpot lost almost half of its audience for the second episode. Lottery plots usually don't work on television. Seven years ago, NBC tried the model with Windfall. The forgotten about series only lasted 13 episodes. So what can CBS, FOX, and The CW learn from this experiment? Don't do lottery-themed shows. Period.
Now ABC is hitting a snag with another show, Betrayal. The freshman drama just aired its second episode last night and it barely registered with anyone...just barely 4 million viewers. The serial drama focuses on photographer Sara Hanley and corporate lawyer Jack McAllister. The two are unhappily married to other people and the attraction to each other is too much for them to handle, so they have an affair. Cue a boring murder trial and Sara finds her mistress (Can a man be a mistress?) defending the murder case against her legal eagle, prosecuting husband. Let the snooze fest continue.
While Scandal brought the network powerhouse ratings, repeating the adulterous affair model in a semi-political setting is certainly not. Betrayal immediately makes you want to root for the other side of the unhappily cheating couple. Let the revelation occur and close the chapter on this unmoving drama. If the show continues its ratings nose dive, there may not be a revelation as we predict that the network will shortly remove this dud from its Sunday night lineup.
The 10 pm Sunday time slot has been a difficult spot for ABC to fill in the past couple of years. Last year, supernatural-drama 666 Park Avenue was just a mess of a show that had trouble finding its footing. It was replaced mid-season by the intriguing yet poorly rated Red Widow. In 2011, the network aired Pan-Am and GCB in the same time slot. Both dramas generated a lot of buzz and fanfare but were ratings duds in the long-run. If ABC removes Betrayal from its lineup, it would have better luck with encore programming (a.k.a. reruns) than with another new show. Whatever the network decides, it needs to act fast! Sunday night staples Once Upon a Time and Revenge have declined in viewership this season, and with the return of cable stronghold The Walking Dead quickly approaching, ABC needs to pump some life into its lineup.
Stay Tuned is adding Betrayal to its Deathwatch list.
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