It was not a bomb on the scale of FOX’s “Lone Star” or ABC’s “The Whole Truth,” but NBC’s “Undercovers” definitely failed to impress in its debut Wednesday.
The premiere scored a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating with 8.6 million viewers. While the viewership total was not terrible, the demo performance was disappointing, indicating an older skew than was expected and a general disinterest from younger viewers. No one was pegging “Undercovers” as a major hit, but there was definitely some internal hope that the marketing campaign and JJ Abrams backing would have spurred a higher premiere rating.
A two hour “Law & Order: SVU” followed with a 3.2 rating and 10.0 million viewers.
Over on CBS, new series “The Defenders” got off to a soft–but respectable–start in the 10PM timeslot. Its 2.9 rating with 12.1 million viewers made for a fine performance, although it was down from where “CSI: New York” opened last season. Granted, “CSI: NY” was slipping to around this level by season’s end, so if “The Defenders” can hold, it will be viewed as a successful launch.
How the debut of “Law & Order: Los Angeles” affects “Defenders” will also be a point of interest; it is not a scientific certainty that “LOLA” will perform identically to this week’s two-hour “SVU.”
Other CBS shows included “Survivor” (12.5 million viewers, 4.0) and “Criminal Minds” (14.1 million, 4.0). FOX devoted its evening to “Hell’s Kitchen” (6.6 million, 2.9).
I was VERY DISAPPOINTED with the new shows the networks announced this season. NOTHING new or exciting. It’s like the kids of past TV writers have taken over daddy’s job and have no fresh ideas of their own. Please, NO MORE spy, lawyer, CSI or Texas shows. We’re sick of them!! And are any women writing? Lone Star would have been more interesting if all the sex roles were reversed, i.e., conflicted FEMALE con woman with two HUSBANDS taking cues from con artist MOM to take over oil company. Women are the ones who tune into shows like Lone Star. We get bored watching the men have all the fun while the women just sit around waiting to get laid.
Is the woman sitting around in the undercovers? I think not.
I actually love undercovers. as an african american tired of stereotypical black shows like meet the browns or basically any other show staring african americans on the air, its refreshing to see a black couple that arent just walking, talking caricatures of themselves. i don’t like the opening credits or the scene changes but i like the characters personalities, the dynamic between the husband and wife, and the humor of the show. i think its great.
If Undercovers lasts 2 more episodes it will be a miracle.I coud have programmed NBC better than than rehash of Hart to Hart.Are the programmers at the network really that stupid?
I wasn’t sure whether “Undercoder” will be of my liking. However, since JJ Abrams was working on this project, I thought why not. The premier seemed to me like a softcore, comedy version of Alias. The two main characters were good looking and perhaps even sexy, but they fell short in the acting. It also bothered me that they used other peoples’ voices when speaking a foreign language, it was just OFF…FAKE…didn’t expect them to speak fluently but at least should have tried. I was hard to buy in the acting…changed channels after the first half of the premier.
I didn’t notice a dubbing of the voices when the main actors spoke in a foreign language. I do know that Boris Kodjoe was born and reared in Austria and is fluent in German, French, Spanish and English. I don’t know about Gugu Mbatha-Raw, other than she is English/South African.
I love this new show!
I really like Undercovers and hope it will not be cancelled.
I really like Undercovers and the actors. The Survivor on CBS is getting a bit old. I am switching to Undercovers and recording it when I can’t get home in time. Thumbs up to NBC and Undercovers.
Note: Wish they would have given Outlaw more time to develop a fan base, the show was good.
I like the Undercovers as well, please don’t cancel
I really like the show. Please don’t cancel it.
I love UNDERCOVERS, The WHOLE TRUTH and THE DEFENDERS. I have encouraged friends to watch. I loved thet were repeated on cable after the first week and had hoped that would continue. Network shows don’t stand a chance when they only give you one chance to see them.
We like OPTIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really like “Undercovers” tv series. It is exciting and refreshing to see lead African-American actors on a major network without the usual stereotypes. I want to see it continue on the air. I like the story lines and the other characters besides the two main characters. It’s a great ensemble. Keep it on the air. I look forward to watching it each week.
I love this show…Very refreshing and the cast is nice to look at.
Oh Yeah……and NBC is always quick to cancel the good show’s…
the Blooms are divorced and samatha goes back to ex-lover. steven is now available to romance various “james bond type” women. special episodes feature beautiful,luscious, charismatic icons e.g. iman, beyonce, tara, pam grier, beverly johnson, jasmine guy, etc. now he’s in competition to solve each spy job before his ex-wife & her lover. steven is a computer genious and his current tech side-kick is now an asset instead of a computer wiz who’s an annoying jerky liability. keep gerald mcraey – he’s gold.
I am furious that they canceled Undercovers. I really enjoyed this show and as usual NBC dropped the ball again. The are so worried about ratings those idiots put it up against Suvivor for heaven sakes. They will not be number one for a long time so they need to get a hold of themselves and start listening to viewers. I hope cable picks this up as usual I am done with NBC primetime. Nothing like CBS. They at least give a shows a break.
Undercover is canceled. DAMN I really like this show.