Comments on: Sunday Ratings: Fox Repeats Win; No Magic For Merlin Premiere

By: Jamie

Jamie — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:55:56 +0000

Merlin is a fantastic show, IMHO, as evidenced by it’s HUGE success in the UK and other countries after airing on BBC last year. It’s too bad that it probably won’t be appreciated here in the U.S.–these ratings are really disappointing.

By: Ike

Ike — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:11:43 +0000

I liked the premiere of Merlin. Its ratings, though low, were a bit better than I expected. It was #2 in the demo for much of the time that it aired. That’s not bad, considering that it probably got virtually no promotion. Compare it against the numbers for Kings, or other shows being burned off on Saturdays, and it looks pretty decent so far.

Full episodes are on NBC.com now too (presumably geo-locked so that only U.S. viewers can watch). I had to go there to see the last 10 minutes of the second episode because of the golf overrun.

By: Dee

Dee — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:18:49 +0000

SLP and Shelly I felt the same way. I felt it resembled the first season of Smallville and I personally feel it would have done better on the CW.

Since the premiere I watched all of season 1 over the internet (all episodes already aired in England) I think it was witty and thoroughly enjoy fantasy plots.

Can’t wait for Season 2!

By: V. Sgroi

V. Sgroi — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:07:24 +0000

I must be one of the oddball TV viewers; I enjoyed Merlin. It wasn’t the greatest thing I’ve ever seen but it was watchable. And I also like The Listener.

By: Brian D

Brian D — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:30:22 +0000

Merlin is a niche show and these shows don’t survive on major networks. Had this show been put on the SciFi channel I bet the numbers would have been decent. I saw the season of it and it was decent but once again it’s a niche show like BSG and many others. Most niche shows don’t last a full season on major networks.

By: RR Ryan

RR Ryan — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:30:47 +0000

Rick-you may have a point. Producers may have given up on NBC. And Silverman. I’m the first to admit that there are enough Law and Order spinoffs, but Trial by Jury was in my opinion(and my boyfriend agrees, which almost never happens) the best of the lot, including the original. I understand that Bebe was having physical problems, but for crying out loud, give it a chance.

By: JeffC

JeffC — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:24:30 +0000

Lisa, its not a question of “Why don’t Americans like good shows?” Its a question of “why don’t shows which do well everywhere else do well in the United States?” Frankly, the existence of three CSIs, Wipeout, Jon and Kate, and the Bachelor show that it’s not related to audience sophistication.

I’ve always been curious as to what factors make a show do well, and doubt that the content matters all that much, at least for scripted fare. Canada and the U.S. have similar cultures, but Arrested Development was a ratings success in Canada (which led to it getting a twice a day syndication deal on major broadcaster CBC for a while) and did poorly in the United States, why?

By: Holly

Holly — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:29:05 +0000

Neil, I think it’s a combination of things. Scifi/fantasy TV shows rarely have wide appeal here; it’s airing during the summer; and it’s on NBC. The combination of summer and NBC means that very few people, relatively speaking, have seen the advertisements for the show because they aren’t watching NBC, especially during the summer. The summer run also seems like burn-off for a bad show, so people may be less willing to give it a chance (or come in expecting it to be bad).

By: Some Guy Named John

Some Guy Named John — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:12:24 +0000

This show should be on in syndication with Legend of the Seeker, or on SciFi

By: Neil

Neil — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 14:08:18 +0000

The surprising thing is, Merlin has done very well over in its homeland of the UK, and even here in Australia, the series has bulit into a very solid Sunday performer, both total people & demo wise. Whilst is hasnt receieved critical acclaim, it’s beem quite appealing for many as the continued success of the series shows.

Is it a case that Americans simply prefer more crime series against anything else, or is NBC really that unappealing?

By: pete5125

pete5125 — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:28:01 +0000

BBC America is alread advertising Merlin along w/Dr. Who , The FWord, and all of their other new shows, so NBC must of got the show cheap.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:12:29 +0000

Josh, Merlin has already aired in the UK on the BBC.

By: shelly

shelly — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:32:42 +0000

RJ, you missed my point completely, which is that BBC didn’t “rip off” anything by showing Merlin, certainly not Harry Potter, because Merlin is based on ages-old folklore. (And I find it quite interesting, but to each their own.)

I’m noticing that those of us who have seen the entire first season of Merlin so far are reacting to it positively. That’s the thing with this show – it doesn’t start out strong, but it gets good as it progresses on.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:32:04 +0000

Ryan-Maybe if Merlin and The Listener were actually good shows, they’d do better in the U.S. Why do you take their lack of success here to reflect negatively on American viewers? Also, some foreign shows have performed well in this country. As just three examples, Torchwood gets good numbers for BBC America, Hustle has been successful enough to air several seasons on AMC, and Flashpoint did decently enough for CBS.

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:26:28 +0000

How am I able to find 13 episodes of Merlin online already? Was it bought by NBC?

By: katie

katie — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:22:11 +0000

Merlin’s actually pretty good. I watched the entire series already, going into it expecting very little, but being very surprised. And I get to see Giles (Buffy) again, as well as a new take on Merlin/Arthur. It’s been really good so far, but I agree, NBC shows have definitely been tanking… and probably would have gotten higher ratings on ABC (doesn’t it show Harry Potter/movies, etc.) or one of the cable networks.

By: RJ

RJ — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:39:20 +0000

Shelly, that made Merlin sound even worse. I have no idea how people find that stuff exciting.

By: daniel

daniel — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:57:09 +0000

i had no idea that merlin was on last night but i have no idea when anything is on over the summer except for ghost adventures (which i still haven’t seen the numbers for) and monk and most importantly Psych

By: shelly

shelly — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:52:32 +0000

RJ, you honestly don’t know that the legends of King Arthur and the knights of the round table is based on centuries-old folklore and is far older than Harry Potter? Ever heard of Le Morte de Arthur? Once and Future King by TH White? The Sword in the Stone? The Lady in the Lake? Heck, even the Sam Neill Merlin mini-series?

By: nkinsey

nkinsey — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:43:30 +0000

I’m actually surprised that they didn’t air it in the fall. NBC has horrible exposure, since it is the 4th place network; but even this seemed weaker than their potential. Were they expecting much out of it?

By: RJ

RJ — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:36:52 +0000

Why does the BBC seem to produce all these “Harry Potter type shows”? It looked like a bad ripoff of Harry Potter.

By: ryan

ryan — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:04:33 +0000

Why is it that foreign shows that air in America dont seem to be a big hit, but when it airs in other countries its a hit? Merlin was a hit in Britian, and in Australia, but the premiere wasnt that bad on NBC. Its the same thing with The Listener, in Canada it does well but here its tanking. Maybe Americans are weird when it comes to tv or NBC just naturally sucks.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:54:16 +0000

Surviving Suberbia numbers look good because it had a nice timeslot behind DWTS…. In fact it didnt even pull the numbers Samantha Who did in that slot. As for Merlin, its a great show. People should really give it a chance… and in all honesty…. I dont think it did so bad… it came in second in its time slot both airings… Not too shabby I dont think. This forum kills me, its like a ” oh ftw lets bash all things NBC….except the lovely Life and Chuck… Which both sucked. lol.

By: Leo

Leo — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:19:41 +0000

merlin isnt awesome .. but it is watchable, and it gets stronger as the season progresses.

By: Nick C

Nick C — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:01:08 +0000

not sure if this is the spot, but Bryan Fuller quit HEROES. I should have posted it somewhere on here earlier, my bad.