After the record-breaking low numbers for Do No Harm's series premiere last week, the second episode Thursday night performed even worse. And so it was yanked from the NBC schedule on Friday afternoon. Good-bye!
It's hard to overstate how bad Do No Harm's ratings were. Especially for a drama on a major broadcast network that had a marketing budget. The premiere drew 3.1 million viewers and a 0.9 in the 18 to 49 demographic; the second episode brought in an audience of 2.18 million and a 0.7 in 18 to 49.
Perhaps its star, Steven Pasquale, put it best when he tweeted it thusly:
50 million people just watched a dark stadium for an hour. Thats 50 million more then watched Do No Harm last week. A bad sign maybe?
50 million people just watched a dark stadium for an hour. Thats 50 million more then watched Do No Harm last week. A bad sign maybe?-- steve pasquale
So how would that compare to cable shows? Well, the most popular cable shows are often on par with — or beat, in the cases of The Walking Dead and a growing number of others — network shows. So if you look at last week's cable ratings in total, the top performers are things like USA's WWE Monday night broadcast (5.3 million) and Pawn Stars on History Channel (5 million), which are strong by most measurements.
To get as low as where Episode 2 of Do No Harm would have placed had it been on cable, you have to go all the way down... yikes, it would have been No. 193 (above Mickey Mouse Clubhouse).
Let's take a look at 11 random cable shows that did better than Do No Harm last week!
1) "Love & Hip-Hop 3"
Remember, the bar here is Do No Harm's 2.18 million viewers, so I'm looking at close neighbors of that. The Jan. 28 episode of Love & Hip-Hop 3 got 2.198 million, so it would have just edged out Do No Harm.
2) "Sofia the First"
This new Disney Junior show, featuring Disney's youngest princess ever, is doing very nicely among the tiny-people set. An episode that aired at 9:30 in the morning on Feb. 1, a weekday, mind you, drew 2.199 million viewers: better than Do No Harm!
3) "NFL Primetime"
The weird thing about this episode of NFL Primetime is that because the Super Bowl was so long, it actually conflicted with the last bit of the Super Bowl airing on the East Coast (the trophy part, anyway). And yet it would have beaten Do No Harm with its 2.230 million viewers.
4) "Law & Order: SVU"
The weekly cable ratings list is littered with USA Network SVU reruns, as you can imagine. So who even knows which one aired on Friday, Feb. 1, at 10 p.m. that had an audience of 2.231 million and would have outdrawn Do No Harm? The people who watched it probably don't even remember.
5) "The Cleveland Show"
On a Saturday night at 10:30 p.m., more people were watching The Cleveland Show on Adult Swim — 2.247 million, to be exact — than watching Do No Harm on Thursday at 10 p.m. on NBC: the historic time slot where ER used to be.
6) "Austin & Ally"
I've never heard of Austin & Ally. I asked the Youngs in my office if they had ever heard of Austin & Ally, and except for one, none of them had. At 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, it drew 2.247 million viewers. More than...you know what!
7) "Doc McStuffins"
This Disney Junior show, about a little girl who aspires to be a doctor and gives medical help to toys, last Saturday performed better than Do No Harm (2.250 million viewers). At 8 a.m.
8) "Family Guy"
Family Guy has been airing on Adult Swim for about a decade. Maybe even longer. Last Friday at 11 p.m., 2.261 million tuned in to one of its reruns.
9) "Catfish: The TV Show"
Considering the publicity Manti Te'o gave the show Catfish, you'd actually think it would be doing better than bringing in 2.267 million for its Monday night premiere on Jan. 28. But still. It did do better than Do No Harm.
10) "NCIS"
NCIS is in the same situation as SVU — it's hard to turn USA on and not see one of these shows in reruns. The NCIS episodes that air in primetime can often draw three million viewers or more. Who among us hasn't been sucked into one an NCIS mini-marathon? Anyway. This random airing at 5 p.m. on Thursday the 31st brought in an audience of 2.272 million. That's during most people's workdays.
11) "Dog With a Blog"
I could have cut this list off at 10, but then Dog With a Blog wouldn't have been on it. And it had to be on it. Last Saturday, 2.277 million people watched the 12:30 p.m. airing of Dog With a Blog on Disney Channel.
Good-bye, Do No Harm!