"Drive" Flops
As I suggested a couple of weeks back, I am closely tracking the ratings of the new Fox action series Drive to see if the serialized action-drama has a future on network television after multiple failures in propping up that format in the past year. The verdict is in....and it's not a good one.
Despite a monthslong barrage of hype that I thought would at least pique interest enough to draw in viewers early on to see what the show was like, the two-hour premiere of Drive managed only 6 million viewers. April is not normally a heavily viewed month given the quantity or reruns, but 6 million for such a high-profile premiere is nonetheless abysmal. Drive aired in its regular time slot on Monday evening and pulled in 5.6 million viewers in the same slot where Prison Break was averaging 10 million viewers. Barring a miracle unlike to happen between now and mid-May, Drive will be classified a high-profile flop.....and further diminish the chances of next fall's slate of new series being watchable fare.
As for my thoughts on the series, it's pretty much what I thought it would be. Campy fun. It's a stylistic and thematic combination of Lost and Prison Break set to a preposterous "illegal cross-country road race" theme. The characters are interesting and colorful and it's fun watching their personal stories unfold with the progression of the road race. For as long as the series lasts (hopefully Fox will air all the episodes produced), I'll ride it out (no pun intended). I hope there is some eventual revelation in regards to the significance of this bizarre race and the heavies who are sanctioning it. If their isn't, my opinion of Drive will sour.
For now though, I better enjoy this series while it lasts because every indication is that insufferably boring fare like "Deal or No Deal" is poised to hijack the airwaves in response to the litany of high-profile flops the networks have financed this past year. With primetime TV poised to decline once again, at least I should have more free time in the evenings to work on my cross-stitching.
Despite a monthslong barrage of hype that I thought would at least pique interest enough to draw in viewers early on to see what the show was like, the two-hour premiere of Drive managed only 6 million viewers. April is not normally a heavily viewed month given the quantity or reruns, but 6 million for such a high-profile premiere is nonetheless abysmal. Drive aired in its regular time slot on Monday evening and pulled in 5.6 million viewers in the same slot where Prison Break was averaging 10 million viewers. Barring a miracle unlike to happen between now and mid-May, Drive will be classified a high-profile flop.....and further diminish the chances of next fall's slate of new series being watchable fare.
As for my thoughts on the series, it's pretty much what I thought it would be. Campy fun. It's a stylistic and thematic combination of Lost and Prison Break set to a preposterous "illegal cross-country road race" theme. The characters are interesting and colorful and it's fun watching their personal stories unfold with the progression of the road race. For as long as the series lasts (hopefully Fox will air all the episodes produced), I'll ride it out (no pun intended). I hope there is some eventual revelation in regards to the significance of this bizarre race and the heavies who are sanctioning it. If their isn't, my opinion of Drive will sour.
For now though, I better enjoy this series while it lasts because every indication is that insufferably boring fare like "Deal or No Deal" is poised to hijack the airwaves in response to the litany of high-profile flops the networks have financed this past year. With primetime TV poised to decline once again, at least I should have more free time in the evenings to work on my cross-stitching.
posted by Mark at 9:28 PM
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