MovieChat Forums > Moonlight (2007) Discussion > How were the ratings?

How were the ratings?

posted 14 years ago by meredithwood
14 replies | jump to latest

OK, it's July 2011, I watched the entire series for the first time over the past 4 days, and I am just devastated that there was only one season. I KNEW there were only 16 episodes before I started, but I had no idea how addicted I would become! Naturally, I Googled everything I could find about Moonlight's premature demise, and I cannot figure out the ratings situation. On one hand, I see that the show consistently won its time slot and won a People's Choice Award; on the other hand, quotes from some network execs seem (unless I misunderstood) to indicate low ratings. What is the scoop on the ratings? Was it a ratings hit or a dud?

I know that networks these days are able to capture ratings for shows that are DVR'd rather than watched "live"; was this not the case in 2007? Because I know that Friday nights are a notoriously bad time slot for shows. I'm a mother of three kids under 5, have a very toddler-centric (read: nonexistent) social life, and even I'm not sitting at home watching TV on Friday nights. CBS FAIL!

[–] angie130 14 years ago

The ratings were actually pretty good for a Friday at 9:00 slot. But unfortuantley not good enough for CBS.

9/28/07 No such Thing as Vampires 8.54 Million
10/5/07 Out of the Past 8.04 Million
10/12/07 Dr. Feelgood 7.10 Million
10/19/2007 Fever 7.67 Million
10/26/07 Arrested Development 8.11 Million
11/2/07 B.C. 7.55 Million
11/9/07 The Ringer 7.90 Million
11/16/07 12:04 AM 8.16 Million
11/23/07 Fleur De Lis 7.32 Million
12/14/07 Sleeping Beauty 7.57 Million
1/11/08 Love Lasts Forever 8.32 Million
4/25/08 The Mortal Cure 7.93 Million
5/2/08 Click 7.89 Million
5/9/08 What’s Left Behind 7.61 Million
5/16/08 Sonata 7.47 Million

[–] daan_de_geus 12 years ago

Those would be pretty impressive ratings for a supernatural action show nowadays, providing production costs aren't too high. No way they'd cancel that in this age, but then again, ratings were higher all across the board five years ago.

[–] ruble3 13 years ago

Despite the low-ish ratings (they were low for CBS, okay for NBC and ABC), CBS was still going to do a season two but there were financial/artistic differences between CBS and Joel Silver/Warner Brothers, so they decided not to go forward with season two. Season two might have involved werewolves (Talbot) and the Legion trying to kill all vampires in LA. Would have been awesome.

[–] libby2130 13 years ago

Bad enough they cancelled it... the show they replaced MOONLIGHT with, what an insult that was....at least Alex is on Hawaii 50 so we can see him on a current show now!!

Moonlight won the important 18 to 49 year old demographic....didn't matter though

[–] poohlover1983 12 years ago

Talbot was NOT going to be a werewolf. That story cane out after Twilight came out. He was supposed to be a vampire hunter and that's why he got a list of every vampire in LA in the last episode.
If they had continued the series, that's where his story line would have gone.
I would have liked to see where Josef's storyline would have gone. I really liked his character in contrast with Mick's. Too bad we'll never find out.

[–] rublemartha 12 years ago

I heard from others who talked to the writers of ML after the show was cancelled that they were considering werewolves. Talbot..get it? Larry Talbot was the character played by Lon Chaney, Jr.

[–] bpvalentine 11 years ago

Keep in mind “writers” is pretty vague. I’m sure you’re correct but what one writer had in his mind isn’t necessarily what would have been signed off on. But the fact the guy’s name is talbot is pretty compelling evidence of being a werewolf. Maybe he would have been a hunter attacked and turned into a wolf.

I have to say talbot was a pretty lame edition. A second district attorney love interest for Beth would make her seem pretty creepy or tactless. And she was kinda dense not to realize talbot was totally interested in HER and not so much her professional “input.”

I loved the show but I did notice the show get more and more typical of cop shows about mid way through. I’m sure that was CBS. Oh, well. I agree this show would do well on maybe SyFy these days. Maybe following Being Human. Or whatever.

[–] mollydtt 13 years ago

I think I remember reading that Moonlight won its timeslot every Friday.

I also remember seeing beaucoup promos from CBS for just about everything BUT Moonlight, so that bothered me.

I lost a few of my favorite shows after the writers' strike. Those shows probably would have continued, except that the networks had waaay too much time to think about replacing just about everything. The replacement series didn't do well, but that wasn't much of a consolation.
It was tough that year, but honestly, this is the only vampire series that I've ever liked. Also, I didn't care at all about the Twilight movies. Just not my cup of tea.

Watching the Sy Fy broadcasts yesterday made me wish there had been more episodes.

[–] poem 12 years ago

If only people would stop mentioning Twilight whenever vampire materials are discussed.

This is really like saying "I dont like food, because the food from McDonalds tastes awful".

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A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.

[–] jones8557-1 12 years ago

CBS just F'd up! They cancelled the show then a few months later Twilight hit's the big screen and the world goes vampire crazy!

[–] poem 12 years ago

Yeah, right.

Because "the world" consists exclusively out of pretteen girls.

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A gentleman will not insult me, and no man not a gentleman can insult me.

[–] jones8557-1 12 years ago

People of all ages enjoy the Twilight series. There were also other movies and books that feature adult vamps. I was a vamp fan b/f Twilight & I'm still one.

[–] as_santos 11 years ago

It's insane how they could cancel it. I still can't understand. At the time I read something like "there wasn't enough interest in vampires anymore, the audience was tired after Buffy and Angel". They were so wrong. .

[–] MarblesLove 11 years ago

Wow! How wrong they were! Vampires became huge again right after this stopped airing.

I wish it hadn't been canceled.

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