The (non) Event

The Event.  Is there any other show on TV besides NBC's The Event that I watch consistently but care less and less about what happens to it with each passing week?  I highly doubt it.  The series started so strongly last year - in the first episode it seemed to be a cross between 24 and Lost and I really thought that all my prayers had been answered (well at least prayers about Jack Bauer hanging out with Kate and Jack while Sawyer calls everyone names and they all shoot Nina again...).  TV life was glorious.

But then something happened that I don't understand, NBC decided to take a 4 month break on the show from November to March.  In a show that is all about secrets, puzzles, and giving the audience just a piece of these each week to keep its interest - a long hiatus makes viewers completely lose interest.  How many people could stay interested in a show that had no clear direction and then seemingly disappeared?  Not many apparently...  The first episode was viewed by over 10 million people.  Now?  They're hovering at about 4 million, and losing viewers every week.  When you compare this to a successful show like House for example it is not even close.  House (even in what is a poorly watched season) this year is averaging about 10 million viewers per episode.  Averaging.  Not peaking at.  And to compare it to Lost, a very successful version of that type of show, Lost averaged over it's whole run in the upper teens of millions per episode. 

So... does The Event have a place on TV past this season?  I really don't think so.  I think at this point it will be really hard to find the viewership the show needs to make it financially worth keeping on the air.  I guess we'll have to see what NBC decides at the end of May, but this seems like it will be another very good concept (like Flash Forward last season) to be more or less killed by being too vague in the initial episodes and then taking a really long break mid-season.   I'm not sure why TV execs think that is ever a good idea.  Shows like this need to be watched continuously.  Bad NBC.  Bad. Go to your room.

Until the next episode...
Chris