The Cylons must be laughing their asses off...
Caprica, the prequel series to the phenomenal Battlestar Galactica, bowed to an "unimpressive" 1.6 million viewers this past Friday night. A lot of analysts cite that the fact of the pilot being available online and on DVD for almost a year now could be a reason for the disheartening numbers, especially since that rating falls below averaging numbers for both Battlestar Galactica and Stargate Universe. The same analysts feel that the second episode, which is titled "Rebirth", will tell the story in terms of viewers and ratings since it is the "true" Caprica premiere. An estimated 2 million had already seen the Caprica pilot prior to last Friday's broadcast premiere.
While ratings are not my thing (if you let my previous articles on the subject tell you), I have to agree with the analysts on this one. The second episode should be the one to watch for, not just in terms of ratings, but if the show is really worth your time. Don't let low ratings, or ratings mongers, scare you from something you might potentially like. And that's my public service announcement for the month.
So what do you think? Is it a sign of the times for Caprica or is it too early to sound the cloister bell (Doctor Who reference...)?
Read my recap of the pilot episode here, and also check out Jon Lachonis' review of the series here.
Like with Stargate Universe, my only concern about Caprica is the pacing. Its slower than BSG, just SGU is slower than SG1 or SGA. This is a new trend in Sci-fi or Syfy… drama rich, slower paced, less action paced shows that are meant to showcase the characters not the technology.
I agree, I don't know why some people are trying to paint these numbers as worrying. These results were entirely expected; re-runs always fare worse than brand-new episodes, nothing surprising here. If anything I'm positively surprised. Given that 1.5 million people had already seen it, I was expecting more along the lines of 1 million for the airing.
My sentiments exactly, which is why I tell people to beware of the Ratings Mongers. Seriously, I believe the news surrounding how bad a show premieres is like a knife in the guy from the media. They love to overanalyze crap…