Ratings Bubble Report: Does ‘2 Broke Girls’ season 5 have many more years left?
In the midst of many different comedies on network TV at present, “2 Broke Girls” is a little bit of an oddity. It had one of the biggest comedy premieres in recent memory thanks to airing after “Two and a Half Men’s” first episode sans Charlie Sheen; specifically, we’re talking about a 7.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic. That’s not the sort of number that can be duplicated, and it helped the show averaged a 4.3 in the demo throughout season 1.
If “2 Broke Girls” was anywhere close to that now, it’d be close to being the #1 comedy on TV alongside “The Big Bang Theory.” That hasn’t happened. Whether it be for viewer fatigue, network comedies going downhill, or the premise losing some of its luster over time, the show has lost viewers every year, and now we’re in season 5, where we’re not 100% positive there will even be a season 6. This is a subject worthy of some exploration now in our latest ratings bubble report.
The good news – CBS is not the comedy titan it once was. “The Big Bang Theory” is obviously still king, and you can put probably “Life in Pieces” and “Mom” in the #2 and #3 positions. “The Odd Couple” is a little bit of an enigma because it hasn’t aired yet, but beyond this there are some major holes in the schedule. “Angel From Hell” is charting low at the moment, while “Mike & Molly” has already confirmed to be ending after this season. This means that unless CBS wants to gut most of their comedy lineup, Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs’ sitcom is probably safe for at least one more year.
The bad news – At the same time, the show is averaging a 1.6 rating this season, which is on the low end of what CBS typically renews for its comedies. It’s also lost more than 15% of its demo audience every season since it premiered, and if that continues, it could easily average a 1.4 or lower for sixth season. Another issue is that for one reason or another, this is not a show that tends to generate too many headlines, and that’s important if you want to have a hit series stay on the air for a lengthy period of time. Without publicity, it’s hard to see a show improving.
Renewal odds – Fairly high. While there are problems here, we still think that “2 Broke Girls” is enough of a contributor in the modern TV landscape to get at least one more season. With “Life in Pieces” benefiting heavily from a lead-in, the only shows that we consider real self-starters for CBS in this genre are “Broke Girls,” “Mom,” and “Big Bang.” It’s best to keep them all around for a while longer.