Ratings Bubble Report: Should a ‘Frequency’ season 2 renewal happen?
Tonight on The CW, we’re seeing the end of the line for a show in “Frequency” that had a good bit going for it at the onset. After all, remember here that this is a show with a certain amount of familiarity from the onset, and it is also one that has a leading lady in Peyton List who is certainly familiar on The CW, whether it be through “The Tomorrow People” or playing Lisa Snart on “The Flash.”
Unfortunately, going into tonight’s finale, it’s hard to be altogether optimistic about what the show’s season 2 future will be. This is a show that is to date averaging a 0.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic, which wouldn’t be so bad in the event that it was getting awards recognition similar to “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” last year. That isn’t happening, and it is also losing over 50% of its lead-in from “Arrow.” If you’re drawing lower ratings and aren’t getting a lot of that critical buzz, it’s going to be harder to keep you around — and with The CW in particular, it’s especially challenging given that they have a lot of shows and only so many timeslots. They’ve still got “Riverdale,” “The 100,” “The Originals,” and “iZombie” all still to premiere and we’re almost to the end of January.
If there is one bit of hope that we can give “Frequency” fans, it’s that this show is probably more likely to be renewed than “No Tomorrow,” which averaged a smaller rating despite having a better lead-in courtesy of “The Flash.” Neither show was given any episodes beyond the initial order of 13, and while that’s no guarantee of a cancellation, it doesn’t always bode well. (Yes, network programming head Mark Pedowitz said that the plan was always to only order 13 episodes of “Frequency” and “No Tomorrow,” but we feel like that would’ve changed in the event they were drawing 1.0 ratings.)
We’ll always root for shows to come back provided that they are bringing something interesting to the table — which “Frequency” is. It’s also been wonderfully consistent and hasn’t lost many viewers over the course of its first season. Its biggest Achilles’ heel is just that it didn’t start with enough viewers this season, which is why it had an uphill battle. Maybe the premise never grabbed people, maybe The CW didn’t market it well enough, or maybe it is just a victim of all of the attention given to the Presidential Election.
What do you think: Should “Frequency” be renewed for a second season? Vote in the poll below! Here’s to hoping the even if tonight is the last episode of the show, it still finds a way to go out that pleases most of its fans. (Photo: The CW.)