Ratings: NBC’s ‘Smash’ flops hard; good news for ‘Parenthood’ fans?

Well, it looks like the vast majority of viewers really did not have much of an interest at all in giving NBC’s “Smash” a second chance. Despite some favorable reviews for the season 2 premiere along with the casting of Jennifer Hudson, the musical drama flopped hard in its two-hour episode on Tuesday night.

Without having the benefit of “The Voice” as a lead-in, the Katharine McPhee – Megan Hilty show posted only a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic, easily a series low and down dramatically from the 3.8 rating for the series premiere around this point a year ago. How can a show drop this far so fast? Really, you have to chalk it up to one thing above all else: quality. Season 1 become well-known as the show everyone loved to hate, and for that reason there was not really that much of a vested interest from anyone in watching another 15 episodes of it. Plus, the musical genre is starting to die off with there being three singing competitions on TV, and with both “Glee” and “Nashville” drawing ratings that are so-so at best.

Now, let’s put this craziness into further perspective now. The “Smash” premiere drew a smaller number than “The Vampire Diaries” last week on The CW, and even Betty White’s birthday special performed better despite the former “Golden Girls” star not even being in attendance. It was the lowest rated program on any of the big four networks last night, and by a pretty big margin.

The one show that probably benefits from this the most at the moment? “Parenthood,” which is almost guaranteed a fifth-season reunion thanks to its devoted fanbase and consistently-higher ratings.

Did you watch the “Smash” premiere? If you want to read our full review of the episode, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: NBC