‘The Last Ship,’ ‘Falling Skies’ season 4 set big numbers for premiere

We were very curious going into the premiere of “The Last Ship” as to how well it would do, and for so many reasons. Michael Bay is not as experienced with television as he is with film, this is Eric Dane’s first series since “Grey’s Anatomy,” and these sort of military series have not fared very well over the past several years.

Luckily, this particular show bucked that trend, and has the potential to actually stay on the air for a little while. With 5.3 million viewers watching the first episode, this makes the series the most-successful launch of a new show this year on cable. It also ended up helping “Falling Skies,” which did some great business of its own with 4.7 million.

This is the sort of show that was of course going to draw bigger numbers with its first episode, since there was an aggressive marketing campaign and curiosity for something new and action-packed was high. The test will come in the weeks ahead. Most reviews were positive, and with a little bit more character development and focus on the story beyond the action, this could become one of the best summer series on the air.

As for when TNT could renew the show, we would imagine that so long as the show keeps a viewership of over 4 million, a second season could be announced as early as in a few weeks. Given the production time and the effects that go into making this, we imagine that they would need a decision one way or another a little earlier than the average show.

What do you think about the ratings, and are you happy that “The Last Ship” seems to be sailing off with success? Share below, and if you want to get some more news and updates from us at CarterMatt, sign up for our official newsletter.

Photo: TNT