ABC to double up on new episodes of ‘The Quest’

The following is not a particular shock to us, but that does not make it any less sad to us in the slightest: ABC is going to be doubling up on all future new episodes of “The Quest,” and will be airing them in two-hour blocks starting on Thursday night.

The reason for this is pretty simple: The ratings just aren’t good, and while you can blame NFL preemptions and subpar promotion for a lot of it, it still doesn’t change the bottom line. The show will now come to a close earlier than expected two weeks from Thursday, and that will probably be the last we see of this excellent adventure, definitely the best one we’ve seen since Bill and Ted went on one. (Thanks to Reality Blurred for the scheduling find.)

So why do ABC’s summer reality shows struggle so much? This is the second straight year that we’ve come to love one of them (with a nod to “Whodunnit”), and this is the second straight year we’re left feeling pretty bummed out that the show was not more successful. Some of it is obviously airing during the summer, and sometimes against heavy competition. Meanwhile, another part of it is just that it is very hard to launch a new reality series in this modern era, especially when so many of them have been done before.

One thing that we will say here, though, is that ABC should have kept “Whodunnit” around even after John Saade was let go as reality head. The season 1 finale for the show drew a 1.4 in the 18-49 demographic, more than Monday’s “Bachelor in Paradise” and also higher than the finale of “Rising Star.” A lineup of this show and “The Quest” would have probably been our favorite show ever.

We’re still going to do our best to cover the remaining episodes of “The Quest,” but the bummer here is that thanks to the new schedule, we can’t do it live anymore. Therefore, look for some coverage the next day / over the weekend.