Your Honor season 2: Do season 1 ratings help, hurt renewal odds?

Your Honor season 1

We are now two days away from the finale, and still, there is no word as to whether or not there will be a Your Honor season 2 on Showtime.

Are we hopeful? In all honesty, no. This was billed as a limited series from the start (see the photo above), and Showtime has done a good job of not leading anyone on. We wrote a story recently noting that the show’s executive producer does have ideas as to what a season 2 could look like, but there is a big difference between thinking about something and then actually making it happen.

In the end, we think the future of Your Honor comes down to three things: The specific story, whether or not Bryan Cranston wants to do more, and also the show’s performance on Showtime. We want to focus on the latter here, especially since it can be rather hard to define.

We’ve heard a certain narrative among many fans that the ratings for season 1 were mediocre or worse. That’s a bit of a misnomer. The show may have only averaged a little over 570,000 live viewers an episode, but remember this: The majority of people who watched Your Honor didn’t do so live. Nielsen ratings are outdated across the board, but more so with premium-cable shows. The vast majority of people watch a show like this in one of three ways: On their DVR, On Demand, or streaming on one of their devices. They watch it on their own schedule, and judging by the buzz the first season got online, we think the audience is significantly larger than the live numbers make it seem.

So in terms of the show’s success, we think there is certainly a case to be made for a Your Honor season 2. If it doesn’t return, we don’t think it will have to do its performance … but that’s just our take.

Do you want to see a Your Honor season 2 at Showtime?

Be sure to let us know in the comments! After you do just that, remember to stick around — there are more updates ahead on all things TV that you don’t want to miss.

Photo: Showtime

Love TV? Be sure to like Matt & Jess on Facebook for more updates!