Ratings: ‘Whodunnit?’ sadly a mystery to viewers (watch full episode here)

Why is it so difficult these days to launch an original reality TV franchise on network TV? If you look at the major players these days (“The Amazing Race,” “Survivor,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Hell’s Kitchen”), almost all of them are ten seasons old. The only one that is somewhat-different is “MasterChef,” but that came into the fold with Chef Gordon Ramsay already at the center of it.

While there were flaws, we found the premiere of “Whodunnit?” on Sunday night to be thoroughly entertaining, and easily the best new competition on a network since “MasterChef” premiered. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite resonate with viewers on its way to posting just a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic and just over 4 million total viewers.

We want to sit here and blame the time slot for the ratings difficulties, since the series is up against a number of shows that inconvenience us from watching, including AMC’s “The Killing,” HBO’s “True Blood,” Nik Wallenda’s “Skywire” special and soon Showtime’s “Dexter.” However, these are all at the same time shows built for an adult audience. This should be able to capture the family / teen crowd, and people who don’t like things that are depressing or stuffed full of the f-bomb.

Perhaps the biggest problem right now is that there simply aren’t enough people who know about the show. Sure, ABC had promotion during the NBA Finals, so hopefully it will get an opportunity to build on that once word of mouth spreads. We’re going to try and do our part, which is why we’ve embedded the premiere episode here. So try it out if you have the time this week, and go back to it next Sunday. We need more shows like this in the summer that keep us guessing, especially since this is leagues ahead of ABC’s attempt last year with “The Glass House.”

Are you still hopeful for the future of the series? If you want to check out our full review of the premiere, you can do so over at the link here.

Photo: ABC