Is ‘Aquarius’ episode 9 new tonight on NBC? More on the show’s dilemma

“Aquarius” is certainly a show both in an interesting and unique place at the moment for NBC. It is one that has a different programming model for one than anything in the history of the network. They have not been ones before now to really experiment with the Netflix model of putting an entire season online in advance. Yet, they are doing so here! This proves in a sense that they are flexible, and they are not putting as much stock in the live ratings here as they necessarily do for other shows.

Yet, apparently the network was still bummed out enough by the show’s recent performance that they scooted “Aquarius” over alongside “Hannibal” to Saturday nights. For more or less any show out there, this is not the spot you want to be in. It’s hard to get an avalanche of support when you are coming on such an odd time, especially during the summer when many prospective viewers are off doing other things. Ultimately, we feel like the series is going to be lucky to even draw some mediocre ratings in this spot.

What makes this story to us so crazy is that NBC already renewed this series for a second season. Therefore, they are burying a show in a bad timeslot that they still expect to be coming back. What’s the logic here? We imagine that they are going to do a similar binge-watching-approved model for the second season, and maybe they really don’t care so much about what they draw in terms of live numbers the rest of the way.

Regardless of logic, we do think that “Aquarius” is a good show worthy of your time, provided that you give it a chance. David Duchovny is doing some pretty brilliant work.

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