TSCC and Dollhouse Premiere Ratings

In a word, they suck. In another word, FOX has succeeded in what they tried to do — bury Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse and the second half of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Congratulations, FOX, you apparently had no faith in either show and slotted them both in your Friday Night Death Slot, and the outcome was predictable. Just how bad are the numbers? Atrocious.

For perspective, consider that there was only one other show this year that premiered to worst ratings than Whedon’s Dollhouse, and that was NBC’s shipwreck show Crusoe. What, never heard of the show? Didn’t even know it was on? Well don’t worry, cause it’s been canceled.

As for the return of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ Season 2, THR says the numbers are even worst. Yes, even worst. How could it have gotten any worst, you ask? Well it just did. The show’s return from Winter break produced numbers that were 27% worst than its lowest rating of the season. And it was pretty low throughout the season to begin with.

On the bright side, at least Dollhouse managed to beat its two competitors on CBS and NBC in the same timeslot, so that’s something. Whether it’s enough of “something” to convince FOX to actually take a chance on the show and move it to a decent timeslot is the question of the day. As for TSCC, I think it’s pretty clear now that there will be no third season. The show is simply too expensive for it to perform so poorly in the ratings. FOX has all the incentive to keep the show on the air, especially with the new “Terminator” movie due out in theaters this summer, but at this point they would have to be insane to greenlight a third season unless the ratings improve significantly as the show chugs along towards it season finale.

At this point, FOX must concede that their little experiment has failed, and move both TSCC and Dollhouse to new timeslots. If they fail to do so, it means they’ve pulled the plug on both shows. It really is as simple as that.