Showtime’s ‘Nurse Jackie’ Slightly Up In Return, ‘The Big C’ & ‘The Borgias’ Down
Moving from Monday to Sunday, Showtime’s dark comedy Nurse Jackie opened its fourth season with 653,000 viewers at 9 PM last night, up 7% from last season’s premiere. Meanwhile, fellow dark comedy The Big C, which also switched from Mondays to Sundays, dropped 35% to 581,000 viewers for its third season premiere at 9:30 PM. At 10 PM, the second season of The Borgias launched with 604,000 viewers, down 43% from last year’s series debut. Showtime notes that all 3 series have been available online prior to their premieres, with the second season opener of The Borgias amassing 1.13 million views, though it is unclear how many of those watching were Showtime subscribers.
I didn’t watch The Borgias last night because Mad Men started at 9:04 and because of the taint from Nurse Jackie and The Big C
Please, the episodes are ALWAYS available online prior to the premiere or the network leaks them. So that can’t be the reason, or should I say – the excuse – for the low numbers.
People are obviously getting tired of Showtime’s depressed/angry middle-aged women shtick. They canceled the best one (United States of Tara), they’re destroying the little reputation Weeds’ had during it’s first two seasons and they’re forcing these two on us. Nurse Jackie is (sometimes) watchable, but the Laura Linney show is just an embarrassment.
Can we please stop pretending these shows are “hits”? Showtime has no clothes!
well I for one love The Big C–I think it’s dark and funny and great writing and acting. And I know I’m not the only one. PS, retaining 90 percent of it’s lead-in is not bad.
No doubt, dropping 35 percent in the premiere going from Monday to the prime Sunday slot is the goal. This is a dumb conversation.
Now that the few bitter people with an obvious ax to grind have weighed in, let’s get real: Showtime has the best shit on TV…Homeland, Dexter, Shameless, Episodes, Cali and, yes, even Nurse Jackie are some of the very best shows around!
I’ll give you Homeland, but Dexter jumped the shark years ago (with the exception of the brilliant Season 4).
I guess Edie Falco’s Emmy win for Jackie and Laura Linney’s Golden Globe for Big C are irrelevant? I guess both ladies have “no clothes” either. Think before you comment.
I certainly did think before I commented, thank you. I thought “hey here are two Showtime ‘hits’ that barely crack 600k viewers….not really hits”. So go jump in a lake, incredulous.
well, the reason i didn’t watch the borgias is because after watching the entire first season, i really just didn’t care. they took such an interesting piece of history and turned it so dull i just have no interest any more. that, and game of thrones and the killing are both on at 9, so i end up watching one of them in the tivo at 10.
Showtime has the best shows period!
What’s the point of watching something when I can catch it all via the OnDemand? I like to catch a few episodes in a row.
Showtime does have some of the best shows on TV.Big C may not have a big audience, but its one of the best written & acted shows on period. Why does every cable premium channel have to put every show on Sunday nights? There are other nights. The only one I’m watching live is Game of Thrones, everything else I’m DVRing
Showtime has the worst shows on television. They don’t remotely compare with HBO. They get an actor with a ready-made rep (very often made on HBO), build a cliched yet oh-so-daring premise around him or her, then beat it to death for years, in spite of ratings that would mean cancellation anywhere else.
HBO keeps breaking the mold, and looking for new ideas–Showtime just keeps falling back on the same old formulas. They are incapable of putting together a real ensemble, so they need established names to promote the show with. You look at their advertising, it’s always focused around one or two actors. And it’s always the same.
When I pay extra for a channel, I expect more. Fail.