After a successful launch, things aren’t looking too good for NBC’s The Event: Ratings are falling each week, and critical notices went from “excited” to “confused,” before landing on “frustrated.” Having already suffered the embarrassment of having to cancel a JJ Abrams series because of low ratings, what’s a troubled network to do? Start all over, it seems. (More on Time.com: Blair Underwood from The Event: “I’m on A Need to Know Basis Like My Character”)
Entertainment Weekly reports that The Event will go on a short hiatus after its 13th episode, and the series will be relaunched on February 28th with a special hour-long recap of what’s gone before before to let potential new viewers catch up on what they’ve missed – and, hopefully, a shift in the writing so that the new viewers won’t jump ship as quickly as the almost 6 million that’ve disappeared between the premiere and last episode did. Although, to hear show star Blair Underwood tell it, losing almost half of the premiere audience isn’t the show’s fault:
Ratings are one of the variables that we don’t have control over… There is the crossfire competition from Dancing With the Stars, football, and the No. 1 comedy Two and A Half Men.
Just in case the relaunch doesn’t work, the show’s creators have apparently already built in “short cuts” to bring the show to a close in May if the worst happens. Kudos will be given if said short cuts include a character from Lost wandering in, looking around and saying “We have to go back.”
More On Techland:
The Event Week 2: Why Should I Care?