‘Agent Carter’ Suffers Ratings Drop But ABC Stands By It
Agent Carter suffered a severe drop in ratings from its debut, but an ABC executive told critics that the television network is standing by the series at this time.
TVLine reported the third episode of the limited Agent Carter series saw a major drop in viewers.
“Leading out of a special Shark Tank telecast (7.3 mil/1.8), Agent Carter (5.1 mil/1.5) slipped 26 and 21 percent from its premiere.”
Entertainment Weekly noted the significance of this loss of viewership.
“Marvel Studios, like its heroes, are accustomed to total victory. Yet the comic empire is facing the prospect of a rare performance disappointment in Agent Carter, ABC’s Captain America spin-off starring Hayley Atwell. Despite strong-ish reviews, the period action drama debuted to semi-soft numbers last week, then dropped notably this week for its second episode—though there is still more DVR playback data to come.”
Despite this, EW reported that ABC currently appears to be standing by Agent Carter.
“‘We feel very optimistic about it,’ ABC entertainment president Paul Lee told reporters Wednesday when asked about the show’s ratings drop.”
Watching episode 4! It’s brilliant pic.twitter.com/EqffmOKxr1
— Hayley Atwell (@HayleyAtwell) January 15, 2015
EW later claimed that ABC would like to renew the series.
“Though Agent Carter has been billed as a limited series due to its short-order seven-week run, it’s definitely a title that ABC would bring back for another season should it perform well.”
Nevertheless, there are signs that the makers of Agent Carter realize the show might not see any more episodes beyond the eight already produced.
Deadline spoke with Marvel TV head and Agent Carter executive producer Jeph Loeb, who told the publication that the series will have served its purpose even if it doesn’t have a future.
“At this point in time Agent Carter is eight episodes long. ‘More of anything is great, but that’s ABC’s decision. This (show) was created for a specific reason in terms of length, which was how to [sic] we maintain S.H.I.E.L.D [sic] in a way that we don’t have as many repeats. That’s a practical knowledge. The reality is Sept-May is the season and making 22 hours of entertainment is gigantic,’ said Loeb.”
Agent Carter ostensibly is a show about espionage in the post-World War II era of the Marvel Universe. However, it also has focused heavily on messaging. Viewers might not be taking well to this approach but critics, such as Joshua Rivera at Entertainment Weekly, certainly are.
“It really bears repeating how great that conversation between Jarvis and Carter is. Her role is one that’s undermined not by a lack of respect that she can earn back, but by something more systemic, an internalized worldview held by many of her male colleagues and the country at large at this juncture in history. It’s an important distinction to make, one that shows Agent Carter is interested in being much more thoughtful than the fun, but ultimately shallow ‘Women can kick ass too!’ that the show’s earliest promos gravitated toward.”
The Inquisitr previously reported on information hinting at what viewers can expect to see on upcoming episodes of Agent Carter.
[Image via official Agent Carter Twitter account]
