NBC Cancels Allegiance (Duh) and Moves The Slap
How's your Thursday-night makeover going, NBC? Oh, you just axed one show and excommunicated another to a later timeslot? So, "not good," then?
The network—which recently gave up on its long-running Thursday comedy block and swapped it for more serious fare—has canceled its underperforming spy drama Allegiance. The series was only five episodes into its first season, using the recently relocated The Blacklist as a springboard into the 10pm hour. But Red Reddington couldn't boost the Americans knock-off (which wasn't that good in the first place), and Allegiance debuted on February 5 with fewer than 5 million viewers and a 1.1 rating in the 18-to-49 demographic, putting it in last place behind Elementary and How to Get Away With Murder. Things only got worse after that, with this week's fifth episode notching 3.36 million viewers and a series-low 0.8 rating. You've been burned, Allegiance! Just as I predicted.
The series' open 10pm timeslot means that NBC's "provocative" miniseries The Slap will be demoted from the 8pm hour to air after The Blacklist at 10pm. Even in the more viewer-friendly 8pm timeslot, The Slap has been getting haymakered by its competition, with this week's fourth episode posting 3.87 million viewers and a 0.8 rating, way behind the other shows airing on the four major broadcast networks (on The CW, The Vampire Diaries was a repeat). NBC probably would've canceled that one, too, but since it's an eight-episode limited event, the network may as well scoot it out the door in one piece.
You may now be asking yourself, "So what did NBC scramble together to air at 8pm instead of The Slap?" Well, are you sitting down? Also, please do not drink milk while reading the next sentence, unless you enjoy the feeling of having lactose shoot through your sinuses. Here we go: Dateline: The Real Blacklist will replace The Slap at 8pm, reporting on "conspiracy-themed investigations and crimes that involve larger-than-life perpetrators and circumstances." But hey, at least it will be funnier than Sean Saves the World.
Will you miss Allegiance? Did you even know that it existed? And will you watch The Slap at 10pm, or will you continue to ignore it no matter where it is?
