That's a wrap! Sunday's premiere of VEEP on HBO was the last premiere of the spring and brings to a close all the new shows of the 2011-2012 TV season. We've seen lots of highs and lots of lows throughout the year, but it's time to see exactly what you all thought of the shows and how they've been faring in the ratings. So without further ado...here's a look at the 12 new dramas and 14 new comedies that 2012 threw our way:
STATS
I've included Nielson ratings (share of age group 18-49/total viewers) of the most recent episode, the rating that you, Fellow Addicts, voted on for each show, and the renewal chances from TVLine (the most accurate predictor of such things, in my experience).
ABC
• DON'T TRUST THE B---- IN APT 23 - 2.6/6.4mil - 42% Addictive - Too early to tell
• G.C.B. - 1.5/4.4mil - 47% Solid - Could go either way
• MISSING - 1.4/7.2mil - 46% Okay - Too early to tell
• THE RIVER - 1.4/4.0mil - 53% Solid - A long-shot
• SCANDAL - 2.0/7.2mil - 30% Atrocious - Too early to tell
• WORK IT - 30% Atrocious - OFFICIALLY CANCELED
CBS
• NYC 22 - 1.4/7.4mil - 50% Okay - Too early to tell
• ROB - 2.6/9.0mil - 27% Atrocious - Could go either way
FOX
• ALCATRAZ - 1.6/4.8mil - 50% Solid - A long-shot
• THE FINDER - 1.2/4.3mil - 37% Okay - A long-shot
• NAPOLEON DYNAMITE - 2.0/4.0mil - 57% Okay - A long-shot
• TOUCH - 2.1/7.3mil - 50% Addictive - Too early to tell
NBC
• ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA? - 1.2/3.1mil - 30% Atrocious - A long-shot
• AWAKE - 0.9/2.8mil - 60% Addictive - A long-shot
• BENT - 0.7/2.0mil - 60% Solid - A long-shot
• BEST FRIENDS FOREVER - 0.8/2.8mil - 50% Addictive - A long-shot
• THE FIRM - 0.3/1.7mil - 61% Solid - A long-shot
• SMASH - 2.0/6.0mil - 54% Addictive - OFFICIALLY RENEWED
OTHER
• ANGRY BOYS (HBO) - season complete - 41% Solid
• GIRLS (HBO) - 0.9mil - 42% Atrocious
• HOUSE OF LIES (SHO) - season complete - 40% Okay
• I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK (MTV) - season complete - 42% Atrocious
• LIFE'S TOO SHORT (HBO) - season complete - 40% Okay
• LUCK (HBO) - 44% Okay - OFFICIALLY CANCELED
• UNSUPERVISED (FX) - season complete - 55% Solid
• VEEP (HBO) - 0.6/1.4mil - 44% Solid
RANKINGS
The Highest-Rated New Dramas: based on share of 18-49 age group
1) TOUCH (2.1)
2) SCANDAL (2.0/7.2mil)
3) SMASH (2.0/6.0mil)
4) ALCATRAZ (1.6)
5) G.C.B. (1.5)
The Highest-Rated New Comedies:
1) ROB (2.6/9.0mil)
2) DON'T TRUST THE B---- IN APT 23 (2.6/6.4mil)
3) NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (2.0)
4) ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA? (1.2)
5) BEST FRIENDS FOREVER (0.8)
Your Favorite Dramas: based on % voted Addictive
1) AWAKE (60)
2) SMASH (54)
3) TOUCH (50)
4) G.C.B. (34)
5) NYC 22 (25)
Your Favorite Comedies:
1) BEST FRIENDS FOREVER (50)
2) DON'T TRUST THE B---- IN APT 23 (42)
3) VEEP (33)
4) ANGRY BOYS (25)
5) BENT (20)
Your Least Favorite Dramas: based on % voted Atrocious
1) SCANDAL (30)
2) THE FINDER (18)
3) LUCK (16)
4) THE FIRM (15)
5) NYC 22 (12)
Your Least Favorite Comedies:
1/2/3) GIRLS / I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK / NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (42)
4/5/6) ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA? / HOUSE OF LIES / WORK IT (30)
INTERESTING FACTS
• By and large, the midseason replacement shows were watched by far fewer people than the fall shows. Last fall's highest-rated drama, ONCE UPON A TIME, had a 3.9 rating, almost a full 2 points ahead of this spring's highest-rated drama, TOUCH (2.1). Last fall's highest-rated comedy, NEW GIRL, had a 4.3 rating, over 2 full points ahead of this spring's highest-rated comedy, ROB (2.9).
• Both of the shows that have already been canceled (WORK IT and LUCK) landed on your Least Favorite lists. Congratulations on your good taste.
• The only midseason show to already have garnered a renewal (SMASH) was your second favorite drama of the spring. Ironically, your favorite, AWAKE is struggling in the ratings and is likely to be canceled.
• CBS' barely advertised new cop drama NYC 22 managed to end up on both your Favorite Drama and Least Favorite Drama lists, at #5 on both.
• For the fall, you voted 64% of the new shows as either Solid or Addictive. This spring, however, only 50% of the new shows were voted Solid or Addictive, indicative of a generally weaker crop of shows.
MY PICKS FOR BEST/WORST
Best Drama - AWAKE: If you had asked me immediately after the premieres, I probably would have picked SMASH as my favorite new drama. Unfortunately, that show has never managed to live up to its stellar first episode, delivering a series of increasingly disappointing episodes that have completely lost focus on what the show was originally about. AWAKE, on the other hand, has continued to deliver tightly-scripted, well-acted, brain-scratching gems. Jason Isaacs as Michael, a man trapped between two worlds, delivers a tour-de-force performance every week, deftly handling the disorienting shifts inherent in the show's structure. There are just enough hints of a deeper mythology to keep viewers invested in a long-term story -- unfortunately, it doesn't look like we'll ever get that whole story, as AWAKE is most likely destined to be cancelled at the end of the year.
Runner-up: TOUCH
Best Comedy - DON'T TRUST THE B---- IN APT 23: I'm actually very torn between this acid-tongued comedy and the delightful BEST FRIENDS FOREVER. I could spend time here lauding the extremely human characters on BFF and its realistic sense of humor, but unfortunately it will probably be cancelled, so I'll focus instead on the show I like just as well but is also more likely to make it to another season. Krysten Ritter and Dreama Walker are perfect foils as the dark, sadistic Chloe and the bright, bubbly June. This odd couple pairing, combined with a genius performance by James Van Der Beek as himself, makes for comedy gold. I can't wait to see more conniving backstabbing between these two delightful frenemies.
Runner-up: BEST FRIENDS FOREVER
Worst Drama - SCANDAL: Nothing about this show rings true. It is a forced, contrived mess of faux-Aaron Sorkin dialogue (meaning people just talk really fast at each other), plotlines lifted directly from a mid-90's soap opera (The military hero is...gay? *gasp* How shocking!). Kerry Washington's character Olivia Pope desperately wants to be a strong female role model but only manages to be a one-note caricature whose only flaw is a desperate weakness for philandering men. Really?? I respect creator Shonda Rimes for attempting to branch away from the medical community, but unfortunately this one fell flat on its face...as demonstrated by its ranking as your Least Favorite Drama of the spring. Well done, Fellow Addicts.
Runner-up: THE FINDER
Worst Comedy - WORK IT: Do I really have to elaborate?
Runners-up: ARE YOU THERE CHELSEA?, HOUSE OF LIES, I JUST WANT MY PANTS BACK, LIFE'S TOO SHORT, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, ROB, UNSUPERVISED (Basically, almost all of the midseason replacement comedies were universally terrible.)
Now it's time for you to vote for what you thought were the best new shows of the 2012 Midseason. And keep an eye peeled throughout the summer for a few more premieres, such as HBO's new Aaron-Sorkin-scripted THE NEWSROOM. Thanks for reading along this season, Fellow Addicts. We'll be at it again in September with a whole new crop of premieres!
(In the meantime, check out this post about the pilots in development for next season, and then vote for which ones you're most excited about!)
G. C. B. is certainly not a drama so I'm confused why it is placed there. It is supposed to be a comedy. At least that's how it came off to me. But I live in Texas and see the taunting on Texas they do.
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@BoredinTX - as counterintuitive as it seems, Comedy vs. Drama on television merely indicates whether a show is a half-hour or hour. Any half-hour show is a comedy. Any hour-long show is a drama. That's why even a show like Desperate Housewives, which, much like GCB, is often more funny than serious, always had to compete in the Drama category at the Emmys. So regardless of how funny GCB may be, it would technically be considered a Drama. The category of Comedy only deals with length of show, not how funny it is. (The only exception to this rule lately has been Glee, which despite being an hour-long show, is grouped in Comedy. But that's because it's a musical, not because it's funny.)
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