It’s hard to imagine Fox giving up on Red Band Society, and yet its ratings continue to plummet. Is it only a matter of time?
Red Band Society has been heralded the new Glee, bridging the gap between teen- and medical shows.
Fox’s new dramedy is based on a Catalan show titled Polseres vermelles. It follows a group of doctors and nurses, and their child patients, living and working in a luxury hospital in Los Angeles.
Related: Red Band Society season 1, episode 7 recap: Back to reality
It stars the acclaimed, Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer, along with Dave Annable, Charlie Rowe, Ciara Bravo and Nolan Sotillo. Its recurring cast includes Wilson Cruz and Mandy Moore.
While the show has done a lot to establish a fan base, including touring hospitals and creating a music video, it has failed to impress in the ratings.
Last Wednesday’s episode scored an 0.9 in the 18-49 demographic, with a total of 2.83 million viewers. That’s consistent with the previous week, and the show averages out to approximately 3 million viewers per episode. Only the pilot managed to score a decent 4.10 million viewers.
TV By the Numbers is calling it already, predicting that both Red Band Society and fellow new Fox show Gracepoint will be cancelled before May 2015.
Seeing that Glee is ending, however, it’s possible that the network might try to push Red Band Society one more time. Executive producer Rina Mimoun has previously expressed an interest in having shorter seasons for the show, which would each follow a different group of kids.
Speaking to EurWeb, Octavia Spencer expresses hope for the show’s renewal.
“There’s a challenge that I have to work out each week and so absolutely, I believe it’s lived up to everything I thought it would be,” she says.