Ratings Report: ‘The Irrational’ Debuts To A Big Audience as ‘Gen V’ Has A Super Start
Broadcast: The Irrational is the newest crime drama from NBC and the network’s biggest fall premiere. This original series premiered on September 25th and brought in 3.811 million viewers in the P2+ demographic with a rating of 1.21, and 446,000 viewers in the P18-49 group with a rating of 0.34. The premiere was re-aired a few days later on September 28th and managed to bring in 2.066 million viewers in the P2+ demographic with a rating of 0.66 and 191,000 viewers in the P18-49 demographic with a rating 0.15. Combined, these numbers make for a strong debut for this new original series. If The Irrational is able to retain enough of its viewers week to week, it should be set to have a successful first season. Though critics have been rather harsh on NBC’s latest, audiences have generally been more favorable, with The Irrational earning an average audience score of 77% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Irrational stars Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order, The Flash, Smash) as the renowned behavioral psychologist Alec Mercer. Mercer works with law enforcement, offering his specialized knowledge to solve a variety of mysterious and unusual cases. Using his expertise in the field of behavioral psychology, Mercer finds meaning in criminal behavior that others might write off as irrational, allowing him to develop theories that others cannot. Mercer is joined by his ex-wife and FBI agent Marisa, played by Maahra Hill (Black-ish, How to Get Away with Murder, Pearson), and his younger sister Kylie, played by Travina Springer (Ms. Marvel, Strange Angel, To Live and Die and Live). The Irrational was created by Arika Lisanne Mittman who has written for such series as Dexter, Timeless, and Elementary.
Cable: After going on hiatus back in May, Tyler Perry’s Assisted Living is back to finish out its fourth season. Returning with new episodes on September 13th, Assisted Living quickly found its way to the top of BET’s most watched series. On September 20th, Assisted Living brought in an audience of 521,000 in the P2+ demographic with a rating of 0.17. The P18-49 demographic saw 155,300 viewers with a rating of 0.12. Despite a strong return, the following week Assisted Living saw some of its lowest numbers of the season, garnering 404,000 viewers in the P2+ demographic with a rating of 0.13 and 105,500 viewers in the P18-49 group with a rating of 0.08. Hopefully as more fans are made aware of season four’s return, its rating will become more aligned with what they’ve been in the past.
Assisted Living is a sitcom written, directed, and created by Tyler Perry that features characters from one of Perry’s previous series, Meet the Browns. Assisted Living stars Na’im Lynn (Tom & Jerry, Kevin Hart’s Guide to Black History, Survivor’s Remorse) as Jeremy, a father and husband who relocates his family to Georgia after losing his job. Here, he starts a new career after agreeing to help his grandfather run a home for the elderly. Quickly realizing they are in over their heads, they are saved from going under when Leroy and Cora Brown, played by David Mann (Meet the Browns, Soul Santa, Merry Wish-Mas) and Tamela Mann (Meet the Browns, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Computer Love), join Jeremy and his father as investors and co-owners. Jeremy faces the challenge of trying to do right by his wife and children while balancing all the wacky antics accompanying his latest business venture.
Streaming: Gen V, Prime Video’s latest entry into their rapidly expanding catalog of mature superhero content, is now available for streaming. The three-episode premiere was released on September 29th and instantly met with praise from critics and fans alike. The series currently holds an impressive 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.1 on IMDb. Between September 25th and October 1st, Gen V was rated the No. 1 most popular streaming series according to JustWatch.com. New episodes are released weekly to stream every Friday.
Gen V is a spin-off of the hit Prime Video series The Boys. Set concurrently with The Boys’ upcoming fourth season, Gen V follows a group of young, aspiring superheroes as they attend a specialized school, Godolkin University, designed to help them harness and master their unique abilities. The series is led by Jaz Sinclair (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Easy, Paper Towns) who plays Marie Mareau, an outcast and orphan with the ability to control blood. Scarred by a traumatic and horrific childhood experience, Marie hopes that Godolkin University will be her ticket to redemption. After arriving on campus, however, Marie quickly learns that this university might not be the prestigious academy she always imagined it was. Sinclair’s fellow cast includes Chance Perdomo (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, After We Fell, Killed by My Debt) and Lizze Broadway (Ghosted, Here and Now, Based on a True Story).
South Korea: The pay-to-watch network ENA houses the new black comedy thriller titled The Kidnapping Day. Airing every Wednesday and Thursday, this new series averaged 1.126 million viewers on the week of September 23rd. The following week saw nearly identical viewership, once again averaging 1.123 million viewers across its two weekly episodes. The Kidnapping Day follows a desperate father who kidnaps a young girl from a rich family so he can ransom her off and pay his own daughter’s hospital bills. The series stars Yoon Kye-sang (The Outlaws, Poongsan, Kiss Sixth Sense) and Park Sung-hoon (The Glory, Three Days, Hail to Hell) and is available to stream on Prime Video
On one of South Korea’s free-to-air stations, SBS, audiences can find the new series 7 Escape: War for Survival. Also known as The Escape of the Seven, this mystery thriller series airs new episodes every Friday and Saturday. The two episodes from the week of September 23rd averaged an impressive 3.312 million viewers while the following week saw this number fall slightly to 2.967 million viewers. The Escape of the Seven follows seven strangers who become intertwined in an unusual missing girl case plagued with lies and deceit. The series stars Um Ki-joon (Ghost, Man of Vendetta, The World That They Live In), Hwang Jung-eum (Secret Love, She Was Pretty, Endless Love), and Lee Joon (Ninja Assassin, Rough Play, Mr. Baek).
United Kingdom: The longest running series in the United Kingdom is also the most watched soap opera in the nation. For months, ITV1’s Coronation Street has continued to maintain this title, and September is no exception. Between September 11th and 17th Coronation Street averaged 4.343 million viewers across its three new episodes. Found on the same network, Emmerdale continues to trail behind as the nation’s second most watched soap opera, averaging 3.795 million viewers across the five new episodes from that week. Changing channels to BBC1, EastEnders falls just short of Emmerdale’s viewership, maintaining third place with an average of 3.532 million viewers across its four new episodes. The following week, between September 18th and 24th, saw the viewership for each of the series dip slightly. The average viewership of Coronation Street fell to 4.235 million as the average viewership for Emmerdale lowered to 3.686 million. EastEnders saw its viewership dip to an average of 3.469 million. During this week, the less popular E4 drama Hollyoaks averaged 296,000 viewers across its five new episodes, ultimately performing stronger than it has in recent weeks.