Ratings Report: ‘This Is Us’ Continues To Shine, ‘Back to 15’ Breaks Top 10
Sterling K. Brown & Susan Kelechi Watson - This is us/NBC
Broadcast: This Is Us is an American drama series that follows the lives and families of two parents and their three children all in different time frames. Throughout the past five seasons, it has received widespread critical acclaim demonstrated with 38 Emmy nominations, 4 Emmys, and 1 Honor from the Television Academy. The ensemble cast features Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Sullivan, Ron Cephas Jones, Jon Huertas, Caitlin Thompson, Alexandra Breckenridge, Niles Fitch, Logan Shroyer, Hannah Zeile, Mackenzie Hancsicsak, Parker Bates, Lonnie Chavis, Eris Baker, and Faithe Herman. Dan Fogelman originally began the series as an 80-page movie script while working for ABC studios in the spring of 2015. After, Fogelman solidified an eight-figure deal with 20th Century Fox Television prompting him to develop a television series from the characters of the original script. While they loved the idea, they had concerns regarding the lack of views it would attract to the network leading Fox to sell it to NBC. They believed that The Voice and the Summer Olympics would bring additional viewers to the series solidifying their reputation among its studio’s writers and directors, even if it was not on Fox. The series was picked up for a full season on September 27, 2016, with the news of its sixth and final season being announced on May 12, 2021. Something interesting is that regarding casting, Fogelman intentionally recruited behind-the-scenes talent that would reflect the diversity of the cast. His goal was to bring greater authenticity to the dialog and storylines. This includes black directors Regina King and George Tillman Jr., and black female writers Kay Oyegun and Jas Waters. In addition, Fogelman’s sister Deborah serves as a consultant for the series as she struggles with weight and was one of the initial aspirations for the show. In May 2017, Hulu required the SVOD rights to new and past episodes of the series to air on both their platform, NBC.com, and the NBC app. This Is Us’ most recent episode had a viewership count of 4.10 million outperforming Fox’s I Can See Your Voice and The CW’s Naomi. As this is the final season of an incredible series, expect to see a pick-up in viewers as it ends.
Pasión de Gavilanes - Telemundo
Cable: Pasión de Gavilanes is a Colombian telenovela written by Julio Jiménez. It is produced by RTI Colombia with the Telemundo network and with the participation of the Caracol TV company. It is based on Jiménez’s 1994 telenovela Las aguas mansas. The first season premiered on Telemundo on October 21, 2003, while in Colombia it premiered on Caracol TV. On May 12, 2012, Telemundo announced a second series to take place during its 2021-2022 television season taking place 20 years after the events of the original series. The second season started production on October 18, 2021, with its premiere on February 14, 2022. In the second quarter of 2015, ABS-CBN announced RTI Producciones, in partnership with Caracol Televisión and Telemundo approved a Pinoy version of the series known as Pasión de Amor which premiered on June 1, 2015, and ended on February 26, 2016. Season 1 of Pasión de Gavilanes followed the life of the Reyes and Elizondo family after a death triggered a series of events that shaped their destinies forever. Through this, their loyalty and love were put to the test. In terms of viewership, the numbers have continued to decrease. It does not seem to have caught the attention of its followers demonstrated with its March 7th broadcast recording the channel’s worst numbers in prime time with 808,000. While it contains an internationally recognized cast, it seems as though creating a second season of Pasión de Gavilanes 20 years later did not receive the traction they expected.
Tiffany Haddish - The afterparty/apple tv+
Streaming: Apple TV+’s series The Afterparty premiered on January 28, 2022, and was renewed for a second season on March 2, 2022. It is an American murder mystery comedy series created and directed by Christopher Miller. It stars Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson, Zoë Chao, Ike Barinholtz, Ben Schwartz, Ilana Glazer, Jamie Demetriou, and Dave Franco. It takes place at a high school reunion after-party with each episode centering on a different character’s perspective on what happened that night. It follows the “whodunnit” subgenre of a murder mystery. Specifically, the investigation serves as the jumping-off point for characters to find second chances, personal fulfillment, and a departure from their daily lives. Miller developed The Afterparty in the early 2010s because he wanted to make a murder mystery showing different perspectives from multiple witnesses. It originally was set up at Sony Pictures as a film, however, it never came to fruition due to commitments with The Lego Movie and 22 Jump Street. Later, he considered making it a mini-series to properly develop the characters. It was given an eight-episode straight-to-series order with Sony Pictures Television and TriStar Television serving as the production companies. For the second series, Haddish is set to reprise her role as Detective Danner with a new cast of suspects. For season 1 of The Afterparty, Rotten Tomatoes reported an 89% critics score vs a 75% audience score. Miller’s series is an interesting take on the murder-mystery genre. Next season will determine if it will be able to keep its positive reception.
Maisa Silva - Back to 15/netflix
International Series: For the week of February 28 to March 6, 2022, the Brazilian drama coming-of-age series Back to 15 recorded 18,060,000 hours viewed ranking it number 4 in Netflix’s Global Top 10 TV (Non-English). Adapted and scripted by Janaina Totitake, it is inspired by author Bruna Vieira’s book by the same name. It was released on February 25, 2022, and stars Maisa Silva, Caio Cabral, Klara Castanho, Amanda Azevedo, Joäo Guilherme, Pedro Vinícius, Gabriel Wiedemann, Antônio Carrara, Lucca Picon, Pedro Ottoni, and Fernanda Bessan. It follows adult Anita as she returns to her hometown for her sister’s wedding. While there, multiple disasters unfold leading her to take refuge in her childhood room. After opening her old computer, she is transported to her first day of high school. The series then follows a 30-year-old brain stuck in the body of a 15-year-old girl. She takes the opportunity to fix the lives of everyone around her, however, while doing so she realizes that it impacts everyone’s future; not always for the better. As the plot premiered on February 25, 2022, time will tell if Back to 15 will continue to make the Top 10 TV (Non-English) list.
