As Constantine returns for its midseason premiere tonight, the show’s future still remains unclear.
While Constantine has yet to be officially cancelled, NBC’s decision to not order a back-half to its 13-episode premiere season left the show’s future in question. With no updates since that news in November, IGN was able to follow up with NBC president Jennifer Salke and chairman Robert Greenblatt during the Television Critics Association press tour this week.
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When asked about Constantine’s poor ratings and possible future, Salke had this to say: “We wish the show had done better live. It has a big viewership after [it airs] in all kinds of ways and it has a younger audience, but the live number is challenging. It hasn’t come out in the way we wanted it to, but we love the show. I think it’s fair to say we’re still talking about it.”
It’s not terribly surprising to hear this, given that Constantine first batch of episodes aired on Fridays at 10:00 p.m., a time slot notoriously devoid of viewers for any network.
Greenblatt, however, thought that Constantine didn’t hit its targeted numbers due to the character’s lack of mainstream recognition. Despite being a personal fan of the show, he said it didn’t pack the same commercial punch as DC’s other costumed heroes.
As he put it, “We got on the bandwagon of these shows based on comic books and maybe there are too many of them. It’s a popular series of comics, but it’s not The Flash, it’s not Batman. So maybe it suffers a little bit there. But as Jen said, it’s a show we really like. We love Matt Ryan, who’s the star of it. I think we did right by the fans who didn’t like the film that was made of it. The future is still up in the air for that show.”
Without a clear answer, it looks like Constantine’s second season is still up in the air. NBC is most likely waiting to see how the show will perform in its new Friday time slot at 8:00 p.m., where it arguably stands a better chance at attracting more live viewers.
The show’s final test starts tonight, when Constantine airs at 8:00 PM ET on NBC.
