'Gotham' Ratings hit Series Lows on Thursday Night

Thursday was a dark night for Gotham. A really dark night.

Fox's Batman origin series has never had the best ratings in the world, but it hit new lows with its latest episode. "The Fear Reaper" aired to just 2.8 million viewers with just a 0.8 rating in the coveted 18-49 demo.

To compare, Gotham premiered higher numbers (3.2 mil/1.0) in its season premiere last week, which was already down from the Season 3 premiere (3.9 mil/1.3). For a show that was often the subject of cancellation talks last year, it's not coming out of the gate very strong.

In Gotham's defense, there are a couple of new factors working against it.

First of all, the show has moved to Thursday nights this season. While it stayed in the 8 o'clock time slot, Gotham aired on Monday nights for each of its first three seasons. There's a chance plenty of fans still aren't aware of the new night.

Thursday also provides more competition for Gotham. Last night's episode went up against Grey's Anatomy (7.9 mil/2.3), Superstore (4.6 mil/1.2), The Good Place (4.6/1.3) and Thursday Night Football (10.7/3.2).

It's sad to say, but if this trend keeps up, there probably won't be a Gotham Season 5. However, with Solomon Grundy on the way, and Teen Wolf alum Crystal Reed making her debut as Sofia Falcone next week, there is still some hope for the series.

That being said, if the show made Jerome a series regular and called him "Joker" the ratings issue would miraculously disappear.