Ratings for NBC's 'The Cape' were not so heroic in Sunday premiere
NBC's new superhero series "The Cape" wasn't so super in its Sunday premiere.
The two-hour special delivered an anemic average of 8.4 million total viewers, a soft opening for such a heavily promoted series.
However, the show did win the 10 p.m. time slot during its second hour.
"The Cape," which stars David Lyons as a cop imbued with special powers through a costume, is critical to NBC's sagging fortunes because it's the network's highest-profile mid-season entry. With NFL football out of the picture, the network needs the show to develop a strong following.
"The Cape" starts its usual 9 p.m. Monday run on Jan. 17.
Did you watch?
-- Scott Collins
twitter.com/scottcollinsLAT
Photo: David Lyons in "The Cape." Credit: Justin Lubin / NBC
I have a acquaintance who is on the show, and watched the first hour just to support him. Turned it off by the second hour.
Posted by: mike | January 10, 2011 at 05:32 PM
I liked the show . . . . a lot. Great characters, and lots of them. Was/is it 'original'? Who cares. It IS entertaining.
Posted by: Adam West | January 10, 2011 at 06:04 PM
The Cape was so bad I turned on a rerun of Bones to wash the cheesy plot and horrible writing out of my brain. The show had potential but missed its mark by miles.
Posted by: Masteradept | January 10, 2011 at 06:53 PM
Jesus Christ, it was ridiculous. Just another awful generic network show, crap writing, crap characters, derivative, etc. Couldn't last 20 minutes, don't know why I tried. I guess if I was a mentally-challenged 8 year-old, I might find it entertaining, but for you adults out there, c'mon...really? Just because it's on doesn't mean you have to watch it...
Posted by: Bob O'booey | January 10, 2011 at 07:12 PM
A show on NBC with 8 million viewers isn't good but a show on Vh1 gets 1 million viewers and is considered good? WTF
Posted by: DickButtKiss | January 10, 2011 at 07:12 PM
I watched this show with my friend and my brother and there were to many points in this show where we looked at each other with the single thought of"Why haven't we changed the channel yet". Seriously NBC how many mistakes are you going to make with your choices. First you canceled a solid show like Heroes and then you failed with Conan. My God in Heaven, what next?? Anybody and I mean anybody who thought that 2 hour premier was anything special, should sign up for the Special Olympics; and I mean to compete not volunteer.
Posted by: Ryan G | January 10, 2011 at 07:49 PM
I recently commented about the show on the Capes Facebook Fan page. The show does have its moments but falls flat half way into the pilot. I think the premise of the show is interesting but not enough to build a series - it's going to get old. It's Batman meets the Knight Rider. As a kid I loved Knight Rider and I loved Batman. As an adult I need a little more than a black car (ala Cape) and lame action to hold my interest. I am an Illustrator /painter /designer by trade and I love the comic book genre - its the reason why I became an artist. The genre has grown and expanded and is not restricted to children and teenagers. The problem is the show is very cliche and its not on at family hours. I expected a lot more for a show that comes on after 8 pm. There were several problems with the character and story arcs - which made the show very predictable. I don't care how violent or nonviolent a story is - as long as its a good story and this story wasn't good - it was barely mediocre. I don't need to have my intelligence insulted by recycling old stories into one new show. NBC is desperate for ratings - it's really disturbing to watch a network stoop this low to get viewers to tune in. NBC pimped the show but its far from being "great". They need to go back into the shop, tear up the original screen play, and re-work the Capes entire premise.
Posted by: John H. Drew Jr. | January 11, 2011 at 07:43 AM
Absolutely loved this show. Hope it sticks around and people give it a chance.
Posted by: Carol | January 11, 2011 at 09:38 AM
It could have been a lot worse. I think Summer did as well as she could considering some of the dialog she was given, and she certainly looked great. Keith David also lent a bit of class to the production, he's always been a solid performer.
Posted by: frederic | January 11, 2011 at 10:59 AM
It was a comic book, mainly from the 80s. Once I started watching it from that standpoint, it got a lot better.
Summer Glau in tight skirts and leather didn't hurt either.
Posted by: irena | January 11, 2011 at 11:03 AM
I really enjoyed The Cape, and I'll hate to see it canceled. It's the first show in years that my elderly dad and I could sit down and enjoy together. We laughed, we held our breath. It was wonderful. Even if it doesn't make it long, I hope we have a few more episodes so we can have a few more of these great nights together.
Monday though? Ouch. Glad Dad's a Chuck fan, it's no skin off his teeth, but I'm going to be doing the DVR Dance!
Posted by: HAF | January 11, 2011 at 11:13 AM
The networks have st a precedence of canceling shows like this. Therefore, I am not even going to bother to get invested.
It's too bad. It had some promise.
Up next on NBC, more moronic reality shows.
Congratulations, America.
Posted by: AAron | January 11, 2011 at 12:06 PM
I watched it on hulu with my husband last night and I have to say, I was impressed... I really enjoyed the show and the story line. I hope this show doesn't die after only a few episodes, like is prone to happen with shows on the Networks...
Posted by: I am me | January 11, 2011 at 01:08 PM
This show rocks, it has so much potential, I hope the network gives it a chance. It is so good to see Summer Glau back on telivishion again.
Posted by: Lee J. | January 11, 2011 at 02:45 PM
I gave this show a chance and just couldn't take it anymore about 40 mins into it. The most disappointing thing is that the cape (article of clothing) isn't even magical as I originally gathered from the promotions. Rather than expending energy tearing this show apart I'll just say join the rest of the world and watch or read Batman.
Posted by: biffmason | January 11, 2011 at 06:29 PM
I did not see it on Sunday but the Monday rerun was very good. I will commit to it, let's hope NBC will!
Posted by: steve | January 11, 2011 at 08:49 PM
I liked it. I'm usually critical, but I thought it was tongue-in-cheek, and energetic and didn't take itself overly seriously. I'll keep watching it. I think it was a job well done.
Posted by: Reg | January 11, 2011 at 08:51 PM
Uh, Scott? Did you watch? There are no super powers in "The Cape". It's all just tricks and illusions.
Posted by: Jeremy | January 12, 2011 at 10:19 AM
Epic fail! Just a horrible show from start to finish.
Hey NBC, here's an idea... If you want to do a super-hero show, how about hiring folks who know how to write super-heroes?
Joss Whedon, Joe Straczyinski, Warren Ellis, Joe Hill, Marc Guggenheim...
Names ring a bell?
Posted by: Robert Scott | January 12, 2011 at 04:18 PM
I liked the premier episode. Slightly slow, but still willing to give it a chance. Looking forward to the next episode.
Posted by: Ted | January 13, 2011 at 01:48 PM