“Falling Skies” had the strongest cable debut of 2011, and TNT rewarded the show’s performance last week with a renewal order after only three episodes.
The series, starring Noah Wyle, has averaged 6.4 million total viewers in its first three episodes and is attracting strong ratings in overseas territories. The network has ordered 10 episodes for Season 2, which is slated to air in summer 2012. [Deadline]
As I’ve said before, there’s some pretty good action in “Falling Skies” if you can get past the cloyingly sweet family touches that are so obviously shoehorned into the show by Steven Spielberg. That’s what makes the show perfect for DVR: if you see a child onscreen, hit fast-forward and keep fast-forwarding until you don’t see any dumb wiener kids. I’ll rescind this rule of thumb if — and only if — the aliens tear a child’s limbs off or vaporize a kid on a skateboard. C’mon, Spielberg. Do it, you pussy.
