‘Lucky 7’ becomes the fall’s first TV casualty

We have our first casualty of the 2013-2014 season and its identity will come as no surprise to those who have been paying attention to early ratings.
ABC announced on Friday (October 4) that effective immediately, “Lucky 7” has been pulled from Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. and replaced with repeats of “Scandal.”
Only two “Lucky 7” episodes aired and after an already low-rated premiere, the ensemble drama slipped to a woeful 0.7 rating among adults 18-49 and an overall audience of only 2.62 million viewers. Early DVR numbers for “Lucky 7” also weren’t encouraging, as the premiere episode got only a 15 percent bump in the 18-49 demo, extremely weak for a show that was already starting  in such weak position.
ABC has been pretty good in recent years with finding alternative homes for unaired episodes, whether online or in summer burnoffs. I contacted ABC sources to try finding out how many “Lucky 7” episodes were in the can and whether they will be made available at any point. I was told that “production details are still being worked out.”
If you’re marking your calendar, next week’s Tuesday 10 p.m. “Scandal” repeat will be Thursday’s season premiere, “It’s Handled.”
Personally, I thought that “Lucky 7” was a reasonably OK, fairly humane little drama that had a couple interesting characters and a little style. Despite boasting Steven Spielberg as an executive producer, though, the David Zabel-created series lagged behind “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and “The Goldbergs” in the Tuesday promotional department for ABC.
With “Lucky 7” taking the onus as the fall’s first cancellation, it’s time to look to other contenders.
*** David Zabel’s other ABC drama, “Betrayal,” tanked in its Sunday debut, but with Live+3 DVR figures, it at least went up to a 2.0 in the 18-49 demo. ABC has showed patience with dramas in that Sunday 10 p.m. slot, so it’s unlikely.
*** How about the “Lucky 7” lead-in, “Trophy Wife”? The ratings are awful, but will ABC try to protect this well-received comedy despite only 4.3 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating?
*** How about FOX’s much-less-well-received “Dads”? After an OK premiere, it was down to 3.4 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating, also dragging down “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
*** Will NBC give a quick hook to “Ironside” or “Welcome to the Family,” which both fell flat in premieres this week?
*** Or with a higher set of standards, will CBS be hasty with “We Are Men” if it drops in Week 2?
Stay tuned!
Will you miss “Lucky 7”? And what’s next to get the hook?
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