TV is a business first and foremost, so I understand why they need to churn out standard fare in an effort to court mainstream audiences and generate more revenue. But it is a business built on art, and we want art to move us and surprise us. It flat out sucks that we’re often fed the same cookie-cutter crap over and over again. It also sucks that when something original sneaks through, we worry that our new favorite show will get the hard and quick ax because it’s too unique to survive. Amazingly, though, that isn’t the case with FXX and Man Seeking Woman, which just got a Season 2 renewal despite its low ratings.
The first new series to originally premiere on FXX is also the first new series to originally premiere on FXX and earn a renewal, even with ratings that, on the surface, don’t necessarily appear that impressive.
To date, through its first five episodes, “Man Seeking Woman” is averaging 353,000 viewers among adults 18-49 and 254,000 viewers among adults 18-49 in Live+7 figures. Again, that doesn’t sound huge, but FX notes that the 18-49 audience is 41 percent better than FXX’s primetime average in that demo, while the 18-34 number is 67 percent better than FXX’s primetime average.
Based on former SNL writer Simon Rich’s book, “The Last Girlfriend on Earth,” Man Seeking Woman has been a delightfully non-standard journey through the cliches of dating and romance that is untethered by reality. The main character, Josh (Jay Baruchel) has gone to a destination wedding in hell, tussled with a bridge-troll on a blind-date, and received a gift from a cough syrup-addled cupid with mixtapes to spare.
I already wrote a lengthy article explaining why people should give the show a chance, so I’ll cut to the quick and dirty and simply say that if you’ve been hesitant to commit to the show for fear that it would die, you can now throw yourself into it confident in the fact that it is going to continue for at least one more season.
(Source: HitFix)
