THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
'Two' ratings don't add up to renewal (4/17/97)
By Steve Brennan
"Two," the syndicated hour action weekly, will not be renewed for a second season by Twentieth Television, which inherited the freshman series from New World.
The series was the first syndication venture from Stephen J. Cannell following his television company's acquisition by New World. It ended up under the Twentieth TV banner when Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. took over New World.
Despite the fact that the series was cleared for a second season in 80% of the country, Twentieth decided that the ratings did not merit a second season production commitment.
A Twentieth Television spokeswoman confirmed the decision, but said the company would not comment further. The series hinged on the good twin/evil twin theme but never took off in the ratings. "Two" posted a 2.5 share/3 rating in early fringe, a 1.7/2 in primetime slots and a 1.8/7 in early fringe time periods in the February sweeps. All three household deliveries were down from the previous year's numbers for the respective time periods.
The usual rule of thumb is that a syndicated hour weekly -- many of which are budgeted at around $1 million per episode -- needs to come in at around a 4 rating to make money.
The drama was originally pitched by Cannell to CBS for a 1996 launch, but the network decided to pass. Then it went to syndication with a 22 episode commitment. Cannell was not available to comment at press time.
"Two" was the second syndicated action hour to get its walking papers this season. MTM Television's "The Cape," about U.S. astronauts, has also been canceled.
June 2 "Tale of the Tape" June 9 (R) "The Reckoning" June 16 (R) "Bad Company" June 23 (R) "Russian Hill" June 30 (R) "Games People Play" July 7 (R) "Armies of the Night" July 14 (R) "Dream Prisoner" July 21 (R) "No Man's Land" July 28 (R) "Black Ops" August 4 (R) "Prodigal" August 11 (R) "Leap of Faith" August 18 (R) "Forget Me Not" August 25 (R) "Chain Gang" September 1 (R) "Tale of the Tape"
This is the home page for the TWO FAQ. Here is where you can, for now, link into the text version of the FAQ. Due to its ever-evolving nature, there is no HTML-encoded version of the FAQ. Maybe when the season is through I can take the time to HTML-ize this thing.
To see what station is airing TWO in your neck of the woods, look up The "TV Quest" site.
Choose this sentence to view the TWO FAQ.
LAST FAQ UPDATE: 22 March 1997
[Main][VR.5 FAQ] [VR.5 Episode Guide][TWO FAQ] [Fan-Fiction] [Pipeline Reviews]