The Chase is on
Monday was a bad night for Texas TV shows as cliches rained and viewers dropped
"Chase" — bad reviews, so-so ratings
"Lone Star" — good reviews, bad ratings
Monday night saw the premiere of two television shows ostensibly set in Houston, but neither had a very good night.
Lone Stargot some of the best reviews of the new TV season — the New York Times called it "endearing" and "clever" and the Washington Post called it "better than almost anything new this season" — but the ratings weren't anything to shout about.
The series, which centers on a con man who lives separate lives in Houston and Midland, attracted only an estimated 4.06 million viewers and steadily dropped in viewership as the show went on — not a good sign. It remains to be seen if Fox will give it time to see if it attracts an audience.
Chase, an NBC police drama set in Houston but not filmed here (neither is Lone Star), attracted nearly 8 million viewers and held steady throughout the hour. But it trailed far behind the competition, as CBS' Hawaii Five-0 drew nearly 14 million viewers and ABC's Castle drew a little over 11 million.
The first episode of Chase, which centered on the hunt for a creepy killer who has significant mother issues, was sprinkled with references to River Oaks and Ben Taub Hospital and included every Texas cliche imaginable — in the opening scene, U.S. marshals chase a criminal through a cattle drive. How original.
Chase only reinforces a bunch of tired old stereotypes. Too bad the producers couldn't take a page from Friday Night Lights and portray the Lone Star state in a realistic way.
There may be no such thing as bad publicity, but the Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau might want to keep its fingers crossed that Chase gets run down soon.
