Bill Donohue comments on the ABC-TV show, “The Real O’Neals”:
This sorry show, based on the life of a sexually challenged, raging anti-Catholic bigot, Dan Savage, is on its last legs.
As I said last week, the show is “off to a bad start.” I noted that it was “lagging behind its competition on the other networks, and losing viewership from ABC’s preceding program.”
It is now being reported that ABC has ordered only three additional episodes, a sure sign it is floundering. If the show weren’t in trouble, it would air 22 times; as it stands now, there are only 16 scheduled.
ABC has 19 scripted shows this season, and the “O’Neals” is 6th from the bottom. Moreover, it is doing much worse than last season—it is the lowest of any ABC comedy on Tuesday.
As one media site said, its ratings last season were so anemic that it “could have been cancelled last May.” Another media outlet put it this way: “The Real O’Neals was renewed despite pretty thin ratings last season, as ABC took a chance on a marginally rated show it owned, presumably hoping it would build on its first season.”
So why wasn’t it cancelled last May? It wasn’t because ABC took a chance on it rebounding. No, the decision not to cancel was based on politics: ABC did not want to appear giving in to pressure from organizations such as the Catholic League. We not only pounded the “O’Neals” for its bigoted-themed script, we took out an op-ed page ad in the New York Times denouncing it.
We knew that being so public in our condemnation was risky: it was sure to be met with resistance by the corporate boys and girls at ABC. But it was still worth a shot. Besides, we are used to taking the long view, betting that if its rating did not spike in a new season, it was done.
Now that the end is near, we are salivating at the bit. Shamelessly.
Tell the ABC chief that we are not going away: ben.sherwood@abc.com
