Tag Archives: Secrets and Lies

Secrets and Lies – Post Eight

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            Secrets and Lies was preempted on Sunday, April 5 for ABC’s annual airing of The Ten Commandments. It is the first time since the show began that a new episode was not aired. The show returns to its regularly scheduled 9:00 p.m. time slot on Sunday, April 12.

ABC is yet to renew Secrets and Lies for a second season. The show seems to have a solid following, as week in and week out the viewership remains at about 5 million people. Much like the expert reviews, which greatly vary, audience opinion does too. The show has a Metascore of 48 on Metacritic based on 22 critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the Secrets and Lies has a 36% score, with 21 people deeming the show rotten.

Secrets and Lies – Week 7

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March 29 saw Secrets and Lies match its lowest rating of the season with a 1.3 in the key 18-49 demographic. On social media the show has a stable following. The verified Facebook page boasts more than 185,000 likes while the verified Twitter account has a greater than 14,000 followers. The show has a consistent presence on both major social media outlets posting content at least once a day. This results in audience engagement. Over the last week, more than 5,000 tweets contained the show’s name. Additionally, Melissa Gilbert, who stars in the show leverages audience engagement by tweeting about Secrets and Lies from her own personal account.

Additionally, the show will take a two-week hiatus from new episodes and show re-runs on April 5 and April 12.

Secrets and Lies – Post 6

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March 22 saw Secrets and Lies reel in its second highest rating since the show premiered on March 1. The 1.5 rating in the key 18-49 demographic was a 0.13 gain from the week prior. The show has been consistent in its audience topping at least 5.4 million viewers each week.

The show is a production of ABC Studios and was created by Barbie Kligman. A Shonda Rhimes disciple, Kligman previously served as executive producer and co-head writer on Private Practice and The Vampire Diaries.

ABC ordered 10 episodes of the Secrets and Lies, but signed a two-year contract with Kligman in case the show goes into a second season, according to Deadline Hollywood. The murder mystery is yet to be canceled, but it is also yet to be renewed.

Secrets and Lies – Week 5

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“Secrets and Lies” continues to be a stable presence on Sunday nights. Although the show has not demonstrated an ability to grow its viewership, TV by the Numbers says the mystery has retained 95% of its audience from its premier on March 1. One major obstacle for the ABC drama is overcoming the stacked CBS Sunday line-up. Weekly, CBS pulls in at least 11 million viewers at the 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. hours for “60 Minutes” and “Madam Secretary,” solid lead-ins to the “The Good Wife” at 9:00 p.m.

When it comes to reviews, the critics drastically disagree. In February, the Hollywood Reporter endorsed the cast of the show. That same month, SFGate.com, a Hearst owned entity, came away unimpressed and delivered a scathing review. Critic Dave Wiegand said, “Even before you’ve finished watching one episode, you’ll be convinced that ‘Secrets and Lies’ is the single worst show of 2015 so far.” The varying reviews have not stopped the show’s publicists from promoting the cast. An ABC News article published Wednesday, seeks to promote and humanize actors Ryan Phillippe (Ben Crawford) and Juliette Lewis (Andrea Cornell) who high speak about their personal lives and attempt to tease future episodes. However, in my opinion, teasing future episodes of a fictitious murder mystery is pointless. Regardless of the show’s plot, the mystery always gets solved in the end. Furthermore, this ABC show gives viewers another clue; there will be secrets and lies along the way.

Secrets and Lies – Week 4

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“Secrets and Lies” debuted to mixed reviews Sunday night. The two-hour premier reeled in 5.83 million viewers, the second largest audience that night. Only CBS’s hit show “The Good Wife” had more people watch with 8.92 million tuned in. The new ABC murder mystery premiered the same night that FOX debuted “The Last Man on Earth.” Critics from the Hollywood Reporter were surprised by the success of the FOX show. It seemed to appeal to a younger demographic as its 2.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic was the best at the 9:00 hour. This is bad news for “Secrets and Lies.” If both shows remain in the same time slot “Secrets and Lies” is likely to struggle.

Additionally, I thought it was an unusual approach to have a two-hour premier for a show that was poorly promoted. In my opinion, I don’t see the average TV viewer budgeting two hours of their time to catch-up on a murder mystery.

Secrets and Lies – Post 2

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The countdown to the premier of “Secrets and Lies” is just over a week away. As the date nears the publicity the show has received has increased. In many ways the show appears to be an experiment. The story is told almost entirely from the perspective of Ben Crawford, who is accused or murder. Some critics suggest that the character is in almost every seen. While shows in the passed have centered around one character (consider the likes of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and the “George Lopez” show), this murder mystery will be a new challenge. Murder mysteries often encompass multiple people and many details. I am interested to see how the show develops its plot and tries to fill in blanks before viewers become too confused to watch.

Secrets and Lies (First Post)

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“Secrets and Lies” does not hit the airwaves for another few weeks and little has been written or said about the new show. I expect that to change as we inch closer to the March 1, premier set by ABC. However, of the very limited publicity the show has received, it is worth noting that much of the write-ups focus on how the show differs from possible competition. While critics note that the plot of the murder mystery is not original, they are eager to see how the show is told from a single perspective. Perhaps the most interesting information that has come been revealed is that viewers will know the identity of the killed by the conclusion of the first season. Without seeing ratings it is far too difficult to predict a second seasons for the new show, but if it is renewed, writers will need to develop a whole new mystery.