The Question, Friday 10/24/14: Will Constantine Fire Up Friday Ratings?

For the last three years, NBC has launched its regular Friday lineup late in October. It's been a scheduling success story, tapping into the Halloween vibe at this time of the year. The biggest surprise of all was the first one, Grimm's launch to a 2.1 in 2011 (also against Game 7 of the World Series). But the network also got solid samplings for the one-off Mockingbird Lane busted pilot and for last year's co-production Dracula. In year four, all eyes will be on the new series Constantine, the latest cog in DC Comics' TV takeover. Since the production costs are heftier, this feels like a higher-stakes situation than either Mockingbird Lane or Dracula. Will Constantine fire up Friday ratings? That's The Question for Friday, October 24, 2014.

NBC Late October Friday Launches

2.1 (Grimm season 1, 10/28/11) 1.5 (Mockingbird Lane special, 10/26/12) 2.0 (Grimm season 2, 10/26/12) 1.8 (Grimm season 3, 10/25/13) 1.8 (Dracula, 10/25/13)

It may be a pricier series, and it may be DC Comics. But I'm not sold that John Constantine has enough name recognition to produce a truly breakthrough kind of premiere on a Friday, especially with the World Series in the mix. (It wasn't for the 2012 and 2013 premieres.) I expect it to hold up better post-premiere than the horrible Dracula, but I think it will be a challenge to reproduce that show's 1.8 debut rating from a year ago.

Constantine Over/Under: 1.55.

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