After Early Fuss and Fury, 'Skins' Finale Brings Shrugs, Slight Improvement to Mediocre Ratings

Back in late January/early February, the entertainment world (and Yidio fans) were up in arms over the controversy surrounding “Skins,” a new MTV teen drama based on a British series that showed a realistic portrayal of the world of teens, drugs, sex and all.

The series started off with a bang, scoring ratings success and the scorn of the Parent’s Television Council, while causing advertisers to flee and countless inches of ink to be spilled.

Just a couple short months later, after the season finale of the show, it’s starting to feel like all the fuss was for naught, as the show has proven to be a bit of a wet fart - driving mediocre ratings and a collective shrug from viewers.

While the season finale represented an uptick in deflated ratings, it wasn’t enough for MTV to commit to another season of the beleaguered show.

According to Deadline, “’Skins’ wrapped its freshman season this weekend with 1.2 million viewers and a 1.21 rating in persons 12-34, both up 9% from last week and the racy teen drama's best ratings since Episode 4, which aired on Feb 7.”

According to the site, “no decision has been made on the future of the series, which, after the initial slide, showed some ratings growth in the past few weeks and has delivered solid on-demand numbers.”

While we think there’s a place in prime-time for honesty and a realistic portrayal of teen life, it sounds like the lack of substance to balance the salaciousness has started to catch up with “Skins.”

Controversy is typically great for ratings, but if viewers don’t have your back, outside pressure from watchdog groups can certainly take a toll.

Do you think “Skins” will be back on MTV next season? Will they have the patience to see if the show can build a dedicated audience, or will the network bow under pressure and so-so ratings and give the show the axe?

Most importantly, if "Skins" returns, will anyone be there to watch it?