Fall TV's First Ratings Casualty: 'Lucky 7'

The first victim of low ratings for the new fall TV season came as a surprise to no one. "Lucky 7" had been in trouble since its debut episode failed to retain a significant number of viewers from its lead-in series, "Trophy Wife," and when its second episode lost nearly half its already meager audience, it was all over.

ABC wasted no time putting "Lucky 7" out of its misery, cancelling the series practically before the second episode was even over. Although the prospects for the series were never bright, there was hope that it could benefit from the strong performance of ABC's Tuesday-night kick-off series, "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Although "Lucky 7" was the weakest link in the network's Tuesday line-up, the second week of the fall season exposed possible long-term concerns for the network. "S.H.I.E.L.D." had an extremely strong showing in its first week, but it lost a third of its viewership in its second week and finished a distant third in its time slot behind "NCIS" and "The Voice." The series that follow "S.H.I.E.L.D." on ABC, "The Goldbergs" and "Trophy Wife," have struggled to retain "S.H.I.E.L.D."'s audience.

If ABC's Tuesday night line-up is troublesome, Fox's line-up is even more so. "Dads," "New Girl" and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" all finished last in their time slots among the big four networks in the second week, and "The Mindy Project" managed to squeeze out only a narrow victory over a weak "Trophy Wife."