Swayne “The Rock” Johnson is a big movie star, a huge draw in action films and light comedies when there is a box office.
He hasn’t had a failure in some time, but NBC may be handing him his first defeat shortly. “Young Rock,” the prime time series about The Rock growing up, is a bust in the ratings.
Last night, “Young Rock” in its six outing fell by 12.9 percent in total audience and almost 20% in the key demo, 18- 49, the audience it needs to attract.
Indeed, “Young Rock” has dropped 50% since its premiere six weeks ago.
Nothing about The Rock’s movie popularity is translating to the TV show.
And it’s a bigger problem than just The Rock. NBC put “Young Rock” in at 8pm to draw an audience at 8:30 for “SNL” star Kenan Thompson’s “Kenan” sitcom. This show is so awful, and also has no audience. Last night “Young Rock” drew 2.5 million viewers. Then “Kenan” got squashed at 1.9 million.
“Kenan” is the wrong setting for Thompson, despite a strong cast. The writing and premise are terrible. Kenan needs to host a variety show. He is so talented, and deserves to be a star. But this sitcom thing is not for him. He’s bound and constrained. Let him just be Kenan. And whoever thought Don Johnson should be in this needs to reconsider their career. Yikes.
As for The Rock, a cancellation for “Young Rock” will just be brushed off. But if the show drops below 2.5 I don’t see how or why NBC would keep it on. There are five episodes left in the original order of 11.
