Alec Baldwin didn’t help the ratings of “Law & Order: SVU.” In fact he probably hurt them.
Although NBC heavily promoted Baldwin as guest star his appearance was not a draw for the favored show. “L&U SVU” finished a distant second in total viewers to CBS’s “Criminal Minds.” And in the key demo, it was third, following ABC’s “Modern Family.”
In January, “L&O” was hitting a 2.0 share in the key demo and scoring 7.5 million viewers without Alec. With Alec, the show did a 1.5 in the key demo and 5.82 million viewers. More than a million “L&O” fans tuned out that episode.
The answer may be that Baldwin is simply not a draw for ratings. “30 Rock” was never a high rated show. One insider suggests that women, who watch “Law & Order” for Mariska Hargitay as a strong female lead, don’t care for Baldwin’s recent much publicized antics. I won’t list them all here again.
In any case, the episode was very good, and Baldwin was excellent as a belligerent New York reporter cast in the memory of the late Mike McAlary. Maybe more people will see the rerun.
