The WIT Analysis: CBS

NEW YORK: Of all of CBS’s new fall shows, the reboot of the ’80s series MacGyver generated the most interest in social media, according to analysis from The WIT.

From CBS Studios International, the reimagining of the classic show, starring Lucas Till and George Eads, has a fairly modest social media fan base, with 18,000 Facebook Likes and 400 followers. However, the trailer logged 2.6 million views on CBS’s official Facebook page and its YouTube playlist (restricted to a U.S. online audience). That number reflects a curiosity about the revival, which opens Friday nights at 8 p.m.

“Judging by the first reactions however, CBS is far from having convinced its audience it has something new to bring in the crowded world of remakes of TV and movie franchises,” says Caroline Servy from The WIT. “’Too generic,’ ‘not risky,’ ‘not the right guy for the part’—viewers have a lot to say and are not quite ready to forget Richard Dean Anderson and his mullet.”

The legal drama Bull with former NCIS star Michael Weatherly, inspired by the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw and exec produced by Steven Spielberg, had just 450,000 trailer views as of May 26. However, it was CBS’s most commented-on new show on Twitter, with more than 6,800 tweets since May 18, and the second most-anticipated series in terms of the Facebook and Twitter fan bases. Further, the first reactions around this new procedural in the CBS family have been extremely positive.

“Reactions to the trailer are quite unanimous, and the drama seems to hit all the right notes for the audience with its balance of psychology, charm, fun technology and witty plots [along the lines of] Lie to Me or The Mentalist,” Servy says. “Casting Weatherly seems to be the right move to please CBS’s audience, as is the strategic choice to air the show on Tuesdays between the original NCIS and its New Orleans spin-off.”

Two new Monday night comedies fronted by big names—Kevin James and Matt LeBlanc—are also generating interest for CBS. James’s Kevin Can Wait came out just ahead of LeBlanc’s Man with a Plan. Kevin Can Wait, about a retired cop, played by James, who finds life at home is tougher than on the streets, ranks as CBS’s most anticipated comedy in terms of Facebook and Twitter indicators (13,000 Likes, 400 followers). The show’s online fan base is still small, but the trailer was watched some 640,000 times as of May 26.

“The comedy beats seem to be working fine and the sympathy towards Kevin James, as well as The Big Bang Theory lead-in on Monday night, will ensure sampling and support from a solid audience, who seem to be looking forward to predictable but efficient comedy,” Servy says.

Visit World Screen’s fall season grid here for synopses, trailers and a listing of new and returning shows by studio.