The WIT Analysis: U.S. Dramas

The trend-trackers at The WIT shed light on which new dramas coming to U.S. networks’ fall schedules are generating the most buzz.

The reboot of the ’80s series MacGyver stirred up the most social-media buzz of all the new shows coming to CBS this fall, according to analysis from The WIT. 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 notched up 2.6 million views on CBS’s official Facebook page and its YouTube playlist (restricted to a U.S. online audience). The show, from CBS Studios International, will open Friday nights at 8 p.m. this fall.

“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.”

Of all of FOX’s newly unveiled shows, the event series Prison Break, which reunites the cast of the original series, is on top of the buzz list in social media. As of May 24, the show’s trailer had notched up 30.8 million views on Facebook and YouTube. It is the second most-viewed trailer of the upcoming season behind NBC’s This is Us (47 million views). Prison Break (Twentieth Century Fox) will fill the Thursday 9 p.m. slot on FOX midseason.

“The excitement around the Prison Break reboot is unprecedented if we compare the buzz to the other cult franchises recently revamped, such as Heroes or The X-Files last year,” says Servy. “While the non-fans will probably remain indifferent to the project, the perfect cast reunion, as well as the exotic setting of a Moroccan prison and the many questions raised by the new plot, had fans over the moon, with as many predictions as needed to break the internet!”

The emotional series This is Us generated the most social-media buzz of all the new shows presented by NBC at its Upfront. This is Us (Twentieth Century Fox) comes from the team behind the feature film Crazy, Stupid, Love. The series, which will get a lead-in on Tuesday nights after The Voice’s results show, garnered 46 million cumulated views for the official trailer, as counted on its official Facebook page plus the official NBC YouTube playlist for the new fall shows. This is Us also has the biggest Facebook/Twitter fan base among all new network shows to date, excluding series like Prison Break and 24: Legacyusing a preexisting account.

“People have instantly developed a strong emotional attachment to the drama (many of them even claiming the trailer made them cry!), which is quite interesting at such an early stage,” says Servy. “And as emotions need to be shared, it is interesting to note that the impressive buzz around this series is growing thanks to Facebook, where the trailer has been shared over 312,000 times, versus 32,000 shares for Timeless’s trailer on Facebook, while both shows have comparable viewing figures on YouTube. People raise great expectations for the series, highly empathize with the expectant couple formed by Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia, and praise the network for straying from the procedural/legal/medical drama genre and getting back to the Parenthood vibe.”

ABC’s buzz list included, alongside the comedies Speechless and Downward Dog, the new Kiefer Sutherland vehicle Designated Survivor. Entertainment One’s conspiracy thriller, slated to air this fall on Wednesday nights following ABC’s comedy block, reached 4.3 million views of the trailer on ABC’s platforms on Facebook and YouTube. It had 41,000 Facebook Likes and 2,300 Twitter followers as of May 25.

“People in social media are excited about how good the trailer looks, about the pairing of ‘Nikita’ (Maggie Q) and ‘Jack Bauer’ (Kiefer Sutherland), about the latter finally being President of the U.S., and about their likely addiction to the series—this could be some must-watch TV for next season,” says Servy.

Riverdale generated the greatest amount of Twitter buzz among The CW’s crop of new shows, while Frequency was the network’s most talked-about trailer.

In the absence of an official trailer released online, the conversation around Riverdale was largely driven by those who attended the Upfronts—or watched the leaked trailer before it was quickly taken down. The modern-day take on the Archie Comics characters inspired 7,400 tweets in the last week. The series is distributed by Warner Bros. International Television Distribution.

“The tweets—essentially a critics’ point of view—reflect some high expectations, and a feel that the series is quite on-brand for The CW, with first comparisons pointing at a darker version of One Tree Hill or Pretty Little Liars, or also at a young-skewing version of Twin Peaks,” observes Servy. “A possible lack of an authentic Archie vibe is the main concern.”

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