The future of the US Rake looks to be in doubt as its audience hit an all-time low after Fox moved the legal drama from Thursday to Friday nights.
Last Friday’s episode had 1.9 million viewers, down from 3.5 million in the previous Thursday timeslot. The audience for the drama, which stars Greg Kinnear as a self-destructive criminal defence lawyer, has plummeted since its January premiere, which drew 7.1 million viewers .
“How much longer Rake will last now is really a matter of how low Fox is willing to let the show go, " Deadline.com reported on Sunday.
Deadline said the show “never connected with viewers” and had suffered by having to compete with three weeks of Olympics coverage on NBC from two weeks into its run.
Bojana Novakovic, who plays Kinnear’s girlfriend, has been offered the lead role in Agatha, an ABC pilot about a former convict-turned-big-city criminologist who is brought in to help police crack a case involving a perplexing disappearance.
Another member of the Rake cast, Necar Zadegan, has been cast as a divorce attorney in Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce, a new, 13-peisode series for the Bravo cable network.
Despite the sagging ratings, Rake has its admirers in the US. “I watched Rake last night and really enjoyed it. I am convinced that a major part of the problem is the show’s title which is a somewhat obscure term,” one fan posted on Deadline.
Said another, “What happened to Rake? Most original, fun, well-acted tv show in ages. Listed for last night at 9 and when I tuned in, it was just ending!!! What gives?”
Peter Duncan, who co-created the Australian Rake, created the US series which is produced by Essential Media and Entertainment and Fedora Entertainment in association with Sony Pictures Television.
The show will screen in Australia on the Universal Channel.