OWN picks up Jamey Giddens scripted show!

[VanessaReardon]

Yup. The first episode had 1.21 million viewers. The latest episode had 541,000. He’s lost about 56% of his audience. But of course he’s silent about that. 

[ChitHappens]

 

He should be silent about ratings dropping.  Right now, JG is interacting with folks on Twitter to get people to watch.  I'm sure he's aware of the ratings and working to get them up.  

[VanessaReardon]

What I dislike about JG is that when he was doing his podcast, he would SKEWER a producer and writer if they dropped 56% of their audience. Now he is silent about his own show’s ratings drop. Welcome to the real world!!!

[j swift]

Not to pile on but, was the show actually renewed or are we just seeing the second half of the season that was initially ordered after the success of the premiere episode? 

[Khan]

JG is the quintessential soap fan whose idea of what makes for good soap is "all camp, all the time," which is insubstantial and, frankly, appeals only to a very small, select portion to the viewing audience.

 

Even MELROSE PLACE -- IMO, the campiest primetime soap ever -- flamed out eventually, because it lacked enough realness and relatability to ground everything else.

[ChitHappens]

 

I don't like JG at all, but it's not realistic for anyone to think he should be addressing falling ratings.  He should remain as positive as possible and continue to interact via social media to get viewers involved and try to keep them excited.  Frankly, I hate the show and Robin Givens can make you cringe but so much before it becomes a medical issue.  

[VanessaReardon]

He should absolutely address the falling ratings. He expected it when he bitched about daytime. He should be held at the same standard. Address what is wrong with your show and why you have lost more than half of your audience. 

[Khan]

I'm with @ChitHappens.  Jamey shouldn't pretend "Ambitions" is going gangbusters in the ratings, because we see the numbers and they don't lie.  However, we shouldn't expect him to address WHY the ratings have fallen either.

 

Now, if he's disparaging those who DO criticize his show and its' ratings performance on social media after having been in their position once upon a time, that's a different story.  If you can dish it out, then be prepared to take it, too.

 

You don't have to badmouth those who call your show and its' actors and storylines crap.  You just have to answer their questions (if they have any), tell 'em their feedback is important, and encourage them to keep watching ("because, you just might be surprised by what we have in store for the rest of the season!").

[xtr]

 

I'm disappointed that they wrote off the actor that played Junior, I enjoyed him and the role he had on the show. Evan seemed like a better person when he was interacting with his father and also Rondell and his daughter. I need to catch up on the first two episodes of this second half, but I am still enjoying the show. 

 

 

This is the second half of the season. I haven't heard anything about the show possibly being renewed yet. 

[te.]

 

They ordered 18 episodes right off the bat, so this is just season 1b airing. I guess we'll know soon enough if OWN intends to keep it going -  I could still see it going either way. The show can't be that expensive and with Tyler Perry spreading himself thin they'll need new shows.

[Khan]

Should "Ambitions" be renewed for another season, my suggestion would be for them to hire a more experienced showrunner who can build on what has clicked with viewers and jettison what hasn't.

[Chris B]

I think the show has been good. I'm not sure why the ratings aren't better. If all we get is one season I do think it'll be one good season. And he has continuously mentioned the ratings. Directly tweeting people to watch Live and he said OWN is also looking at 7 day viewing and anything watched on the app counts as well as Amazon purchases. So they know and are acknowledging it and trying to boost things. 

[xtr]

 

I don't know why the ratings aren't better either. I like the show too, and definitely more than I thought that I would. Originally when I saw the preview for it, I thought it looked a bit choppy/cheaper looking, but it's turned out looking/being fine. I like the cast overall especially Kendrick Cross who plays Titus. IMO, he is talented and sexy and I could see him succeeding in more projects. I think that Titus is a terrific character and in general easy to root for.  

 

I wonder how the show's ratings will fare during this second half. There are some other shows that have gone on their mid season breaks, maybe some of those viewers could check out Ambitions if they want to see some drama. I did noticed that when Ambitions had it's mid season finale, a lot of people were talking about it on Twitter and it was trending for a while. Because some shocking/dramatic things happened. Maybe the same will happen with the season finale. 

[Chris B]

I'm hoping when the season ends they put it on a good streaming service and it builds an audience that way. I do agree with you @xtr that the promos made it look almost Tyler Perry cheesy, but the writing is very smart and coherent. I think it's a strong primetime soap and I love that it's traditional and not comedic like most modern primetime soaps. 

[j swift]

The thing that annoyed me about him on the podcast is reflective of this behavior on social media about his show.  While constantly reminding listeners that he was half-owner of the website, he would openly vilify producers and network executives who displeased him.  However, he totally rejected any listener feedback about what they didn't like about listening to him sing and complain.  So, he didn't like producers who didn't react to his concerns, but as a producer he refused to react to how his audience felt about his own performance.