NBC’s mid-season replacement, “Do No Harm” has been removed from the lineup after only two episodes. Despite prime placement at 10:00 pm after “30 Rock’s” hour-long ratings success finale and a decent showing by “The Office,” “Do No Harm’s” first airing only netted a low 0.9/3 rating in the 18 to 49 demographic and 3.1 million viewers overall. This was a loss of almost 1.7 million viewers from the “30 Rock” viewership finale high of 4.796 million.
By week two, “Do No Harm’s” numbers were even weaker, hitting a 0.7/3 low. With such a dismal showing, NBC clearly lost faith in “Do No Harm’s” chance at a rating recovery and promptly replaced the ratings loser with rerun episodes of “Law and Order: SUV” for its 10:00 pm Thursday primetime slot.
“Do No Harm” stars “Rescue Me” alum, Stephen Pasquale, as a modern day Dr. Jekyll trying to reconcile life with his dark-sided Mr. Hyde. Apparently, audiences were uninterested in a rehash of the classic 1886 Robert Louis Stevenson novella. However, there have been more successful attempts, such as 2007’s critically acclaimed “Jekyll,” starring James Nesbitt, nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his colorful performance as the demented doctor, and Michelle Ryan of the short lived 2007 television series remake of “Bionic Woman.”
Some could argue that such a rapid demise was due less to viewer disinterest and more to NBC’s too-soft marketing and low name recognition when it came to the main cast. However, according to “Deadline Hollywood,” the show had some other issues, including stiff competition at 10:00 pm from the CBS procedural, “Elementary,” and the hit ABC Kerry Washington vehicle “Scandal.” More importantly, the “reviews were pretty bad across the board, indicating that “Do No Harm” was probably not going to be appointment television.”