Some may call the whole genre immoral dross, but when it comes to reality TV, Australian audiences are a discerning bunch – and watching Nine's Last Resort appears to be just that.
Nine's attempts to follow-up the success of their breakout reality hit Married At First Sight have floundered spectacularly, with their new primetime reality offering suffering a dismal debut.
More Trailers Videos
- Video duration
- 03:02
Trailer: The Last Resort
Trailer: The Last Resort
Five long-term couples head to 'Hope Island' in a desperate bid to save their relationships while the cameras capture every excruciating minute.
Up Next
Trailer: Becoming Bond
- Video duration
- 01:20
- Video duration
- 01:20
Trailer: Becoming Bond
Trailer: Becoming Bond
Follow George Lazenby on his journey from a car salesman in Queanbeyan to securing the role as James Bond.
Up Next
Trailer: A Quiet Passion
- Video duration
- 01:53
- Video duration
- 01:53
Trailer: A Quiet Passion
Trailer: A Quiet Passion
The story of American poet Emily Dickinson from her early days as a young schoolgirl to her later years as a reclusive, unrecognised artist.
Up Next
A QUIET PASSION Trailer
- Video duration
- 01:57
- Video duration
- 01:57
A QUIET PASSION Trailer
A QUIET PASSION Trailer
Cynthia Nixon stars as the legendary poet Emily Dickinson in this luminous biopic from director Terence Davies (The Deep Blue Sea, Sunset Song).
Up Next
Trailer: Norman: The moderate rise and tragic fall of a New York Fixer
- Video duration
- 02:00
- Video duration
- 02:00
Trailer: Norman: The moderate rise and ...
Trailer: Norman: The moderate rise and tragic fall of a New York Fixer
Norman Oppenheimer (Richard Gere) lives a lonely life in the margins of New York City power and money, a would-be operator dreaming up financial schemes that never come to fruition. As he has nothing real to offer, Norman strives to be everyoneâs friend, but his incessant networking leads him nowhere.
- Video duration
- 02:34
Trailer: Pork Pie
Trailer: Pork Pie
A trio of accidental outlaws travel the length of New Zealand in a yellow mini, protesting conformity and chasing lost love, with a posse of cops and a media frenzy hot in their pursuit.
Up Next
Trailer: Get Out
- Video duration
- 02:32
- Video duration
- 02:32
Trailer: Get Out
Trailer: Get Out
A young African-American man visits his Caucasian girlfriend's mysterious family estate.
Up Next
Trailer: Whiteley
- Video duration
- 01:41
- Video duration
- 01:41
Trailer: Whiteley
Trailer: Whiteley
A visual journey into the life and legacy of one of Australia's most celebrated artists, Brett Whiteley.
Trailer: The Last Resort
Five long-term couples head to 'Hope Island' in a desperate bid to save their relationships while the cameras capture every excruciating minute.
Last Resort - which sends five broken couples to a luxury resort in Fiji for a month, with the apparent premise of counselling them back to love via dinner party shouting matches - opened to just 414,000 viewers (5-city metro) on Tuesday, falling to fourth in its timeslot and failing to make the night's top 20 programs.
Its debut was lower than that of the (then) biggest TV bomb of the year to date, Ten's The Biggest Loser: Transformed, which opened to 450,000 viewers before being dumped to a daytime slot by the network for the remainder of its season.
Last Resort's ratings were as lacklustre on Wednesday evening, picking up just 435,000 viewers in its second outing. Topping the same timeslot, Ten's Masterchef Australia earned 876,000 viewers.
Worse yet, the second episode appeared to jump the shark, with the show's expert relationship coach forcing couples to mock-marry faceless actors in an attempt to make their partners jealous and confront the "reality" of losing them for good.
With the stakes so low, the results were quickly ridiculed online, with viewers criticising the manufactured drama and accusing contestants of breaking into crocodile tears for the cameras.
I present Carl's "trying to cry" face#9TheLastResort @9TheLastResort pic.twitter.com/drTDwc790y
— Ashley Vandermaarl (@ashvandermaarl) May 10, 2017
Waiting for the drama like #9TheLastResort pic.twitter.com/XE7whT9L4Y
— Jules LeFevre (@jules_lefevre) May 9, 2017
This is god awful tv.... #9TheLastResort
— Bortles Believer (@AussieJag) May 10, 2017
Adding further sting to the viewer disinterest, the show is an original format produced in-house by Nine Productions, who heavily promoted the series before its premiere on Tuesday, hoping to replicate the regular million-viewer figures that met MAFS earlier this year.
"It's a good show and we believe in it," a Nine spokesperson said, when asked if the show would be bumped from its primetime 7.30pm slot.
"We're buoyed by the fact it grew its audience last night and is remaining competitive in the demos. We said we would take risks with programs and it is what we will continue to do."
The network earned bigger numbers from its 8.30pm offerings on both nights, including Love Child (521,000) on Tuesday and Britain's Got Talent (524,000) on Wednesday, despite the weak lead-in.
0 comments
New User? Sign up