San Francisco Citizen

Nobody in town has been a bigger booster of the scappy makers of NBC’s Trauma than I, but after Monday night’s abysmal ratings performance, I don’t know what to think.

“After a weak debut last week, “Trauma” (1.8/4, 5.5 million viewers) fell 18 percent in its second broadcast and finished a distant fourthin its 9 p.m. timeslot. The medical drama actually ranked fifth in adults 18-34, losing to CW’s “Gossip Girl” in the demo. While “Trauma” was a huge promotional priorityfor the Peacock pre-season, and a favorite of executives there, the series now has to be considered on life support following this performance. NBC might be patient, however, and see if the show perks up next week, when the “Monday Night Football” competition may not be as intense.”

Only Time Will Tell…

Oh Trauma, how you’ve disappointed so many the past week. You received horrible reviews for your debut show from a ton of newspapers, you started a “backlash” in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) community, and, oh yes, you have horrible ratings.  But, now get this, the San Francisco Chronicle is on your side, oblivious to all the horrible newspaper reviews, the EMS backlash, and the horrible ratings.

Well let’s fix that.    

I couldn’t find the glowing review cited in the Chron from the “glossy” Entertainment Weekly, but I did see this on the EW talking about “weak ratings” - that was easy to find. And how about this from the LA Times Entertainment blog: Ratings report: NBC’s ‘Trauma’ in pain.

Is it true that every new show from NBC last fall has already been cancelled? Yes. And yet, per the Chron, “It’s hard to tell how the show will do.” And “all” the actors are ”talking about” buying homes(!) in the 415 area? OMG! Srsly?

Let’s take a look at the numbers, here at the HubDub. The graph just spiked after Trauma’s debut:

You see, Trauma is not just the odds-on favorite for being cancelled with a quickness, it’s the odds-on favorite for being cancelled before all these other shows. I’m not an expert on TV, but if there’s at least four new shows that NBC wants to debut soon then at least a few of the current serieseses have to get axed, right? Of course, things could change for Trauma and the ratings might go up, but why would they go up at this point?

So much for the ratings. Moving on…

What about that EMT backlash? Bam! We’ve got it right here, courtesy of Patrick Moore, President of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians

This issue is summed up in the New York Daily News’ “Truth’s a casualty on NBC’s ‘Trauma,’ say emergency medical professionals”

Now of course, NBC / Universal / Open 4 Business Productions / Film 44 / Beau Bonneau Casting was trying to get real, live EMTs to work as extras but the problem was the rate of pay was only $160 per day of shooting with no maximum for how much time the EMT would have to be on the set. (In comparison, do you have any idea what the cops make on a typical day? A lot more than $160 per day, I’ll tell you. It’s a lot closer to a cool thousand dollars/day.) Offering this paltry sum of $160 to a trained EMT, well that seems a little skimpy. Maybe that’s part of the problem.

And here’s another letter from the EMT crowd along the same lines.

Does Trauma have artistic license to do whatever it wants to get high ratings? Of course. But, as stated before, it doesn’t have high ratings. So oh well.

So there’s your EMS backlash. What about the reviews?

Well, here are my notes, based upon seeing part of the pilot for the second time last Monday night.

Wouldn’t you be able to hear sirens in the distance after the big accident on the “218″ freeway? You know, instead of nothing?

Having the fake tire squealing noise as the ambulances stop at the E.R. is uber-cheesy.  

Some of the night scenes seem to have a pumpkin-orange tone, which seems a bit odd. Just a white-balance thing.

No biggee, tho. But now, here are the people who have Opinions That Matter. Presenting, the reviewers:

LA Times:

“…it’s not there yet, not even close.”

Variety:

“The big action pieces are reasonably impressive, but without stronger characters, that adrenaline boost won’t be enough to keep the show off life support.”

Chicago Tribune:

“‘Trauma’” is just standard-issue bad, not mind-blowing, please-make-it-stop bad.”

USA Today:

“Escape head trauma by avoiding NBC’s ‘Trauma’”

Miami Herald:

“No intelligible dialogue! No discernible plot! No viewers!”

TV Guide:

“Rescue Me From Trauma“

Oh, and how about the San Francisco Chronicle:

“just a not-very-good medical series“

Face it Trauma, you suck. You’re number one in the Dead Pool, with a bullet. But prove me wrong children. Prove me wrong. Who knows, maybe you’ll make itinto next season. Crazier things have happened. And blogs are often wrong. (Hahahaha! Blogs are just like you, right Gav? Aren’t you often wrong?)

Thanks for employing all those people, even if a lot of them make only rock-bottom minimum wage. All right, bye bye Trauma, the rest of this post isn’t for you.

Couldn’t San Francisco subsidize a different project instead of Trauma?

Just asking…