Will ABC renew Atlanta-based series ‘Will Trent’ for a second season?
ABC has yet to give its new detective show “Will Trent” a second season, but the network has only renewed two scripted shows so far: “Grey’s Anatomy” for a 20th season and “Abbott Elementary” for a third.
That leaves 12 scripted series “on the bubble,” including “Will Trent.”
The drama stars Ramón Rodríguez as Trent, a GBI special agent, Iantha Richardson as Trent’s partner and Erika Christensen as an Atlanta Police Department homicide detective and trusted confidante of Trent.
The show, based on the book series by Atlanta author Karin Slaughter, has generated consistently solid ratings, relatively speaking.
It opened Jan. 3 with 3.61 million overnight viewers and counting three reruns of the episodes and delayed viewing, the premiere pulled in approximately 18.1 million viewers and an average rating of 2.64 among adults from the ages 18 to 49.
Ratings have not fallen by much since the debut. In fact, the 10th episode that aired March 28 drew almost as many overnight viewers as the premiere and was the second-best overnight showing to date. The 11th episode is set to air April 18 with the season finale set to air May 2.
Overall, “Will Trent” ranks 6th out of 15 ABC scripted shows in overall overnight ratings but skews a little older on average, ranking 10th among 18- to 49-year-olds, the target demographic.
The show has received a 88% positive Rotten Tomatoes rating from critics and 83% positive ratings from viewers on the site. It also has a solid 7.6/10 rating from users of IMDb.
It also doesn’t hurt that “Will Trent” is produced by 20th Television which is owned by Disney, ABC’s parent company.
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
