It was a painful start to the season for a Canuck comedy that already received its second-season order a week prior to its debut on Rogers’ Citytv.

Winnipeg-set sitcom Less Than Kind averaged just 47,000 viewers (2+) for its premiere episode on Oct. 13, airing on Citytv stations in Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Edmonton.

The show earned a 0.2 rating in Toronto and a slightly higher 0.6 rating in Vancouver among adults 18-49 – meaning less than 1% of the demographic that was watching TV was tuned in. By comparison, Global’s comedy ‘da Kink in my Hair debuted to a 2.1 rating in Toronto and a similar 0.6 rating in Vancouver.

Alain Strati, VP of specialty television at Rogers, defended the show’s performance and says the company believes it will continue to increase audience, noting Less Than Kind grew its viewership the second week. Citytv did not provide numbers for the second episode.

‘Less Than Kind is a new show, and any new show needs time to grow its audience. After all, we are in the same time slot as some long-established dramas,’ he said. The comedy airs Mondays at 10 pm opposite CSI: Miami on CTV, Boston Legal on E! and My Own Worst Enemy on Global.

Less Than Kind stars Jesse Camacho (St. Urbain’s Horseman) as an overweight teenager trying to fit in with his dysfunctional Jewish family, which includes his self-destructive father, played by Maury Chaykin (Blindness, Entourage).

The 13-ep second season is set to go into production after Christmas.
From Playback Daily