Season 1 of Fox' MLB-themed drama "Pitch" ended last Thursday with an episode "not designed as a series finale," as showrunner Kevin Falls "went with a cliffhanger of sorts because producers are so confident in scoring a second season," according to Lesley Goldberg of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. But ratings for the show, which fictionalizes MLB's first-ever female player, have been "lackluster." Falls said the program's fate "will be determined in the mid- to late-spring." Falls: "We're a bubble show but I do feel like (Fox execs) do like the show." He added that despite low ratings, people who "liked baseball, liked the show." Falls: "Others dismissed it because it was a baseball show. We could have been positioned better and had some more promotion during the World Series." When asked if the show could continue elsewhere if Fox passes, Falls compared it to when "Friday Night Lights" "got a new deal with DirecTV and then aired on NBC." Falls: "There have been some conversations about that, too. ... I'd love to see it on MLB Network. That's certainly a conversation." The show's main character, Ginny Baker, blew out her arm in the season finale, and Falls said he "knew early on that we wanted her to end (the season) on an injury." But Falls said MLB "didn't want her to blow out her arm pitching and didn't like that message, which we understood." As for a storyline Falls would still like to explore, he said, "We were at one point and still want to do and will do, if allowed, is introduce a gay player. We ran that by MLB and that was the quickest approval we got on any storyline" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 12/8). Heading into the season finale, "Pitch" was averaging 4.69 million viewers for nine episodes, which put it just below the audience for its lead-in, "Rosewood," which was averaging 4.81 million viewers. For comparison, ABC's "Notorious" was averaging 6.27 million viewers in the same 9:00pm ET time slot (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).
WE WANT MORE! ESPNW.com’s Katie Barnes wrote, “I can't even fathom this being the only season. ... I’m pretty confident that we will see a renewal." "Pitch" Exec Producer and director Paris Barclay said, “If they put the show in a nice time slot, it could have a good life” (ESPNW.com, 12/9). The show’s lead actress Kylie Bunbury said, “We want to see more. You can see that with the fans; the fans love this show.” She added, “I know there’s some logistics in terms of Fox deciding what they’re going to do” (EW.com, 12/8).
