There’s a certain amount of pressure that comes when a network not primarily known for scripted content finds a scripted hit. Not only do they have to figure out what their scripted brand looks like, they have to immediately begin working on finding something to build upon this new momentum. Plus, there’s the matter of figuring out just how much of a presence scripted content will have on their network, as you want to do something that gets you buzz and has a longer tail than what you typically do yet you don’t want to deeply invest in something your primary audience doesn’t really care about. Although getting into scripted content does have plenty of benefits, especially if a network owns the content it’s putting out, finding a hit isn’t without its drawbacks.
In the summer of 2011, MTV got back into the scripted game with the premiere of Teen Wolf, a genre drama loosely based on the 1985 Michael J. Fox film of the same name. The network had dipped its toe into scripted in the past, though primarily in animated fare (Daria, Beavis and Butt-Head, Clone High USA), but Teen Wolf allowed their scripted division to have a rebirth of sorts, as the show garnered strong ratings and immense buzz that dwarfed a lot of projects on bigger networks. MTV scripted was legitimized thanks to Teen Wolf yet after six seasons and nearly 100 episodes, the show, which has dipped in both ratings and buzz over the last couple seasons, will be signing off and leaving the network without its biggest scripted gun. But what will the MTV drama brand look without having Teen Wolf?
Currently, MTV has two dramas in production – The Shannara Chronicles, an adaptation of Terry Brooks’ Shannara novels, and Scream, based on the slasher film series of the same name. Shannara debuted earlier this year to mixed reviews and fan response, but it garnered decent ratings (a demo average of 0.40) and had strong enough international appeal for MTV give the go ahead for a second season. Meanwhile, despite mediocre season one ratings (a demo average of 0.34) that put it on par with since cancelled Eye Candy and a muted audience response, Scream made it to a second season due to its own name recognition and the malleability of the concept. However, instead of giving this new (and admittedly, quite improved) version of Scream the boost that it very clearly needed, MTV decided to deprioritize the show and place it on Mondays at 11:00 where, predictably, ratings died on the vine. The show has since been moved back to its season one time slot (Tuesdays at 10:00), only the damage has already been done; ratings haven’t picked up (a demo average of 0.20) and while fan reaction to the season has been more positive this time around, a renewal doesn’t seem especially likely. With Teen Wolf leaving the airwaves in 2017, MTV does not have a drama on their slate that they can build around, either from a ratings or buzz angle. Without any kind of support or lead-in capability, not to mention a show that can get people accustomed to watching you for scripted content, a drama brand cannot survive. Though MTV could likely find another fair performer or two, thanks to Shannara‘s ratings and the unscripted pieces they still have, asking their development to essentially self-start in a time when it’s difficult for cable shows to do such feels like a tall order, one they might not have to deal with had they utilized the Teen Wolf lead-in better or had a clearer sense of what their drama brand actually is.
But MTV is not getting out of the drama business just yet, though. They have dramedy Sweet/Vicious, about two Princeton co-eds who exact vigilante justice on campus rapists, set to premiere in November along with Teen Wolf. While no footage has been released just yet, as the premiere announcement only occurred during Comic-Con, the premise has such a high degree of difficulty (handling a sensitive subject with respect, blending comedic and dramatic tones, keeping the main characters grounded despite one being described as a “masked superheroine”) that leaves the show with a lower ratings ceiling. Seemingly tailor made for a cult audience and not much else, it’s the type of project that could do okay on social media and TV media-sphere without exactly setting Nielsen ablaze, which isn’t what MTV needs when they’re losing their biggest scripted piece. In terms of development, the network has two dramas that will be up for evaluation in the coming months – 99 Days, based on the book by Kate Cotugno about a girl who returns to her hometown after fleeing to boarding school following a public embarrassment, and Blooms, a twin-centric series starring Max and Charlie Carver and produced by Drew Barrymore. Both shows might sound like they could be interesting if well-executed, with 99 Days a welcome respite from cable’s penchant toward darker material and Blooms exploring something that doesn’t get a lot of play on scripted television, but neither sounds like the type of big tent vehicle that cuts through the television clutter and reestablishes MTV as a place for consumers of scripted dramas. Obviously, MTV couldn’t have predicted that Teen Wolf would be as big as it was, nor was the network’s recent ratings collapse a part of any type of plan they made, so it’s very possible that something they have in development could be their next breakout. It’s just that they’re ending Teen Wolf with a fairly bare drama cupboard while they don’t have anything in the way of scripted comedy to lean on.
In addition to losing Teen Wolf come 2017, the network has already lost comedy centerpiece Awkward. and well-regarded Faking It this year, leaving MTV without a scripted comedy for the first time in years. So essentially, MTV is going to be rebuilding both its comedy and drama brand in the coming years, which is a tall task for a network without a strong scripted history and whose remaining unscripted hits either aren’t conducive to being a lead-in for scripted content or are becoming long in the tooth. Were there enough distance between the conclusion of Awkward., Faking It, and Teen Wolf, MTV likely could see it through without too much difficulty, as networks with enough of a foundation can rebuild aspects of themselves while leaning on the parts that are still working. However, there’ll likely only be about a year between the network’s cornerstone comedy and drama ending and that’s not enough time to develop and nurture new shows to carry the scripted load. MTV has gotten a start on replenishing the comedy ranks thanks to recently ordered scripted comedies Loosely Exactly Nicole and Mary + Jane, as well as Sweet/Vicious (an hour-long whose comedic bent has yet to be determined), with the shows currently in developing leaning more dramatic; this makes sense given that Awkward. and Faking It are already off the air, while Teen Wolf should stretch well into 2017. However, even if something coming down the pipeline does become the next Awkward. or the next Teen Wolf, there are going to be some unnecessarily fallow months/years for MTV while they figure out what their brands will look like in the wake of their first breakout shows ending. You have to wonder about the timing of their recent conclusions and how much harder the network is making it on themselves, both in terms of Teen Wolf and Awkward. leaving close together and both shows leaving MTV without a scripted hit to rely upon.
Since Teen Wolf‘s launch in 2011, MTV has premiered a total of 14 scripted series – Scream; The Shannara Chronicles; Skins; Finding Carter; Eye Candy; Good Vibes; Awkward.; Faking It; Death Valley; Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous; Happyland; I Just Want My Pants Back; Underemployed; and The Inbetweeners. Of said 14, two have gone past two seasons (Awkward., Faking It) and one of those went past three seasons (Awkward.); in short, though Teen Wolf brought a level of buzz and excitement to MTV and sent a message to both the creative community and audiences that the network was serious about scripted content, it didn’t really lead to anybody actually watching other scripted shows on MTV. It certainly didn’t help matters that MTV only used Teen Wolf on new shows when it was already showing its age and that the MTV drama brand has never been clear, the latter especially deadly in this time of seemingly endless scripted options. When you have channels like E!, Animal Planet, and TLC getting into the scripted game, it’s harder for scripted shows at established networks to stand out and one thing that helps in that is a strong drama brand, a way for viewers to know what they’re going to get and a way to draft off of and spread the success of cornerstone dramas. Unfortunately, during Teen Wolf‘s run, it was never established what an MTV drama actually is and without the eyeballs the show brings to the network, expensive and mediocrely received Shannara and terminal-looking Scream (which didn’t go to Comic-Con) look much weaker, especially considering the executive turnover at MTV parent company Viacom. So while Teen Wolf is nothing less than a success, considering that it ran six seasons and helped the likes of Dylan O’Brien and Tyler Hoechlin transition into film, it leaves MTV’s scripted division not much better than when it premiered.
