NBC's 'The Contender' Pulls Strings, Not Ratings

We're a sucker for repetitive Jerry Bruckheimer theme music and the blatant use of kids for manipulative emotional appeal. We admit we're a fan of all things Mark Burnett and Sylvester Stallone. And we can appreciate a good, kick ass face pounding from time to time. NBC's The Contender, the latest Mark Burnett reality show, delivered all that last night leading us to believe another hit may be in the making. Unfortunately, according to overnight ratings as published in Marc Berman's MediaWeek Programming Insider, that's unlikely to happen."The Contender debuted with a disappointing 5.3/ 8 in households (#2), 8.40 million viewers (#2) and a 4.1/10 among adults 18-49 (#2) from 9:30-11 p.m."

So much for Bruckheimer's swelling French horns.