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There are a lot of reasons why FX’s new series FEUD: Bette and Joan is remarkable. For one, the series deals with one of the most bitter feuds in all of Hollywood history between two of its biggest stars. It’s also a series that’s refreshingly and overtly about sexism. You could even point to Stanley Tucci’s screaming delivery of the c-word as another way the series is breaking television ground. However, FEUD is notable for one more reason that mainstream audiences likely won’t notice. By slotting the show on Sunday night, FX has revealed how much it believes in this old Hollywood anthology series.
Though FX has some of the strongest shows currently on the air, the network has largely kept its original content out of the competitive world of Sunday night television. There’s only been one recent FX show that has premiered on Sundays — the vampire horror drama The Strain. However, even at the peak of its popularity in 2014, The Strain was never one of FX’s heaviest hitters with critics or audiences. Instead, the network has largely kept its big premieres, from Atlanta, Baskets, and Louie to American Horror Story and Fargo, to weeknights. That’s changed with FEUD: Bette and Joan, which airs new episodes Sundays at 10 p.m. ET. What makes this decision impressive is the television competition the show has to face.
Sunday nights have always been busy, but they’re especially so right now. The nation’s ever-present zombie obsession The Walking Dead is still premiering new episodes of its latest season at 9 p.m. with The Talking Dead after show premiering at 10 p.m. ET. Likewise, Showtime has built up a pocket of original programming, airing new episodes of Homeland at 9 p.m. ET and Billions at 10 p.m. ET. STARZ also has new content at the same time as FX with new episodes of Black Sails premiering at 10 p.m. ET. Even network TV has some impressive premieres on Sundays with CBS All Access’ The Good Fight airing new episodes at 8 p.m. ET and ABC’s American Crime airing new episodes at 9 p.m. ET. Also, as it always the case when it comes to ratings, Sunday night has some stiff reality TV competition. Last Sunday marked new episodes from The Real Housewives of Atlanta at 8 p.m. and Naked and Afraid at 10 p.m., both of which outperformed the freshman FX series. FEUD is in direct television competition with four major currently running series as well as a variety of other big-name programs that air new episodes Sunday nights. However, as seems to be the case more and more with FX, FEUD’s biggest competition is likely on HBO.
For a long time now, HBO has established itself as the king of Sunday night TV. That’s a reputation it intends to keep if its current sleight of shows is any indication. Right now, four of HBO’s original series air new episodes on Sundays. HBO’s star-studded and female driven drama Big Little Lies, which is likely FEUD’s biggest tonal and critical competition, airs new episodes Sundays at 9 p.m. ET. However, the show FEUD is in direct competition with is the final season of Girls. After that, HBO dives into new episodes of Crashing (10:30 p.m. ET) and rounds out the night with Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (11 p.m. ET). It’s a very strong block as well as one that looks like it would be difficult for any network to break, including FX.
So how did FEUD: Bette and Joan handle the Sunday night competition? So-so. According to Deadline, the first episode premiered to a respectable 2.26 million Live+same day viewers. This is far fewer than The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story‘s first episode, which premiered to 5.11 million in a Tuesday night slot, or American Horror Story: My Roanoke Nightmare, which premiered to 5.14 million in a Wednesday night slot. However, both of those premieres dropped significantly over the course of their seasons (The People v. O.J. averaged about 3.09 million viewers and My Roanoke Nightmare averaged about 2.69 million), and both of those premieres should be taken with a grain of salt. After all, The People v. O.J. focused on a story that has consumed mainstream culture for years, and the sixth seasons of AHS was notoriously quiet about its theme, which likely contributed to the viewership bump. Compared to other freshmen series, FEUD is leading the pack. Last week, Taboo drew 1 million viewers, and Legion drew 751,000 viewers. However, even compared to the first season of another Murphy franchise, American Horror Story: Murder House, which premiered to 3.1 million, FEUD‘s ratings are a bit disappointing.
HBO and its Sunday night lineup is currently seeing numbers similar to FEUD‘s. On a good night, Girls is lucky to get within spitting distance of 1 million viewers. Big Little Lies has been pulling in better numbers —the miniseries’ first episode brought in 2.1 million views — but they’re still comparatively small in the scheme of Sunday night TV. Likewise, both FEUD and Big Little Lies have been getting similar critical attention. After all, both series, which are new this year, have an 88 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and roughly the same amount of reviews.
It’s very possible that FEUD, even in this era of timeshifting, may become a victim of an overcrowded Sunday night TV lineup. Though it’s not directly competing with The Walking Dead, the zombie phenomenon is still a ratings powerhouse that is hard to compete around. However, that may be changing. The Walking Dead has seen a ratings drop this past season, which was more pronounced this past weekend.
Also, let’s not forget that FEUD is by its very nature — and in line with its central themes — a difficult show to sell. It’s a series about an old Hollywood story most of mainstream America doesn’t know headlined by several accomplished actresses over 60. Adding in all the other competition the series has as well as the fact that Murphy’s FX anthologies typically start with high premieres and tread downwards, FEUD may be in for an uphill battle when it comes to securing viewers.
It should also be noted that last Sunday was a bit of an outlier for TV with the broadcast of the iHeartRadio Music Awards, which drew about 1.4 million viewers. Those are 1.4 million viewers that could have chosen an annual awards show over a show premiere, but that’s unlikely. Also, this is the type of thing that happens during the Sunday night slot often. For the series to be a Sunday night force to be reckoned with, it will have to stand out among these broadcast events. The series certainly wouldn’t have this problem in a Tuesday or Wednesday night time slot, and it may end up costing FEUD potential audience numbers.
However, FEUD‘s current time slot paired with its aggressive ad campaign shows that FX believes this series is a prestige TV heavy hitter. It’s a point that’s further underlined by the fact FX has already renewed the series for Season 2. Judging by the critical response to the series as well as the fact that #FeudFX was trending on Twitter for seven hours during and after its premiere night, the network is probably making the right bet, but it’s a risky one. It’s not a question about FEUD‘s quality. It’s whether or not the budding series can stand against its competition. In a way, that’s a struggle that plagued both of Crawford and Davis’ entire professional lives.
You can watch new episodes of FEUD: Bette and Joan on FX Sundays at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.
