So look, your friends here at The Hollywood Gossip love Teen Mom.
Love. It.
Unfortunately, not everyone feels the same way these days.
Sure, lots and lots of people keep up with the cast and all the drama.
But not a lot of those people actually sit down and watch the show every week anymore.
And as hard as it is to say, that fact may be causing a big, big problem …
Hey, Girls!
Here’s the current cast of Teen Mom OG: Catelynn Lowell, Maci Bookout, Amber Portwood, Bristol Palin, and Cheyenne Floyd.
Big Changes
This is quite the shake-up from last season, but we’ll get into that in a moment.
Oh Wow
This current season premiered on October 1st, and it pulled in 957,000, which is … well, it’s not great.
Ouch
851,000 people tuned in for the second episode, and we probably don’t have to tell you that a drop of over 100,000 viewers is even less great.
Sorry, Ladies
The numbers are even worse when you look back at older season premieres.
Not Great at All
Like, this is honestly really, really bad.
Different Times
Back in the good old days, things were much different — the season three premiere, for instance, got 3.654 million viewers.
Trucking Along
For the fourth season, 3.249 million people tuned in — a little drop, but still amazing.
Oops!
But after that season, Amber went to prison. And that kind of put a hold on filming.
Hiatus
But a few years later in 2015, Amber was free, so MTV decided to get the old gang back together (minus Farrah at first, at Maci’s insistence) under the new show title, Teen Mom OG.
Uh Oh
That season premiere was watched by 1.952 million people, which is clearly a much bigger drop, but still very good for a reality show.
Going Smoothly
The next season was watched by 1.192 million people, and the one after that (the last one before the current season) pulled in 1.319 million.
Right, Right
So everything was good, right? Not as good as it was before the long hiatus, but still good.
Until …
But then lots of things changed. And, as we said, this latest season premiere was only watched by 957,000 people.
Aim High!
One million viewers seems like a good number to aim for, right? And the premiere wasn’t terribly off from that.
Yikes
But the numbers seem to be dropping fast, and if Teen Mom OG can’t hit the million-viewer mark at least once this season … well, that’s going to hurt.
Hmmm …
So what could be going on here that would cause such a big drop in ratings?
New Girls
We’ve got an idea!
Who Invited Them?
The season premiere introduced not one but two new cast members with Cheyenne and Bristol, and the welcome they received was not so warm.
Sorry
Lots of people weren’t excited by the addition of Bristol to the cast because of her controversial past — the girl is super conservative with some bigotry sprinkled in from time to time.
And Then There was Sarah …
Also, it’s 2018. We’re going through enough right now, we don’t need to see Sarah Palin in our favorite reality shows.
On the Bright Side
But even though many Teen Mom fans don’t like Bristol, at least she was a teen mom.
Ugh
Cheyenne, the show’s other new cast member, gave birth to her first and only child when she was 24 years old.
Why?
Many viewers didn’t want new cast members anyway, but it feels like it should be the most basic cast requirement for Teen Mom stars to have had a child in their teens, right?
Come On, MTV
Cheyenne, along with her child’s father, Cory Wharton, have been on other MTV reality shows, so maybe the network thought viewers of those shows would follow them to Teen Mom.
Well …
But it’s just not working.
Miss You!
It’s not just the addition of Bristol and Cheyenne that has shaken things up … there’s also the big, gaping hole where Farrah used to be.
Just Not the Same
Farrah left towards the end of last season, and honestly, it’s been rough without her.
So Much Hate
People just loved to hate her so much that we have to imagine a decent amount of people tuned in to complain about how awful she was.
So Sad
Without her, the show definitely lost something special.
So Long, Edwards Family
Ryan Edwards and Mackenzie Standifer are also gone, and with them they took so much of the show’s drama.
Understandable
It’s probably for the best that MTV fired them — they did it because Maci threatened to quit because she didn’t want her son to be able to see his father struggle with his drug addiction anymore.
But Then …
On the other, more selfish hand, Ryan’s scenes have definitely been the most interesting for the past couple of seasons.
Poor Mackenzie
So many fans loved — seriously loved — bashing Mackenzie, and her scenes with Ryan always got tons of attention.
What a Loss
She just gave birth to her first child with Ryan while he’s off in rehab, but we won’t be able to see that on the show because instead we’re seeing Bristol and Cheyenne live their lives. And that’s hard.
We Need More!
Basically, there’s been a huge drop in drama, and that’s with everyone.
Great, But …
Amber used to be the show’s biggest train wreck by far, but now she’s got a new baby she’s not even neglecting, and her relationship actually seems kind of stable.
What Is HAPPENING?
She’s even getting along with Gary … what happened to the Amber of yesteryear?!
Sigh
Without Ryan and Mackenzie, Maci’s footage is mostly about her cute kids or whatever, which is nice, but not great for reality TV.
Our Only Hope
Really, it might be up to Catelynn, Tyler, and their unborn baby to save this mess.
The Healing
As we saw in the premiere, Catelynn and Tyler aren’t in the best place, and so many people have so many feelings about their marriage and Cate’s mental health and the fact that she’s pregnant again.
An Idea
If MTV could keep promoting that disaster in their weekly teasers, and if it actually keeps being such a disaster, then perhaps enough of the old Teen Mom fans could tune in to turn things around.
NOOOOO
But if not? This could really be the end.