Bent on Wednesday nights

NBC’s new rom-com may have been dead on arrival.

Bent premiered Wednesday night as NBC’s new romantic comedy.

Bent, starring Amanda Peet and David Walton, ranked fourth in the 9 p.m. hour Wednesday night. A Modern Family repeat beat it out for a higher-ranking spot.

Bent, the new half-hour rom-com from NBC, stars Amanda Peet as Alex Meyers. Meyers is a recently divorced lawyer who is a stark contrast to her contractor, a sexy surfer named Pete Riggins (played by David Walton).

Of course Riggins is just a friend, so you can definitely expect flirtations, hurt feelings, broken hearts, and romances between the two.

Even though Bent didn’t rank high among its peers (American Idol is always a tough hand to beat, and Modern Family is a new institution in American television) many viewers were “charmed” by the show. Unfortunately for them, NBC may not be quite as thrilled.

Bent aired with two back-to-back episodes Wednesday night, and it looks like they may be trying to use up what they already have. In the next two weeks NBC will premier back-to-back episodes again, quickly burning off all six episodes of Bent.

NBC released Bent mid-season with very little promotion, so maybe they weren’t expecting it to do well in the first place. Sure, Bent isn’t the most original show to grace the Wednesday night line-up, but it looks like it was dead before it had a chance.

Perhaps NBC will have a change of heart and bring Bent back in the fall for a new season. But for now, the future of Bent is as promising as its title.