… And I feel fine. The big network shows have started dropping their finales. Soon enough, we’ll be in the dreaded summer season. Granted, with the growth of cable originals today’s summer is better than that of yesterday. But it’s still not the same. As we take a look at the first round of big finales, the one that really sticks out to me is Survivor. In season 20 (!!!), it’s still a legitimate hit. In fact, it beat everything on NBC last week. ABC and FOX didn’t have a lot of answers either. Only American Idol and Grey’s Anatomy were able to surpass Survivor in viewers and demo, while Dancing With The Stars had more viewers, and Lost and Glee scored higher in the demo. That’s pretty impressive after all this time.
CBS - Survivor (13.46m/4.2) and the Reunion Show (10.65m/3.6) got the week off to a very nice start. The news wasn’t bad on Monday either, with How I Met Your Mother (7.63m/3.1), Rules Of Engagement (7.65m/2.9), 2 ½ Men (13.28m/4.4), Big Bang Theory (15.02m/5.5), and CSI: Miami (10.52m/2.9). It’s been quite a year for Big Bang. The move to 9:30 has made it the #1 comedy on television. I’ll be very curious to see what happens when it shifts to Thursday in the fall.
Tuesday was also solid, if a bit off the pace. NCIS (15.96m/3.3), NCIS: LA (15.32m/3.1), and The Good Wife (12.04m/2.2) have all done well enough that keeping the night the same next season seems like a good move. Wednesday brought the return of I Get That A Lot (7.05m/2). That’s down, but still above what the comedies have been doing there. Survivor will be a huge gain in that spot next season. Criminal Minds (13.25m/3.3) and CSI: NY (11.3m/2.5) were solid enough, although NY was once again beaten by SVU in the demo.
CSI (14.35m/3.3) and The Mentalist (15.22m/3.2) were at usual levels on Thursday. And Friday brought the last ever episode (on CBS anyway) of Ghost Whisperer (6.65m/1.6). Given the way the numbers have fallen over the season, it’s hard to argue against that decision. Medium (6.82m/1.8) and Miami Medical (6.56m/1.2) finished off the night.
FOX - The Simpsons (6.24m/2.9), Cleveland (5.86m/2.8), Family Guy (7.71m/3.9), and American Dad (5.89m/2.8) made for a solid start to the week. House (11.06m/4.3) took over on Monday with a very nice finale performance, while 24 (8.95m/2.9) continues to finish its run with consistent numbers. Tuesday was again an easy win for the network with Idol (18.68m/6.7) and Glee (11.47m/4.8). I would suggest the singing kids enjoy it while it lasts. Things will be much different in the fall, at 8.
Wednesday? It was just stupid. I know, I keep saying it. But I’ll keep saying it as long as it remains ridiculous. Why is American Idol (19m/6.1) on at 9? The Good Guys (4.93m/1.5) premiere could have been big. Instead, it was sub-Chuck-ian. Swap those two shows and the Idol numbers don’t change at all, but The Good Guys numbers will double. At least. The week finished out with another solid outing from Bones (9.35m/2.8), and the usual disappointments for Fringe (5.58m/2).
ABC - After a year of ups and downs, Desperate Housewives (12.75m/4) and Brothers & Sisters (9.93m/2.9) are finishing on an upswing. That led to another solid night from Dancing With The Stars (19.04m/4.1) on Monday. Unfortunately, even that lead-in wasn’t enough to help Romantically Challenged (7.71m/1.9), which has now been canceled. Castle (10.07m/2.4) finished season two with a weird final two minutes, but decent numbers.
The DWTS results show (13.19m/2.5) started Tuesday off well enough, leading to another small gain for the last regular time slot episode of Lost (10.47m/4.3). That didn’t help V (5.46m/2.1). Lost gains and news of a renewal still saw the numbers go down. Better news for the Wednesday comedy block, with The Middle (7.56m/2.5), Modern Family (10.14m/4.2), and Cougar Town (6.14m/2.8) all looking good.
Thursday started slow with FlashForward (5.22m/1.6). Working opposite of V, news of the FlashForward cancellation saw the numbers go up slightly. Business picked up with the big Grey’s Anatomy (15.24m/5.4) finale though. The show hasn’t seen that kind of demo number since last November. Friday closed out the week with What Would You Do? (5.1m/1.8) again netting the number one demo (tied with Medium) for the night.
NBC - We learned that the Donald is no match for the Probst as Celebrity Apprentice (6.2m/2.3) took a pretty sizable hit when faced with Survivor on Sunday. Now he knows how Chuck (5.2m/1.9) feels going up against Dr. House every week. Law & Order (6.12m/1.7), which has been canceled, followed Chuck.
The Biggest Loser (8.31m/3.1) and Parenthood (6.25m/2.7) remain the most consistent night for the network on Tuesday. And they’ll both be back there in the fall. That makes sense. Unlike the idea of putting Chuck on Mondays at 8 again. SVU (8.79m/2.7) was flying solo, and took the top spot in the demo, on Wednesday.
The lure of finale night didn’t offer much help on Thursday as Community (4.43m/2), Parks & Rec (4.58m/2.2), The Office (6.64m/3.4), and 30 Rock (5.36m/2.7) were all around recent levels. The week finished with Friday Night Lights (3.96m/1.1) and Dateline (6.76m/1.6).
CW - One Tree Hill (2.02m/1) and Gossip Girl (1.96m/1.1) started the week off right where they were expected. 90210 (1.62m/.8) followed on Tuesday with some small gains. And the week was rounded out on Wednesday with a Next Top Model special (1.98m/.9).
CABLE - The thing that most stands out to me on cable is just how bad HBO needs True Blood to return. The Pacific (1.96m/.7) and Treme (.62m/.2) might have all kinds of critical backing, but they sure don’t have the numbers. True Blood might do seven or eight times that Treme number when it returns. Other cable numbers:
Basic
Premium
Clacked by Brett Love 
on May 24, 2010 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
Poor, poor The Good Guys. I suppose people are no longer nostalgic for that flavor of entertainment. I wonder how it would have fared on USA like Nix’s other show, though?