NBC
Week two of the new season brought with it more premieres. Some of those did better than others. The biggest story of the week was the jackboot to the jewels that ABC took on Wednesday night with Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, and Dirty Sexy Money.
Numbers were down for all three shows across the board, and calling them down is being nice. ABC wasn’t alone in those disappointments. The kickoffs to Chuck and Life over at NBC didn’t work out much better, and FOX is left trying to decide what to do with Terminator:TSCC. On the bright side, crime still pays for CBS.
ABC – The expectations for the return of the Wednesday night lineup were probably reasonable. Nobody really expected ABC to set the night on fire with the lineup, but I can’t imagine anyone at the network thought this is what they would get. Pushing Daisies kicked off the night with 6.32 million viewers and a 2.0. It was followed by Private Practice at 8.05/3.2 and Dirty Sexy Money at 7.14/2.5 For some perspective, that puts Pushing Daisies down 6.7 million viewers and more than half the demo compared to last year. Private Practice didn’t do a lot better, losing 6.46 million and 2 points in the demo. By comparison, Dirty Sexy Money is almost a success, only losing 3.3 million and 1.1 in the demo. Not a good night at all. It appears that absence makes the heart … find something else to watch. Dancing With The Stars held up Monday and Tuesday, but the network continues to struggle to find anything to match it with.
NBC – Crap. I really had high hopes for Chuck. The premiere was actually really good, but not a lot of people could be bothered to watch it. The show came in with 6.62 million viewers and a 2.6. I’m holding out hope that the early online screening may have brought those numbers down, but it’s not a good sign. Heroes continues to be disappointing, failing to reach 10 million viewers again, but the 4.4 demo is good. Like Chuck, Life struggled. With two episodes, it managed 6.92million/2.8 on Monday, and 5.44million/1.7 on Friday. For comparison, that Friday showing was down some 2 million viewers from Las Vegas at this time. If you are looking for a bright spot for the peacock, surprisingly Knight Rider managed to hold on to most of it’s disappointing premiere audience. Other than that, it’s tough to be optimistic when the most watched show of the week was America’s Got Talent.
CBS – It was business as usual for CBS. All the procedurals continue to draw great viewer numbers. Of note in that is the second week of The Mentalist. With 15.27 million viewers and a 3.5, a lot of people returned for another look. That’s a very good sign. On the comedy front, Big Bang Theory (8.71m/3.3) and How I Met Your Mother (8.8m/3.7) continue above last year’s pace, while Two and a Half Men (13.76/4.7) continues to be the most watched/least talked about comedy on TV. And there still isn’t a surefire fit for that post-Men slot. Worst Week (9.31m/3.1) is a little disappointing, losing more than 4 million viewers and 1.6 in the demo. I still want to see how Gary Unmarried (6.97m/2.2) will do in that slot.
FOX – It looks like the clock is ticking for Terminator:TSCC. We talked about how the numbers were bad last week at 5.81 million/2.2. This week they dropped again, to 5.34 million/2.1. Partner in crime, Prison Break, didn’t do any better, garnering 5.81 million/2.2. On the bright side, while House (12.66m/5.3) is still oddly down, the pairing with Fringe (10.04m/4.3) seems to be working. If Fringe stabilizes there, the network should be happy. The Sunday comedy block returned to nice numbers as well, with The Simpsons (9.3m/4.4) and Family Guy (9.2m/4.5) leading the charge. In live action comedy, though, more disaster. Canceling Do Not Disturb was probably the right thing to do. And now, given the 4.66 million viewers and 1.8 demo of ‘Til Death, it might be time to take out the axe again. I blame it all on the removal of the Woodcocks.
CW – Most of the shows held strong in the second week, with results being very comparable to last week. Gossip Girl (3.54m/1.9) and One Tree Hill (3.42/1.9) are great together. And it appears folks like Dylan even when he’s not actually there, as 90210 was back with 3.19 million viewers and a 1.6. Smallville (3.95m/1.6) and Supernatural (3.57m/1.5) did their part as well. But there were a couple problems. Privileged (1.88m/.9) continues to struggle. And the loss of Smackdown on Friday nights is huge. The replacements, Everybody Hates Chris (2.1/.8), The Game (1.91m/.8), and a Next Top Model Encore (1.49m/0.7) really don’t measure up.
Looking ahead to next week, I’m curious to see how the new, leased out, Sunday does for The CW. The shows look to at least have some potential. It would be a bit of an embarassment though, if another company programs a night that does better than what the network was doing, right? I’m also curious to see how Chuck bounces back.
The big night though, will be Thursday. The return of CSI, with the Warrick story, should provide good competition for Grey’s Anatomy. That will be followed by the competition to see which show can do a better job holding on to those audiences as Life On Mars and The 11th Hour square off. And in coming disaster watch, Kath & Kim will premiere on NBC. The bright spot there is that it might be just the show that can actually get worse viewer numbers than 30 Rock on Thursday.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Oct 06, 2008 @ 10:01 EST5EDT
Is it just me or is having the word clack used so many times going to get old real quick?
It’s just you ;-)
And the loss of Smackdown on Friday nights is huge.
Losing a wrestling show is never a bad thing.
I’m hoping that the ratings are way down for every show and stay that way. Then maybe they will finally do something about the outdated Nielsen system.
People meters go into effect this month, don’t they? Basically, it will mean every week is sweeps week, if that makes any sense. It doesn’t, to me, but my friend works at a local TV station and that is how they see it.
I think Worst Week is the funniest thing to hit television in years (since Sons & Daughters). I hope it lasts at least 13 episodes so I can keep them. It’s like Meet the Parents but with people you can actually imagine knowing. Take the tone of weirdness down a notch and the empathy up a notch, and that’s what you have. The first episode had me laughing for hours (“In exactly what context is punching my daughter in the face funny?” And, “I’ll just wash the urine out of my hair and be on my way.”)
After last week’s episode of Terminator, I’ll be sad to see it go. Figures. Why be surprised, right?
In all honesty, cable is winning the battle, so network better step or lose the war.
hope TSCC makes a come back, i would hate to see that show go…
Why doesn’t anyone here review Chuck? I really love the show and maybe come witty reviews would garner a few more viewers…I think maybe the premise throws some people off but if they give it a chance they’ll see it for the gem that it is in the cesspool that is NBC.