Ratings Clack 10/26 – 11/1

by Brett Love

NBC

Hey, would you look at that. Something for NBC to cheer about. The big 30 Rock premiere bested my expectations, and I’m sure many others, by a good million viewers. It actually brought in the largest audience the show has ever had. Paired with The Office, it makes for one of the few bright spots on the peacock schedule. The other nights of the week weren’t nearly so lucky. That was the big story of the week, but there was also baseball on FOX, Gary Unmarried getting a tryout following 2 1/2 Men, some time slot winning numbers from Mr. Obama, and an interesting result for an NCIS repeat.

NBC - Let’s get things started this week with visions of Tina Fey dancing in our heads. All her OT for SNL as the go-to Palin paid off. The premiere of 30 Rock clocked in with 8.53 million viewers and a 4.1 demo. The NBC comedies are still getting smacked around by Grey’s and CSI, but it is cause for celebration. Along with The Office (9.32m/4.7), things look good Thursdays at 9. The big question, of course, is how well those numbers hold up once the election is in the rear view. That will be interesting to keep an eye on. Unfortunately, there was a lot more bad news than good for NBC this week.

Sunday Night Football is usually the strongest night of the week for the network, but with no game they really suffered. A showing of 40 Year Old Virgin (4.53m/1.9) was followed by an oddly out of place repeat of The Office (3.24m/1.4), making for what would normally be considered a horrendous night. But then, we haven’t looked at the NBC Friday yet. Granted, it was Halloween, but the numbers are just staggeringly bad. Deal Or No Deal (5.02m/.9), Crusoe (4.17m/.8), and Lipstick Jungle (3.18m/.9) were all at series lows. And I have it on good authority that people are now actively having babies for the sole purpose of training them not to watch Lipstick Jungle. Don’t be like Brooke. This never would have happened to Tom Selleck and Las Vegas.

CBS - The news was, obviously, much better for the home of CSI (18.64m/4.7). In a bit of trial scheduling, Gary Unmarried (8.59/2.9) finally got its shot on Monday night, kind of. They tested the show out following 2 1/2 Men (11.72/3.8), but it was a night of repeats. We can’t make a direct comparison to Worst Week, but it is worth noting that Gary held on to more of the Men audience than Worst Week has in previous weeks. Speaking of repeats, the struggling Ex-List got a night off on Friday in favor of an NCIS repeat (11.21m/2.3). Not only was that an increase of some 5.56 million viewers over the last original Ex-List, it was also the most watched show of the night. That’s one of the great values of the CBS procedurals, they do repeat well. It also led to the best Numb3rs (10.62/2.3) numbers of the season.

FOX - Not repeating so well, we have Fringe (5.95/2.5). The drop, especially following a new episode of House (13.15/5.3) isn’t great, but given the nature of the show it is to be expected. This week though, was all about baseball for FOX. The World Series scored well for the network, but it wasn’t all that it could have been. As an example, game four of the Phillies/Rays series was off almost 7 million viewers from last year. It’s just the nature of all the sports playoffs. The teams involved make a big difference.

ABC - If you’re in a glass half full kind of mood, you’ll be happy to know that Pushing Daisies (6.64m/2.2) gained nearly a million viewers this week. On the other hand, if you are waiting for that other shoe to drop, that was largely due to FOX, NBC, and, CBS all running the Obama special. And, unfortunately, all three versions of it beat Daisies, landing Ned and the gang in fourth place. With Private Practice (7.73m/2.8), Dirty Sexy Money (6.08/2.0), and Eli Stone (7.67m/2.0) all struggling to make their mark, you have to start to wonder just what will happen when the lights go down in the DWTS (18.79m/4.2) ballroom. On a brighter note, Grey’s Anatomy (15.05/5.6) did manage to take the demo crown back from CSI.

CW - The little network had another typical week with nothing new to report. It’s interesting that 90210 (3.2m/1.6) managed to just edge out Gossip Girl (3.02m/1.6). And I’m happy to see some small gains for Privileged (2.16/1.1). Still a ways to go, but the show’s fate isn’t sealed yet. Meanwhile, the Sunday lineup, and the Friday comedies continue to have no answers.

For next week, the big move to watch is Life, moving to its third night already in its second season. Here’s hoping the third time is the charm, because it really is a better show than the ratings it has been getting would indicate.