(11/16 – 11/22)
Yes, the big story this week is that the ABC decided to cancel not renew Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, and Dirty Sexy Money. I’m pretty sure that they are not officially calling them canceled because there are still episodes to air. And the only thing that chases viewers away from a show faster than knowing it’s canceled is Tim Kring calling them dipshits… Kidding, but the Heroes ratings did land the big boss in a little trouble this week. We’ll get to that, and take a look at another pretty swell week for the kids down at the C.B.I., after the jump.
ABC - Well, crap. You had to know this one was coming, right? As we’ve seen all season, the numbers just aren’t there for Pushing Daisies (4.86m/1.8). Dirty Sexy Money (5.63m/1.8) and Eli Stone (6.87m/1.8) did a little better, but it’s still hard to argue against canceling them. Especially Eli Stone, given the massive lead in this week from the DWTS Results Show (17.5m/4.0).
Along with news of the cancellation comes word that Life On Mars (7.97m/2.6) is going to get a shot airing after Lost in January. It’s an idea that sounds good at first, but does anyone really think that’s going to improve the numbers? Call me the pessimist, but there are two problems with that plan. First, if you think Lost is going to put up Grey’s Anatomy(15.74m/6.2) numbers, then I would just like to say to you, “Hello Mrs. Lindelof, you must be very proud of your son.” And second, how did things turn out for those other shows that got that cushy post-Lost spot?
NBC - I told myself last week that I wasn’t going to talk about Heroes (7.59m/3.6) here. But then the numbers went and dropped, again. It got beat by the second hour of Biggest Loser, again. And Tim Kring went and talked to the press, again. Those are three things that really should never happen. For his part, Kring was on a panel at a screenwriting event and started talking about how the DVR and online streaming are superior ways to watch a serialized drama. That led him to the conclusion that the only people left watching the live broadcast are the “saps and the dipshits who can’t figure out how to watch it in a superior way.”
Now, he has since apologized, and offered an explanation. “It was a boneheaded attempt at being cute and making a point. Instead, it turned out to be just plain insulting and stupid. I know now how it sounded, but I truly never meant to suggest anything bad about our audience.” That’s all well and good, and I’ll give him a pass for a silly quote. However, I’ll kindly disagree that live streams and DVRs are the reason for the drop in the Heroes numbers. For one, if that was the case, every show would be dropping at the same rate Heroes is, because all those benefits he mentions for alternative means of viewing don’t apply to just serials, or just Heroes. They apply to every kind of show. And really, if that was the only problem, we wouldn’t have him firing producers and promising again to fix what’s wrong with the show.
In other news over at NBC, Crusoe (3.5m/.9) got the next best thing to being canceled, a trip to Saturday nights! Lipstick Jungle (3.33m/1.1) will take over at 9, with Dateline being slotted in at 10. I’m reasonably convinced that they are both as good as canceled, but this is NBC, and it’s hard to know what they are going to do with that mess of a schedule.
CBS - While we are talking about Friday nights, it’s worth pointing out another solid week for CBS. Ghost Whisperer (11.36m/2.7) and Numb3rs (11.23/2.5) were both right where you would expect, and a repeat of The Mentalist (11.62m/2.4) filled in at 9. To put that in perspective, that’s more than three times the viewers for a new episode of Crusoe. The regular airing of The Mentalist (15.83m/3.5) also performed well.
Big Bang Theory (9.7m/3.7) and How I Met Your Mother (9.84m/4.3) have received the bulk of the comedy praise over at CBS this year, and deservedly so. Both of them are doing fantastic. Still, it is worth noting the upswing for the Wednesday comedy block. After two tough weeks against DWTS and the CMAs, Old Christine (8.09m/2.5) and Gary Unmarried (8.14m/2.7) both bounced back nicely. With ABC and NBC in the tank Wednesdays at 8, CBS has found something here.
FOX - While CBS has found yet another procedural to plug into the rerun rotation in The Mentalist, it looks like FOX is losing their mainstay. In the past they’ve been able to get great numbers by throwing House (5.75m/2.2) anywhere on the schedule, but it looks like the show is starting to get played out. In better news, the regular showing (13.03m/5.5) did see some small gains. And since I went on and on about Heroes, I’ll not tax your patience with another Terminator:TSCC (5.31m/2) diatribe this week.
CW - The big story over at the CW this week was the finale for Next Top Model (4.8m/2.3). That number is impressive on its own, but even more so when you consider that the show beat both Pushing Daisies and Knight Rider (5.12m/1.5) in the demo. Also interesting, an odd blip in the otherwise solid Monday night meant that 90210 (2.94m/1.6) beat both Gossip Girl (2.88m/1.5) and One Tree Hill (2.73m/1.3) this week.
Next week, we’ll talk about the numbers for the 24 two hour event. Do viewers still care about Jack? You can also look for huge numbers from the DWTS finale, Rosie Live, unfortunately, doing better than Life on Wednesday, and maybe, just maybe, an upswing for Heroes.
Finally, some other interesting numbers:
Desperate Housewives (16.55m/6.1) – Wow, people like fire!
Chuck (6.8m/2.6) – Small gains, but gains just the same.
CSI: Miami (15.39m/4.2) – Season high. You can’t keep Horatio down, no matter how much you may want to.
Bones (10.73m/3.1) – Like clockwork, every week.
30 Rock (7.29m/3.5) – Down again… where will it settle?
20/20 (8.24m/2.5) – Also a season high. People like hookers and politicians too, apparently.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Nov 24, 2008 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
so I guess that ABC is the new FOX.
Screw’em for canceling Eli Stone … that is an awesome show that deserved a chance
how about the amazing last supernatural episode of the year???
I’m just not sure how much that big lead in matters when the two shows don’t have much in common. More important in Eli Stone’s case was probably that its 10 o’clock Tuesday night slot put it up against not just one, but two well established procedurals. Especially with the stunts that SVU in particular pulls during sweeps, that was always going to be difficult. Really, they should have tried moving Eli Stone to a less competitive slot and/or pairing it with something more compatible, such as Pushing Daisies or Life on Mars before throwing in the towel.
Personally, I think ABC should have put Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone and Life on Mars together on Wednesdays from the beginning of the season. Then they could have had Private Practice after Grey’s Anatomy, where it always should have been, and DSM could have tried the slot after Dancing with the Stars. The Wednesday night shows might still have struggled somewhat, but I think they would have fed off each other much better than the current three which basically had nothing in common. I also think that 9 o’clock would have been a much better time of night for Eli in general and the competition Wednesdays at 9 is much weaker than Tuesdays at 10. What’s done is done, of course.
As for the move to put Life on Mars after Lost — as I said, I’m not sure how much a big lead in helps if the shows don’t really share an audience, so I doubt the difference in the sizes of the lead in audiences will really hurt Life on Mars. If anything, I think Life on Mars ought to do better with Lost because the shows have more in common (ongoing mysteries and some fantasy). It also means that Life on Mars will no longer have to compete with another British import, though at this point that may be irrelevant because people will have made their choice between the two (another reason why I would have liked to see Life on Mars on Wednesdays from the beginning).
I just think that the networks should realize that, with all the options we have right now, just having a big lead in is not going to help a show unless the two shows really fit together.
“However, I’ll kindly disagree that live streams and DVRs are the reason for the drop in the Heroes numbers. For one, if that was the case, every show would be dropping at the same rate Heroes is, because all those benefits he mentions for alternative means of viewing don’t apply to just serials, or just Heroes.”
I’ll kindly disagree with your assessment. Not all shows would drop at the same rate. Different audiences adopt technologies at different paces. Heroes has a decidedly younger fan base than most crime dramas, and younger generations are known to be early adopters of new technology. Because of that, and the fact that many fans of the show are notoriously geeky, Heroes should be showing a greater decline in the ratings than, say, Ghost Whisperer, or CSI.