… and hates Marco White, apparently.
It was a strange week on television. The calendar keeps insisting we are in a sweeps period, but the networks are dropping repeats all over the schedule. Even Lost, which ABC promised would run uninterrupted, went the repeat route. There were still some big events. As usual, Idol dominated, but ABC made some noise of their own with the return of Dancing With The Stars, spinning the loss of Jewel and Nancy O’Dell into ratings gold by signing up jilted bachelorette Melissa Rycroft. At the other extreme we found NBC’s latest disaster, The Chopping Block. There were also interesting numbers, good and bad, for Chuck, Heroes, Castle, Kath & Kim, CSI: Miami, Lie To Me, Next Top Model, and Dollhouse.
ABC - While it fell short of Idol, Dancing With The Stars (22.83m/6.1) was still the big story for the week. In a season that finds so many shows struggling to retain the ratings they once had, DWTS came back with more viewers and a higher demo than it had with its last premiere. That was due, in large part, to the appearance of Melissa Rycroft. She went from 17 million viewers the week before on The Bachelor, to over 20 million on DWTS, and now looks to be one of the early favorites to win the big mirror ball. It was a shrewd bit of casting from ABC.
DWTS led in to the premiere of Castle (10.76m/3). Those numbers aren’t quite as exciting. It was enough for second place in the time slot, but the show will need to retain most of that audience going forward. Before the big Monday, Desperate Housewives (13.65m/4.7) and Brothers & Sisters (10.32m/3.4) easily won on Sunday. Desperate Housewives is one of those shows struggling to attain the numbers it once had, but is still a force.
Things went off the rails on Tuesday and Wednesday. It would be fair to say that the network didn’t even try, as evidenced by 4(!) repeats of Scrubs (2.85m/1, 2.69m/1.1, 3.56m/1.2, 3.25m/1.2) and another Lost (4.34m/1.6) repeat. The best theory I’ve heard for the Lost repeat is that the network was hoping FOX’s Lie To Me experiment would fail, forcing the show back to 9. Otherwise, I don’t know. Lost repeats do so horribly the network should go out of its way to avoid running them. Bailing on Wednesday 8-10 tossed Life On Mars (4.49m/1.4) under the bus. The only other bright spot was Grey’s Anatomy (13.64m/5), which is down from a season ago, but still easily wins the demo.
CBS - The Monday comedy block took it on the chin with the return of DWTS, with numbers down for Big Bang Theory (9.47m/3.6), How I Met Your Mother (8.68m/3.6), 2 ½ Men (13.44m/4.8), and Rules Of Engagement (9.94m/3.7). While those numbers are down, it’s still a good showing on what has become a very crowded night. CSI: Miami broke the trend, following the comedies up by posting its second highest demo of the season.
Like ABC, CBS took Tuesday off. The difference is that CBS shows repeat very well. Encores from NCIS (13.52m/2.8), The Mentalist (14.32m/2.8), and Without A Trace (10.22m/2.1) were good enough for second in viewers and third in the demo for the night. Even better, that was the worst of it. Wednesday, Criminal Minds (14.34m/3.6) and CSI: NY(13.63m/3.5) were topped only by Idol. And Thursday, Survivor (12.82m/4.1) and CSI (17.13m/4.2) helped the network to win the night outright. Friday, of course, Ghost Whisperer (11.1m/2.6), Flashpoint (9.4m/1.9), and Numb3rs (10.1m/2) all won their night.
FOX - House (12.38m/4.8) and 24 (11.37m/4.6) faired a little better going against DWTS, but both did suffer a small drop. Idol was as expected on Tuesday (25.77m/9.5) and Wednesday (25.55m/9.1). The bigger news there was the shift of Lie To Me (11.25m/3.4). That was down three tenths in the demo from the last new episode (10.2m/3.7) following Idol, but oddly up in viewers. It’s a good sign for the show.
Elsewhere, the Thursday experiment with Bones (9.66m/2.8) looks like a success. It seems that wherever they plug the show in, it’s going to get around 10 million viewers and a 3 demo. Hell’s Kitchen (7.71m/3.5) remains solid following, as well. And on Friday… the news was better. Terminator (3.5m/1.2) and Dollhouse (4.3m/1.6) were both up over last week. I don’t think that offers much hope for Terminator, but it keeps the door open for Dollhouse. 4.3 million viewers and a 1.6 demo is still cancellation territory, but it’s good to see the show moving in the right direction as it heads into the mythical sixth episode. It continues to be the most interesting ratings story going.
NBC - It was a case of the good, the bad, and the ugly this week. The good? Celebrity Apprentice (7.69m/3.2) did well enough on Sunday. The Biggest Loser (9.38m/3.8) remains the most consistent show on the network, and paired with SVU (11.07m/3.6) for a successful Tuesday. The Office (7.87m/4.1), 30 Rock (6.43m/3.3), and ER (10.86m/4) made a good showing on Thursday. Although, the return of Doug and Carol to ER should have done better. It was odd that the network didn’t go out of their way to promote their return.
Moving to the bad, we start on Monday. Chuck (5.79m/2.1) and Heroes (6.7m/3.2) are clearly not fans of DWTS returning, as both shows are as low as they have ever been. Life (5.21m/1.7) looks to just be playing out the string. And while Friday Night Lights (4.4m/1.5) did see gains, and rumors of a renewal, those are still bad numbers.
And the ugly? Chopping Block (3.78m/1.4) wasn’t just the lowest rated premiere for the network this season, it was also beaten by Next Top Model on CW. Almost as awful, was the season (hopefully series) finale of Kath & Kim (3.89m/1.7).
CW - It was another shortened week for the little network. Reaper (2.17m/.9) kicked things off on Tuesday. On the bright side, the show held all of its demo from the premiere. Unfortunately, the numbers still need to go up to bring a third season. Next Top Model (4.45m/1.9) followed on Wednesday, bringing a rare third place finish for CW. After an extended break, Smallville (3.57m/1.6) and Supernatural (2.84m/1.1) were back Thursday. That demo number is curiously low for Supernatural, but now that the fifth season has been given the go ahead, it’s not nearly as troubling.
In the week ahead, we’ll get a look at NBC’s next great hope, Kings. Castle has a big episode Monday, where we get a look at the non-premiere numbers. After standing strong against Idol, The Mentalist faces Idol and the DWTS results show on Tuesday. ABC debuts Better Off Ted on Wednesday. CBS kicks off March Madness on Thursday and Friday. And Dollhouse breaks out the big sixth episode.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Mar 16, 2009 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
