It was another up and down week for numbers, where we saw some shows rebound (Heroes, Lost), while others continue to raise eyebrows (Better Off Ted, Samantha Who?, CSI). Through it all, the most intriguing story is again the FOX Friday night. Prison Break took over where Terminator:TSCC left off, literally and figuratively. What does that mean for Dollhouse? Elsewhere, ABC has a strange mess on their hands with a handful of both comedies and dramas that are all returning mediocre numbers at best, with no clear standouts. How do you decide what to keep?
FOX - Let’s get right to the big Friday. First, what the hell was FOX thinking? Was there actually someone at the network that thought it would be a good idea to bring Prison Break back with a repeat? If so, that person should be kicked in the crotch on Monday. That repeat at 8 (2.68m/.8) was barely watched, and didn’t do any favors for the new episode at 9 (3.38m/1.2). As to what that means for Dollhouse… I think it’s bad news. I saw some positive reaction that Prison Break fell short of the numbers Dollhouse has been delivering, but that really doesn’t mean anything. Prison Break has already been canceled. Narrowly beating it isn’t exactly a feat worth bragging about. The best thing that could have happened for Dollhouse was to see Prison Break post much better numbers than what Terminator:TSCC had been, leading to an improvement in lead in. That isn’t happening, and it doesn’t bode well for Dollhouse’s future.
Elsewhere, it was a mostly typical week for the network. House (12.19m/4.5) and 24 (10.86m/3.6) were off a bit week to week, but still solid. American Idol was the usual force on Tuesday (24.38m/8.5) and Wednesday (24.11m/8.2). And Fringe (10.15m/4) was right on pace with the return from last week. The only real break from the norm was Bones (11.01m/3) taking over Wednesday for Lie To Me, and improving the network’s results. As always, the Bones fans will follow the show wherever it goes.
ABC - It’s a strange situation the network finds itself in. On the drama front, Castle (7.28m/1.9), Cupid (6.09m/1.7), and The Unusuals (6.01m/1.8) are all very similar. Much like the situation with the comedies, with Scrubs (5.06m/2), Better Off Ted (4.62m/1.9), In The Motherhood (4.62m/1.4), and Samantha Who? (4.84m/1.5). Nothing really stands out to be brought back next season, but it would be a surprise to see all of them canceled. Given a choice, I’d pick Castle and Better Off Ted from that list.
Elsewhere, Dancing With The Stars keeps rolling on Monday (19.46m/4.6) and Tuesday (15.24m/3.5). The second week of Surviving Suburbia (9.71m/2.6) dropped a million and a half viewers, and I’m still not sure why that one was chosen for the post-DWTS slot. Good news this week for Lost (9.23m/4), as the demo number rebounded nicely after an off week.
NBC - It was a better week for NBC, relatively speaking. Dateline (6.45m/1.6) took over for Kings on Sunday, and was an improvement. That led into Celebrity Apprentice (8.07m/3). More good news on Monday, as all three shows, Chuck (6.22m/2.3), Heroes (6.83m/3.3), and Medium (7.65m/2.7), were up for the week. Chuck remains firmly in the question mark spot. And while still a distant fourth place finish, the Heroes demo is an encouraging sign.
The Biggest Loser (9.11m/3.8) had another successful Tuesday. And after a slow opening with My Name Is Earl (5.36m/2.2) and Parks & Recreation (6.02m/2.5), The Office (8.37m/4.2), 30 Rock (7.32m/3.5), and Southland (9.61m/3) made for a pretty solid Thursday. Southland is particularly notable. It managed to retain almost all of its audience from the premiere. Finally, the debut of Kings on Saturday (2.41m/.6) went almost unnoticed.
CBS - Everything started off business as usual for CBS this week. Amazing Race (10.57m/3.1), Cold Case (10.56m/2.5), and The Unit (9.05m/2.4) on Sunday. The comedy block, Big Bang Theory (10.06m/3.9), How I Met Your Mother (9.59m/4.1), 2 ½ Men (15.03m/5.3), Rules Of Engagement (11.6m/4) on Monday. That’s all just what you would expect. Things were a little different the rest of the week.
Tuesday brought repeats of NCIS (13.56m/2.6) and The Mentalist (12.18m/2.4) leading into a new episode of Without A Trace (13.23m/3). CSI: NY (12.14m/2.9) got the same treatment on Wednesday, as the only new episode of the night. Encouraging numbers for both of those shows, given that they had to do things mostly on their own. The real weirdness starts with Thursday. Survivor (11.64m/3.6) was fine, but CSI (15.72m/3.8) is again oddly low in the demo. It’s quite possible that the show will fall to third place in the time slot before the end of the season. Harper’s Island (9.61m/3) finished off the night, losing a good portion of the premiere audience.
CW - Another very slow week leaves not much to report. Reaper (2.05m/.9), 90210 (2.13m/1.2), and Next Top Model (3.78m/1.9) were the extent of the new programming for the week. Worth noting there is that Next Top Model finished third in the demo Wednesday at 8.
For the coming week… Bones gets its third time slot in six days on Monday (WTF?), which could offer a small boost to Chuck. On Tuesday, The Unusuals gets a shot following the DWTS Results, which doesn’t exactly speak well for Cupid‘s chances. Lie To Me returns Wednesday, and tries to live up to what Bones did last week, right before Lost tries to pass off a clip show as something other than a clip show. The doctors at Grey’s return on Thursday, to try and put CSI into that third place spot. And Friday, Prison Break/Dollhouse.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Apr 20, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
You didn’t give the numbers for Dollhouse Brett if I’m not mistaken and suddenly I feel you were on to something concerning CSI.
I guess people DO miss Gil Grissom…
Oh and for some reason this isn’t in the ratings clack column category… had to look it up manually again.
CSI’s problem is not entirely due to Gil Grissom’s leaving. The show’s writing is not up to par. The only good episode out of the last three was the one with the Star Trek parody and it was a total goof. The look of the show is different: too dark and dimly lit. There seems to be a lack of focus. It’s just so different I can’t put my finger on it.