We’ve talked about it before, but it’s worth bringing up again as we kick off the summer viewing season. The various CBS crime shows don’t get all the sexy press coverage that things like Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, or Heroes do, but they still manage to compete very well in new episodes. Where they really shine though, is in repeats.
This past week saw CBS as the most watched network, despite only having three hours of non-repeat programming. Even better, with only repeats, they were able to win the demo on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. If you really want to see the power of CBS crimetime, an NCIS repeat on USA was the highest rated scripted show on cable last week, trailing basketball and wrestling. Even better, NCIS was number 6 in the top 20 cable programs. Cable watchers do love their Gibbs.
Getting back to the networks, ABC went the other way. They rolled out a host of new programming, and with the exception of Wipeout (8.64m/3.2), it mostly fell flat. The Bachelorette (6.01m/2.1), without DWTS as lead-in, isn’t setting any records. That didn’t bode well for the premiere of Here Come The Newlyweds (4.98m/1.9). Still, that was a resounding success when compared to Diamonds. The mini couldn’t even manage 5 million viewers for part one (4.25m/1), and got worse with part two (3.12m/.6). To put that in perspective, According To Jim (3.87m/1.2 – 3.87m/1.1) didn’t do that bad. Other original attempts on the week were The Goode Family (3.93m/1.6), Surviving Suburbia (2.83m/1), The Unusuals (3.91m/1.2), and coverage of the Spelling Bee (5.48m/1.5). And, while it’s great to get to see the last episodes of Pushing Daisies (2.35m/.7), Saturday at 10 does not agree with the show.
As mentioned, CBS was fine with a week of mostly repeats. Original material amounted to a George Strait Concert (10.61m/2.2), and Saturday’s Harper’s Island (3.85m/.9). NBC also went the repeat route, although with much less success, and there were only two notable new programs. The next to last Medium (7.5m/2.1) held up, despite the season, and TV’s 50 Funniest Phrases (6.5m/2.1) was better than expected. The CW was in much the same boat, only offering the finale of Reaper (2.17m/.9) and the premiere of Hitched Or Ditched (1.46m/.7).
And that leaves FOX, which had a decent week, thanks to So You Think You Can Dance. The show is a solid summer hit, with good numbers on Wednesday (8.58m/3.5) and Thursday (9m/3.6). The other big original was the premiere of Mental (5.8m/2.1), which could have been better, given the competition. Finally, the FOX Sunday summed up the summer television season perfectly, as a night of animation repeats won the demo with a 1.1 average. Yikes!
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Jun 01, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
are we not getting a post about Harpers Island this week?
Is there going to be any posts about In Plain Sight?
JT: There are five or six posts about In Plain Sight, either directly or indirectly. Not every episode has enough happening to get a stand-alone review, but, as Ivey said, we try to discuss the show in general.
https://www.cliqueclack.com/tv/tag/in-plain-sight/
JT: Its a show that Aryeh and I will both talk about from time to time, but I’m just a couple of episodes behind and haven’t been able to catch up. I’m going to try, though!
The past episode is noteworthy, especially for Stan. Just wondering, been pondering.