… but not as much as they love zombies! Okay, before we get started, let’s not read anything political into that post title. If you want to shout about how awesome Sarah Palin is, or how ridiculous she is, this really isn’t the place for it. Go find a political board and cast your stones there. Here, we’re just talking about TV shows, and all of their fun little numbers.
And in that regard, the premiere of Sarah Palin’s Alaska (4.96m/1.2) equated itself quite well. It’s still no match for The Walking Dead (5.07m/2.5), and I’ll be very interested to see how the show holds up moving forward. Still, premiering with almost five million viewers is notable. It’s an achievement that couldn’t be matched by a couple other cable premieres this week. TBS debuted their new comedy, Glory Daze (1.83m/1) to what we’ll call a modest audience. And TLC embarrassed themselves by being second in line to try and rip off Pawn Stars, with Pawn Queens (1.2m/.5 – 1.3m/.5). Other cable bits:
Basic
Premium
ABC - After a rather standard Sunday from Extreme Makeover (8.5m/2.2), Desperate Housewives (11.92m/3.8), and Brothers & Sisters (8.6m/2.5), there was something interesting on Monday. With Dancing With The Stars (20.68m/4) dropping to 90 minutes, the extra half hour was filled with a repeat of The Middle (9.6m/2.2). That’s not anything surprising, but it was worth noting that Castle (9.98m/2.5) was steady in the demo, despite the greatly reduced lead-in. That’s solid news moving forward for Castle fans.
Tuesday, the news was not as good for No Ordinary Family (6.69m/1.7), which fell below 2 in the demo for the first time. DWTS Results (17.43m/3.4) remained solid, and Detroit 187 (8.03m/1.7) was steady, if not impressive. Wednesday, Modern Family (12.09m/4.8) continues to be the big winner for the network, but The Middle (9.29m/2.8) might be the more interesting success story. Had ABC chosen to toss The Middle in the same trash heap where they dumped Hank last year, it wouldn’t have been a surprise. But giving the show a second shot has really paid off. Better With You (7.11m/2.3) and Cougar Town (7.05m/3) filled in the gaps as they usually do.
Another small bit of good news came Thursday, in the form of Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (7.46m/2.2). That was much better than a Grey’s repeat, and even managed top the NBC comedies, finishing third for the night. Nothing surprising to report from Grey’s Anatomy (11.46m/4.3) or Private Practice (8.01m/2.9).
CBS – The Sunday Night lineup was back together, in the form of The Amazing Race (10.34m/2.8), Undercover Boss (10.42m/2.7), and CSI Miami (10.26m/2.3). I’m still a little surprised by the Miami numbers, but curious to see what happens with them once Sunday Night Football ends. Monday brought another successful run from How I Met Your Mother (8.87m/3.6), Rules Of Engagement (7.92m/2.9), 2 ½ Men (14.25m/4.5), Mike & Molly (12.15m/3.7), and Hawaii Five-O (10.34m/2.8). Notable there is that 5-O is again above Castle in both measures.
Tuesday was business as usual for NCIS (19.43m/3.9), NCIS: LA (15.81m/3.3), and The Good Wife (11.74m/2.2). After no bump from Michael J. Fox last week, it wasn’t surprising that The Good Wife didn’t make any gains with Miranda Cosgrove. More steady performances from Survivor (11.98m/3.5), Criminal Minds (14.39m/3.8), and The Defenders (9.43m/1.9) on Wednesday. I think it’s safe to say that Criminal Minds is now the #1 crime-time show on CBS? I didn’t see that one coming.
Thursday and Friday were also rather uneventful. The numbers were Big Bang Theory (13.02m/4.3), $#*! My Dad Says (10.13m/3), CSI (14.15m/3.1), The Mentalist (14.74m/3), Medium (7.34m/1.4), CSI: NY (10.24m/1.6), and Blue Bloods (11.31m/1.6).
FOX - With a little boost from football to get the night started, things looked good for The Simpsons (8.83m/3.9), Cleveland (6.66m/3.1), Family Guy (7.06m/3.4), and American Dad (5.38m/2.5) starting the week. The better news came Monday, where House (10.77m/4) was tied with DWTS in the demo. Things weren’t quite as good for Lie To Me (5.94m/1.9), although it did beat The Event in both measures for the first time.
Of course, the really great news came Tuesday, with Glee (11.7m/5) again taking the top scripted demo crown for the week. A new Raising Hope (5.91m/2.7) held steady, and a repeat Raising Hope (3.96m/1.7) was an improvement over Running Wilde. Wednesday brought the return of Human Target (6.59m/1.8), which set itself firmly in the middle of the Target/Fringe/Lie To Me smackdown to not get canceled. Hell’s Kitchen (5.92m/2.6) was steady at 9.
Then there was the big news about the new FOX schedule. Particularly, what it means for Thursday. Not that Bones (9.4m/2.7) needs any help, but it’s been gifted with a move to 9, following the Idol mothership. That should make things very interesting as it makes a run at Grey’s in viewers and CSI in the demo. The bad news in all of that was that Fringe (4.85m/1.9) will be shuffled off to Friday. And we all know what that means, right? In the last decade, only one FOX show has escaped a move to Friday. The week wrapped up with The Good Guys (2.71m/.7) doing nothing to build that audience for Fringe‘s premiere.
NBC - Well, the numbers for Sunday Night Football (21.18m/8.1) were great! The rest of the week? Pretty iffy. Chuck (5.43m/1.8) continued to struggle Monday. The only good news is that in just holding steady at mediocre, the show has managed to claw ahead of The Event (5.64m/1.7) in the demo, Parenthood (4.81m/1.8) in viewers, and Chase (4.57m/1.2) in both. Hope springs for another season of Chuck, on the possibility that the network may run out of pinkslips before it makes it that far down the list.
The Biggest Loser (6.91m/2.5) remained down on Tuesday, and the only thing worth celebrating on Wednesday was that Dateline (6.72m/1.6) was a marked improvement over Undercovers. That still didn’t do any favors for L&O SVU (7.65m/2.1) and L&O LA (7.84m/1.9), which are both well below expectations.
Thursday was as expected, with The Office (7.2m/3.8) being the only success on the night. Community (4.41m/1.9), 30 Rock (5.11m/2.2), Outsourced (5.43m/2.6), and The Apprentice (3.56m/1.2) have nothing good to report. Things wrapped up Friday with School Pride (2.54m/.6) and the premiere of Harmony (3.71m/.9).
CW - It was a mostly down week for the little network. One Tree Hill (1.9m/.9) managed small gains in both measures, and Hellcats (2.05m/.9) was up a tick in viewers. The rest of the shows were down in one, or both of those. The numbers were 90210 (1.76.m/.9), Gossip Girl (1.69m/.9), Life Unexpected (1.33m/.6), America’s Next Top Model (2.49m/1.1), Smallville (2.6m/1.1), and Supernatural (2.03m/.9).
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Nov 22, 2010 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
How do the Boardwalk Empire numbers stack up against other HBO shows of the past, I wonder?
If I were guessing, I’d say that numbers were ok. What say you? The only reason I ask is that I usually kill a show by liking it. :)
The problem with HBO is never ratings, it’s money. The show cost a ton to make.
My guess is that the already announced second season will be it’s last season. For some reason HBO cancels shows after two seasons.
*POST AUTHOR*
I’d say Boardwalk Empire is doing ‘ok’. If you want to go into the distant past, it’s not even in the ballpark where Sopranos is concerned. And it’s falling just shy of John From Cincinnati. More recently, Empire is well behind the numbers for True Blood, which hovered right around 5m/3 for most of its most recent run. The better news comes when you compare it to any of the comedies, or The Pacific and Treme. In short, it’s not a breakout hit, but it’s not floundering either.
Sarah Palin’s (ditching) Alaska demo numbers are interesting to me.
I love how TLC pretty much now just copies everyone elses’ shows. There is only one Pawn Star.