CBS - The train wreck surrounding Two and a Half Men has been well documented at this point. The bit that I find most interesting is how it is all going to play out where the CBS Monday is concerned. Anchored by Men, the night has been a juggernaut for years. Now, without Men, not so much. It’s even showing earlier in the night, where this week How I Met Your Mother (6.87m/2.7) hit a season low while Mad Love (5.48m/1.9) continued to flame out. Perhaps most telling though, was the move of Mike & Molly (7.91m/2.5) to 9PM. That’s a reasonable performance I suppose, but a far cry from the usual Men numbers. And it all winds up with Hawaii Five-O (9.54m/2.5) being easily bested by Castle. Now that Castle has DWTS, and Five-O doesn’t have Men, the tide has turned.
The rest of the week was pretty normal, starting with a Sunday that included Amazing Race (10.48m/2.9), Undercover Boss (11.24m/3.1), and CSI Miami (9.98m/2.3). Tuesday, with NCIS (19.87m/3.9), NCIS LA (15.46m/3.3), and The Good Wife (11.05m/2) was uneventful as well. Ditto for Wednesday’s lineup of Survivor (11.09m/3.1), Criminal Minds (13.59m/3.5), and Suspect Behavior (9.96m/2.6). And, unfortunately for Chaos (5.5m/.9) fans, there was no surprise in another disappointing result.
ABC - It was not a great start to the week as Brothers & Sisters (6.48m/1.8) took over the Desperate Housewives slot for a big two hour episode, bringing both hours in below the average. Earlier in the night Secret Millionaire (9.33m/2.4) continued to slowly shrink. The news was much better Monday, with Dancing With The Stars (20.93m/4.5) motoring right along, bringing a nice boost for Castle (12.33m/3) along with it.
The news was good Tuesday as well. Food Revolution (5.36m/1.5) wasn’t impressive, but did at least bring the numbers that NOF has been landing. DWTS Results (15.96m/3.1) was solid. And Body Of Proof (11.06m/2.5) gets points for being a Tuesday 10PM drama that doesn’t collapse on the network.
Wednesday was almost back to full speed, kicking off with below par performances from The Middle (6.14m/1.8) and Better With You (4.85m/1.5). Modern Family (9.61m/3.9) was down a bit as well, but still looked very good. That brought the odd, two episode, premiere of Happy Endings (7.3m/2.8 – 5.7m/2.3). That 9:30 number is just okay, and it will have to keep most of it next week to avoid being one and done. I’m not sure why there was a second new episode at 10, but I’m guessing that’s as close as we’re ever going to get to a Life On A Stick reunion, so I’ll take it. The rest of the week included an iffy Wipe Out (6.19m/1.9) on Thursday and a pretty solid Shark Tank (5.36m/1.6) result on Friday.
NBC – It was more of the same on Sunday, with Next Great Restaurant (3.51m/1.2) continuing to struggle and Celebrity Apprentice (8.23m/3) remaining one of the few and far between highlights for the network. Monday didn’t run with the ball. Chuck (4.03m/1.3) fell again, and the return of Law & Order LA (6.1m/1.5) was only impressive when standing next to The Event.
Tuesday looked better, thanks to The Biggest Loser (7.4m/2.7). And it is worth noting that Parenthood (5.22m/2.1) did sneak ahead of Good Wife in the demo again. Thursday was up overall, thanks to the return of The Office (7.87m/4). That brought a boost that carried through Parks & Rec (5.16m/2.5), 30 Rock (4.45m/2.2), and Outsourced (3.5m/1.7). Unfortunately, it didn’t do anything for the 8PM hour. Community (3.49m/1.4) hit a series low, despite CBS taking the night off. And the Paul Reiser Show (3.37m/1.1) looks to be dead on arrival. The week finished with the return of Friday Night Lights (3.51m/.9).
FOX - A bit of a sleepy start to the week as Sunday — Simpsons (5.06m/2.3), Bob’s Burgers (4m/1.9), Family Guy (6.59m/3.3), Cleveland (4.93m/2.4) — and Monday — House (8.93m/3.2), Chicago Code (5.94m/1.8) — were off the pace. Traffic Light (2.24m/.9), running solo on Tuesday, didn’t offer any help.
Of course, business picked up with American Idol on Wednesday (23.03m/7.3) and Thursday (21.92m/6.4). For those keeping track, the big controversial elimination amounted to a drop of just .1m viewers. Breaking In (7.79m/2.6) remained okay following Idol, while Bones (11.45m/3.5) was solid on Thursday. Friday was again a struggle for Kitchen Nightmares (3.81m/1.6) and Fringe (3.63m/1.4).
CW – Things aren’t back to full speed yet, but they’re getting there. Three nights of programming last week were made up of Next Top Model (2.08m/1), Shedding for the Wedding (1.12m/.5), Vampire Diaries (2.81m/1.3), Nikita (2.21m/.8), Smallville (2.34m/1), and Supernatural (2.2m/.9). Notable in there is Next Top Model finishing fifth, of six, shows in viewers. Also worth a mention, Vampire Diaries beat NBC in the demo for the hour.
CABLE - There were two notable premieres last week, one more successful than the other. The return of Deadliest Catch (4.37m/2) got off to a nice start for Discovery. Meanwhile, the premiere of Sports Show with Norm McDonald (1.01m/.6) didn’t bring great numbers for Comedy Central. The show has been well received, but 1m for the premiere doesn’t suggest much in the way of longevity.
Basic:
Premium:
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Apr 18, 2011 @ 10:30 EST5EDT
Are the numbers for “game of thrones” out yet?
*POST AUTHOR*
No word yet on the GoT premiere. Possibly this afternoon, but more likely tomorrow before we know. I’ll add a note to the end of the post when I see them.
*POST AUTHOR*
Bubba, and those of you wondering, Game of Thrones had 2.2m viewers for the premiere. If your glass is half empty, that’s just over half of what the Boardwalk Empire premiere brought in. If you would prefer your glass half full, it’s also much higher than the series premiere for True Blood, which we know has grown to be HBO’s best series since then.
Either way, HBO has already renewed the show for a second season.
Thanks Brett. My glass is half full since it’s HBO and not FOX, which kills off so many series I love. The first episode was beautiful, yet I suspect that HBO is upset given the push they made for marketing GoT.
What do you make of HBO claiming a 4.2 million “gross” total of viewers. Do you think it’s ultimately meaningless? Lot’s of people rewatching at a later hour? That’s a pretty big difference from 2.2 mil.
*POST AUTHOR*
It’s mostly just marketing spin. However, given that HBO isn’t selling advertising, there is more value to the cumulative number for them than for the ad supported networks. Ultimately though, the best way to gauge the show will be by following the numbers for the Sunday premieres. This is an acceptable start that will give the show a chance to grow. Given how well the premiere has been received, word of mouth could do a lot.
The Happy Endings premiere at 9:30 was a “sneak peek” and the 10:00 episode was what was supposed to be its regular time slot. It did so poorly that ABC has already flip-flopped the show to 10:30 with the Modern Family repeat that was supposed to air at that time now as its 10 PM lead in.
I tried to watch the Reiser show, but didn’t laugh once. Over and done!
It appears I’m the only one that watched Mildred Pierce, and I’m sorry I did.
Right there with you, BSG. What a dud. With the acting talent and production value behind it, it was just a really terrible, melodramatic snoozefest. Not the story I was hoping for.