It certainly worked for CSI this week. And, really, considering the way the Fox Friday is hemorrhaging viewers, I don’t think they should rule anything out. Once again, both Terminator and Dollhouse were down. They shared bad news with Chuck, Heroes, and Life On Mars. Reaper, Lie To Me, and Jesse Stone found themselves somewhere in the middle. Good news this week went out to Brothers & Sisters, The Bachelor, and CSI.
CBS – The week got off to an interesting start with the latest Jesse Stone (15.24m/2.2) movie. Fifteen million viewers is an outstanding result, but the 2.2 demo is oddly low. Jesse Stone skews old even for CBS. That could be better, but still should probably lead to another movie. Things only got better on Monday. Big Bang Theory (10.83m/3.9), How I Met Your Mother (11.09m/4.2), and 2 ½ Men (15.47m/4.9) were all at normal levels. And as a bonus, Rules Of Engagement (11.82m/3.9) returned to the schedule with a marked improvement over what Worst Week was doing.
After taking Tuesday and Wednesday off, the good numbers kept coming. Survivor (11.85m/3.8) was again solid against Idol, and a guest spot from Taylor Swift brought a boost to CSI (20.88m/5.3). Eleventh Hour (12.05m/2.9) finished off Thursday. Friday was another easy win for the network with Ghost Whisperer (11.1m/2.6), Flashpoint (9.8m/2), and Numb3rs (10m/2.3) easily taking the night.
ABC - Like CBS, ABC started the week strong with Extreme Makeover (11m/3.5) and a special 2 hour Brothers & Sisters (11.98m/4.1). That number is down from what the Housewives normally do, but also up from the Brothers & Sisters average. It’s also quite encouraging because it shows that Brothers & Sisters does have its own audience. More good news from The Bachelor finale on Monday (15.48m/5.4), and two After The Final Rose installments on Monday (17.47m/6.7) and Tuesday (10.9m/4.1).
Lost (10.65m/4.9) was back up again, due to Lie To Me being back on the schedule at FOX and a Criminal Minds repeat. Unfortunately, that didn’t do much for Life On Mars (5.33m/1.9) which had another bad week of ratings, and was cancelled by the network. Ugly Betty (6.34m/1.7) struggled against Idol on Thursday, and 20/20 (8m/2) wrapped things up with a good showing on Friday night.
FOX - Idol continued to dominate the schedule, with three airings for the week on Tuesday (24.31m/9), Wednesday (22.78m/7.8), and Thursday (21.49m/7.6). Those were the highlights. Monday was down, due to no new House, as 24 (11.14m/3.3) had a two hour event. Lie To Me (10.2m/3.7) returned to the schedule with the usual Idol fueled numbers. It is worth noting though that the show is now being beaten in viewers and the demo by Lost. It will be interesting to see what happens when it goes to 8 and isn’t being gifted 20 million viewers at the start of the hour.
Hell’s Kitchen (9.71m/4.4)also had another Idol boosted outing. And that led to Friday, which can only be described as a disaster. Terminator:TSCC (3.0m/1.0) and Dollhouse (3.5m/1.5) both dropped again to what are clearly cancellation levels. The game now turns to watching to see how long they will be allowed to run before being replaced by random repeats. Dollhouse does have the mythical sixth episode out there still, where everything is supposed to get better. I just don’t know if there is going to be any audience left to see it.
NBC - Things got a little better for NBC this week, thanks to the return of Celebrity Apprentice (8.83m/3.9). Unfortunately, after that, it was business as usual. And by that I mean The Biggest Loser (8.95m/3.5) on Tuesday, The Office (8.54m/4.5) and 30 Rock (7.25m/3.7) on Thursday, and a whole lot of train wrecks.
Chuck (6.65m/2.4) and Heroes (7.15m/3.3), crazy as it sounds looking at those numbers, were actually up slightly for the week. Still, just horrible ratings. Not to worry Heroes fans, NBC has confirmed that the show will be back next season. One of the perks that comes with being on a network that has two scripted successes. Elsewhere, Knight Rider (5.68m/1.7) finished its run. How bad is that? Paired with a repeat of Life, NBC was beaten in the demo by the CW. Thursday found Earl (5.45m/2.2) and Kath & Kim (4.09m/1.8) struggling. And Friday Night Lights (3.8m/1.2)? Well, they can say they have more viewers than Dollhouse.
CW – The littlest network offered up three hours of programming this week and it was a mixed bag, where ratings are concerned. Reaper (2.31m/.9)had its premiere on Tuesday. Those numbers are low, but the show was against Idol. For comparison, a month ago 90210 went up agains Idol in the same slot and had 2.38m/1.2. So, Reaper is in the ballpark, but the show really needs to better those numbers to have a shot at a third season. Wednesday brought another premiere, from Next Top Model (3.92m/2.2). The show is down from where it was in its heyday, but still a solid performer for the network.
Looking to the week ahead… The pressure doesn’t let up on the stacked Monday night. The Bachelor has left the building, but Tom & Samantha and their dancing stars are back. NBC, CBS, and FOX will all bring new episodes to welcome them. My guess, ABC wins the night in viewers, but not the demo. Wednesday, Lie To Me jumps to 8, and the ratings drop with the move. CSI and Grey’s are both new again on Thursday, to give us an idea where that rivalry now stands. And Friday, we can all rubberneck, as we look to see if Terminator and Dollhouse drop again.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Mar 09, 2009 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
It’s probably just an intellectual exercise at this point, but I would be interested in knowing if the Dollhouse/Terminator Live+7 DVR numbers were significantly up last Friday, as I and everyone else I know were at the IMAX seeing Watchmen.
T:SCC already wrapped, so I’m sure Warner Brothers will be willing to spend the money to finish producing the remaining five episodes for the DVD set, even if Fox cancels the show tomorrow. I’d think they’d want to rush the DVDs out in time to promote the T4 release in May.
*POST AUTHOR*
Ryan, It takes a while for the Live+7 DVR numbers to come out. They were just released for the second episode and both Terminator and Dollhouse picked up just under 1.5 million viewers. That’s a good gain, considering how small the live audience was, but doesn’t change prospects for either show.
Thanks for the info, Brett. And I’m chagrined if I gave the mistaken impression that I cared one whit for Dollhouse’s prospects — I only mentioned it because the two shows’ ratings were linked in previous posts.