Ratings Clack – Chuck and Heroes kick off finale season

And just like that, finale season is upon us. Over the next few weeks, all of our favorite shows will be pulling out all the stops and heading off into the summer break, with hopes of returning for another go in the fall. Some of them, no doubt, will be disappointed in that regard. Aside from the marriages, pregnancies, and lives left hanging in the balance, finales are interesting from a ratings perspective because they provide the possibilities of a numbers boost. One last data point to point to as you make the case that this show shouldn’t be canceled. NBC got the ball rolling last week as Chuck and Heroes both fired off their finale salvos. The results were something less than stellar. The news was better for Fringe, the NCIS spinoff, and the CW Thursday.

NBC - Chuck (6.19m/2.4) has really come to the forefront in the Internet TV world over the last week, so let’s begin there this week. Last week was the big season finale, and the show posted almost identical results to the week before. No finale gain for the kids down at the Buy More. Heroes (6.47m/3) found itself in a similar situation, dropping just a tenth in the demo from the previous week. Despite scattered Internet reports, Chuck‘s fate remains up in the air, but some form of return is looking more and more likely. Heroes will be back for another season. Now it’s just a question of how long that season will be.

Elsewhere, the lack of a boost to Heroes didn’t do Medium (6.71m/2.2) any favors. The news was better on Tuesday, as The Biggest Loser (9.26m/3.6) continued its fantastic run, combining with L&O SVU (10.55m/3.9) to finish second in the demo. Thursday was again a disappointment. My Name Is Earl (5.16m/2.1), The Office (7.41m/3.7), and 30 Rock (5.95m/2.9) were all below their averages. Meanwhile, Parks & Recreation (5.07m/2.2) continues to drop. More troubling though, are the numbers for Southland (6.62m/2). It’s now lost over three million viewers and more than a point in the demo from the premiere on April 9th (9.72m/3.2).

ABC - The crumbling of new shows is something ABC knows all about. Desperate Housewives (13.64m/4.7), Brothers & Sisters (9.31m/3.1), and Dancing With The Stars (19.29m/4.3) got the week off to a nice start, but then the new shows started. Surviving Suburbia (8.98m/2.2) continues to drop, while Castle (8.24m/2) seems to have found its level. It would just be really nice if that level was a little higher. Probably the best news for Castle is the revelation that Cupid (5.59m/1.6) and The Unusuals (4.86m/1.5) are both struggling. If one of them is going to survive, Castle certainly has the inside track.

In happier news, Lost (9.04m/4.1) was back above 4 in the demo, and the combination of Grey’s Anatomy (14.12m/5.1) and Private Practice (9.7m/3.5) made gains on Thursday. In addition, According To Jim (3.11m/.9 – 3.56m/1) continues to punish the network for continuing to air this show. Finally, Ugly Betty (6.72m/2), while not outstanding, did offer an improvement over the recent sit-com experiment.

CBS - The week started out with another good run from the Monday comedies – Big Bang Theory (9.24m/3.4), How I Met Your Mother (8.87m/3.7), 2 ½ Men (14.16m/4.9), and Rules of Engagement (11.3m/3.9). Of note there, Rules Of Engagement has taken advantage of the post-Men slot and made a pretty good case for getting another season. The good news continued Tuesday as the backdoor pilot for the NCIS spinoff (16.7m/3.5) posted solid numbers. As good as that is, I remain skeptical about the spinoff’s prospects. That was followed by The Mentalist (17.11m/3.7) and Without A Trace (12.21m/2.5).

After a solid Wednesday, thanks to Criminal Minds (13.61m/3.3) and CSI:NY (12.5m/3.2), the puzzlement continued on Thursday with CSI (15.54m/3.7). The show now finds itself tied with The Office in the demo, with Grey’s being completely out of sight. It’s probably a very lucrative time to be William Petersen. Meanwhile, Survivor (11.73m/3.6) was up week to week. And Ghost Whisperer (9.67m/2.3), Flashpoint (9.57m/2.1), and Numb3rs (9.46m/2.2) easily took Friday night.

FOX – There was less to worry about at FOX. The week was off to a bit of a rocky start, as Sit Down, Shut Up (4.21m/1.9) dropped again, despite the cushy spot between The Simpsons (6.01m/3) and Family Guy (6.67m/3.4). That was quickly forgotten as House (11.69m/4.6) returned on Monday. That brought a little boost to 24 (10.43m/3.4). Tuesday also made for an easy win, thanks to Idol (23.26m/8.1) and Fringe (9.62m/4). Worth noting there is that while Idol was down a tenth, Fringe was up. Things weren’t so happy on Wednesday. Despite the fact that ABC, NBC, and CBS all handed the night off to Obama, Lie To Me (7.75m/2.3) couldn’t make any gains. Wednesday’s Idol (22.37m/7.7) was still number one, but I really don’t get the thinking behind not having Idol at 8.

Bones (8.94m/2.3) and Hell’s Kitchen (6.85m/2.8) remained down a bit on Thursday, but that’s nothing compared to what has become the weekly forehead slap of the FOX Friday. Prison Break (3.2m/1) and Dollhouse (3.09m/1.1) both managed small gains in viewers, while Dollhouse hit a new low for the demo. But small gains aren’t going to cut it here.

CW - The week didn’t get off to a good start. Gossip Girl (1.97m/1), One Tree Hill (2.28m/1.1), Reaper (1.77m/.7), and 90210 (1.79m/.9) were all down. The tides turned on Wednesday, as Next Top Model (4.01m/1.8) remained the highest rated show on the network. You do have to wonder why they waste that Wednesday at 9 spot on repeats, though. Thursday was also good, as Smallville (3.23m/1.4) and Supernatural (2.95m/1.3) both bounced back.

For the coming week … Monday finds Medium taking over the Heroes slot with a special two hour episode. The NCIS spinoff pilot continues on Tuesday. Scrubs lets loose with the big one hour finale on Wednesday. And Dollhouse finishes off season one (if you ignore that 13th episode) on Friday.

Clacked by Brett Love
on May 04, 2009 @ 12:00 EST5EDT