After weeks of stumbling along, ABC finally got Dancing With The Stars back. And at very nearly Idol level viewership. Not only did that fix Monday at 8, which had become quite the ratings sink-hole since The Bachelor left. It also provided a very nice boost for Castle. Unfortunately, as great as he is, Tom Bergeron can’t fix everything. The network must be starting to raise an eyebrow as some of its big hits continue to fall well below their fall levels. Elsewhere, Vampire Diaries and Supernatural returned for CW. But the real story their might have been the milestone that Melrose Place hit.
ABC - It was a huge premiere for Dancing With The Stars (24.19m/6.4). That was just .02m viewers short of Tuesday’s Idol. That was good news for Castle (12.21m/3.3) fans as well. The DWTS boost led the show to its first outright win against a new episode of CSI:Miami. And, most likely, made it a lock for next fall. The news wasn’t as good on Sunday. Desperate Housewives (10.84m/3.5) continues to perform well below par. Granted, that still puts the show in a solid second place, but the continued decline has to be cause for concern. Similarly, Grey’s Anatomy (11.58m/3.7) remains well off the pace.
Lost (9.31m/4) is less of a worry. For one, it’s ending anyway. But it has also settled in at that 4 demo, which is nice to see. I’m not sure how telling it is, but the V recap (4.44m/1.6) that followed Lost was right on pace with the FlashForward recap. The news was also good for the Wednesday comedies. The Middle (7.16m/2.5) and Cougar Town (6.28m/2.6) are holding steady, and Modern Family (9.18m/3.7) looks like the best new show of the season.
Rounding out Thursday, Private Practice (8.71m/2.9) was steady, and did manage to knock off The Marriage Ref. FlashForward (6.17m/1.8), on the other hand, dropped again. Things really don’t look good for that one. Things might be looking up for Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution though. The show had something of a disappointing premiere on Sunday (6.13m/2.2). However, it really seemed to take off in its Friday (7.51m/2.6) debut. If not for NCAA basketball, that would have been the #1 demo show of the night.
FOX - Sunday was up. Rather, Sunday animation was up. The Simpsons (5.71m/2.8), Cleveland (5.07m/2.5) and Family Guy (6.67m/3.5) all saw a small boost this week. Sons Of Tuscon (3.84m/1.9), on the other hand, didn’t. It’s still early, but it looks like the writing is on the wall. 24 (8.7m/2.7) was steady, despite the House repeat, on Monday. And Tuesday, of course, brought huge numbers for American Idol (24.21m/8.4). The show also did well on Wednesday (21.44m/7.2). Although, I’ll say it again, I really don’t get why Human Target (6.8m/2) isn’t in that 9PM slot after Idol. That 2 is not a good number for Chance. With Bones and Fringe still on break, that left Kitchen Nightmares (4.29m/1.7) to finish the week on Friday.
CBS - The Amazing Race (11.99m/3.8), Undercover Boss (14.47m/4.4), and Cold Case (9.43m/2.6) made the most of the late running NCAA tournament and got the week off to a good start. Monday, How I Met Your Mother (8.37m/3.5), Rules Of Engagement (8.48m/3.3), 2 ½ Men (14.46m/5.1), and Big Bang Theory (13.42m/5.2) continued the run. Rules Of Engagement knocking down more viewers than HIMYM is impressive. It seems that no matter how badly CBS treats that show, people show up to watch. CSI: Miami (10.8m/3.2) finished the night with a rare second place finish.
Gibbs and his Tuesday partners in crime had the week off, but Survivor (11.15m/3.4) made a rare stop on Wednesday, thanks to basketball, and still managed a very good number. That’s good to see, because it was one of the most entertaining tribal council showdowns I’ve seen in years. That left the NCAA tournament to finish things up on Thursday (10.5m/3.7) and Friday (10.32m/3.3).
NBC - The shine seems to be off Minute To Win It (5.11m/1.8) and Celebrity Apprentice (6.81m/2.6) as both took pretty good week two hits. The trend continued on Monday, with Chuck (5.46m/1.9), Trauma (4.32m/1.4), and Law & Order (6.02m/1.8) all down. The Biggest Loser (8.12m/3) and Parenthood (7.01m/2.7) reversed the trend. Both were up on Tuesday. That may have had something to do with the repeat schedule at CBS. The best news of the week came on Wednesday. Mercy (5.49m/1.3) continues to struggle, landing in fifth place in the demo. But it sure looks like SVU (10.58m/3.3) is back. That was 3.3 with no lead-in to speak of, and I’m really looking forward to what happens when the show faces a new CSI:NY again.
Thursday was typical. Community (5.07m/2.1), Parks & Recreation (4.47m/2), The Office (7.28m/3.5), and 30 Rock (6.25m/2.9) were all where you would expect. The Marriage Ref (6.62m/2.5) was down, and it remains to be seen just how long that one can last. The week finished with Who Do You Think You Are (6.21m/1.5) and Dateline (6.62m/1.3 – 7.03m/1.6) on Friday.
CW - Life Unexpected (1.88m/.9) keeps making things interesting. This week, it fell just short of Gossip Girl (1.9m/1). However, it was still ahead of 90210 (1.51m/.7) and Melrose Place (.97m/.5). That Melrose number is of particular interest. I can’t remember a scripted show falling below a million viewers on CW. For reference, the last episode of The Beautiful Life had 1.05m viewers.
The news was much better at 8 on Wednesday. Next Top Model (3.08m/1.4) is no longer top-dog at the network, but that’s still solid. Unfortunately, the 9PM slot continues to be wasted on Fly Girls (1.16m/.4) and High Society (.79m/.3). The new top-dog, Vampire Diaries (3.33m/1.6) was actually up in demo from its last new episode. And Supernatural (2.95m/1.2) was up in both measures.
CABLE – If we learned one thing from cable last week, it’s that people really love to look at nature in crystal clear HD. Even the best pitcher in all of college softball is excited about Discovery’s Life (6.14m/2.2 – 5.88m/2.1). Elsewhere, it’s also worth noting that Justified (3.54m/1.4) lost just a tenth of a demo point with its second episode. Some more cable numbers from the week that was:
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Mar 29, 2010 @ 09:21 EST5EDT
Couple of Notes:
“Justified” should be reviewed here. It is so damn close to Deadwood that I can promise you this one will go on for at least three seasons. I mean I kinda hate Mr. Olyphantastic because of how he treated Kevin Smith on “Catch & Release” but just kinda :-)
The problem with reviewing it is that it can’t be me because I couldn’t get past all the rednecks and swearing. I mean I’d be cussing all over because those rednecks are just so… ok forget it ^^;
And the other thing: I think “Southland” really kicks ass! Sorry to say that but I think NBC is really biting themselves in their collective asses because they let that one go. I hated the end of the first Season but so far I think it’s really shaping up to be a solid weekly outing for… err… what channel is it on again? TBS?
Oh and the Castle numbers SHOULD be that high. That was the best episode of Castle ever last week and it’s a two-parter. Somebody should review that one as well.
Yeah I know I should write it myself :-)
*POST AUTHOR*
I’ll have to disagree with you on whether or not NBC is regretting letting go of Southland. Given the numbers it’s putting up for TBS, it certainly doesn’t look like it would have been a ratings hit for NBC. And the last thing NBC needs right now is another critically acclaimed show that nobody bothers to watch.
As for reviewing Castle… someone does that every week. :D
Who? WHO? Tell me tell me!
;-)
I should’ve re-read that (it’s 0:30am here and we just advanced our clocks an hour on saturday, I’m beat) I wanted to make it sound as if you didn’t make it clear enough that it’s because of that awesome episode not just because of DWTS that Castle was so high but I KNOW that you can’t prove that and that’s why you didn’t say it :-)
I know that “Southland” sucks in the ratings I’m just saying that it might’ve found an audience if it hadn’t been aired at the tail end of last season. It was never given a fair chance (rightfully so considering the crappy 5th to 8th episodes of season 1 (at least I think that was the last four of S1) but if it had gotten 13 eps in the first place I really think it would’ve done better.
Anyway… Swearengen… c******s***er! ;-)
Don’t know where to ask this, but are you guys still reviewing Chuck?
*POST AUTHOR*
Yes we are Stan. The review for last night’s episode should be hitting the front page soon.
So where are all those snarky comments for Chuck now that its ratings have reached Heroes levels? Huh? ;oP