I suppose I should qualify that. It’s good news for TV viewers. If you’ve got any cash wrapped up in the further success of the network, though, maybe not such good news for you. As evidence of this, we need only look at the numbers. Starting with the perennial bubble show, Chuck, we see that it is finishing its season three run at series low levels. So NBC, in their prognosticating wisdom, renewed it! We didn’t even have to buy any subs. Even better, they’re going to put it in the same time slot! Because, really, if nobody would watch it on Monday for the first three years, surely they’ll start doing it in season four. Good lord.
Continuing that theme … despite the fact that Community and Parks & Recreation spent most of the season looking up at the numbers for My Name Is Earl and Kath & Kim, and sweating that demo for Vampire Diaries, the network has renewed both of them. So, again, yay for TV fans. And in another show of progressive thinking, they plan to improve Community‘s numbers by … wait for it … airing it in the same slot again! Hey, if it worked so well for Chuck…. Parks & Rec, on the other hand, is getting the double secret special treatment. It’s been moved to mid-season. Because nothing builds viewers like being off the air for six months!
The nuttiness continues with SVU. Remember how it sunk when it was moved to 9:00 this year? By January it had fallen to just a two in the demo, almost being doubled by Criminal Minds. Fortunes shifted, however, when the show was shifted back to 10 following the end of the Lenocalypse. This week saw the show back to a 2.8, even besting CSI:NY for first place in the slot. So, what will NBC do next year? Move it back to 9! Obviously! It’s similar to the idea to move 30 Rock to 8:30, where we’ve already seen it take a dump. Seriously, monkeys with dart boards could do better.
Anyway … there were some numbers this week.
NBC - Celebrity Apprentice (7.41m/2.9) got the week off to a solid start before handing things off to Chuck (5.32m/1.9) on Monday. As mentioned, that’s again at series low levels. I’m thrilled that the show is returning in the fall, but I have no idea why it is. On a related note, Law & Order (6.22m/1.8) wrapped up the night, and it won’t be returning next year.
The Biggest Loser (8.47m/3.4) and Parenthood (5.93m/2.6) remain the most successful night for the network, and that is one of the few things the network got right for next season. Wednesday, Mercy (4.01m/1.1) went out with a whimper, while SVU (8.57m/2.8) continued to rebound, finishing first in the demo for the hour.
Thursday was more of the same from Community (4.49m/2), Parks & Rec (4.28m/2), The Office (6.6m/3.4), 30 Rock (4.96m/2.5), and Marriage Ref (3.99m/1.6). Getting back to scheduling, the future isn’t so bright for 30 Rock, which will suffer a drop when it moves to 8:30 next season. Things wrapped up Friday with Friday Night Lights (3.97m/1.3) and Dateline (6.07m/1.5).
ABC - Desperate Housewives (11.36m/3.8) and Brothers & Sisters (8.18m/2.5) continued to right the ship on Sunday night to start the week. Dancing With The Stars (19.16m/4.1) followed with another solid performance on Monday. Castle (10.86m/2.5) was again second to CSI: Miami in both measures. Tuesday, the DWTS Results (12.52m/2.5) were okay, leading to a slightly improved hour for Lost (10.32m/4.1). V (5.69m/2.3) looks to be the only new ABC drama from this season that will survive to see next year, but its prospects are very iffy with those numbers.
Modern Family (10.34m/4.3) has now cemented itself as the number one new show of this season. You could certainly make a case for Glee, given the recent results, but there is a vast scheduling difference that has to be factored in. Glee is following Idol, while Modern Family is carrying a night while going against Idol. The Middle (7.49m/2.4) and Cougar Town (6.32m/2.7) continue to do well enough to earn their spot on next season’s schedule. And Happy Town (3.04m/1.1) earned its spot being burned off over the summer.
Thursday, another nail was driven into the coffin of FlashForward (4.75m/1.3). Grey’s Anatomy (11.05m/3.9) and Private Practice (9.3m/3.2) followed, both finishing first in the demo for their hour. Finally, the unscripted block of Wife Swap (4.32m/1.3), What Would You Do? (6.03m/1.8), and 20/20 (6.64m/1.8) were actually good enough to take the demo title for the night from an all new CBS schedule.
CBS - The Amazing Race (10.58m/2.9) had its lowest rated finale ever, but still easily won the opening hour of the week. That was followed by the latest Jesse Stone (11.49m/1.3) which continues to skew very, very, old. It managed the difficult feat of finishing first in viewers, and last in demo.
Monday was all good, with How I Met Your Mother (8.1m/3.4), Rules Of Engagement (8.16m/3.2), 2 ½ Men (13.86m/4.6), Big Bang Theory (13.73m/5.3), and CSI: Miami (11.01m/3.2). The news was also good on Tuesday, as NCIS (17.23m/3.9) and NCIS: LA (16.04m/3.3) both rebounded from an off week. The Good Wife (12.85m/2.4) remained steady.
Thursday was by the recent book, with Survivor (13.28m/4.1) again knocking down the top demo of the night while CSI (14.42m/3) and The Mentalist (14.84m/3.2) held at recent levels. Friday was a little troublesome. Despite all new episodes of Ghost Whisperer (6.43m/1.5), Medium (6.22m/1.5), and Miami Medical (5.93m/1.2), the network was topped by ABC in the demo.
FOX - Animation Domination was back to normal with The Simpsons (5.67m/2.7), Cleveland (5.3m/2.6), Family Guy (7.22m/3.8), and American Dad (5.84m/3), making for a solid start to the week. House (9.48m/3.6) was again off the season pace, but still tops in the demo for the hour. 24 (8.55m/2.7) remains solid as it finishes out its run.
American Idol (19.17m/6.8) and Glee (11.57m/4.8) continue to dominate Tuesday, while the Wednesday Idol (19.57m/6.6) also managed to take back the most viewed title this week. Bones (9.2m/2.6) and Fringe (6m/2.3) finished things out with both having small week-to-week gains.
CW – As the season winds down, things are kind of curious on Mondays. After all these years, One Tree Hill (2.09m/1.1) is still able to best Gossip Girl (1.79m/1). And that lead extends to the CW’s coveted young women demo as well. And, of course, they are both well ahead of 90210 (1.45m/.7) on Tuesday. Wednesday was the highlight. A two hour Next Top Model (3.77m/1.7) finale made for the best night of the week.
Thursday was also a success as Vampire Diaries (3.47m/1.7) and Supernatural (2.84m/1.3) finished off their seasons with small gains. Smallville (2.45m/1) joined that group, closing out the season on an up note.
Cable - For those keeping up with the Stargate Universe numbers, things remain relatively steady, with the May 7 episode coming in at 1.39m viewers and a .6 demo. And for those of you keeping track of softball… you can look forward to regional playoff games from Seattle airing on ESPNU.
Basic
Premium
Clacked by Brett Love 
on May 17, 2010 @ 09:03 EST5EDT
Captain Obvious, I found your shield!
;-)
No seriously I fully expected you to write this but honestly do you even CARE anymore? After Coco and Journeyman and Life and all that…
I think you should’ve written “Congratulations, NBC is the new Fox”. Because they are the new number four, it’s set in stone. And they behave as irratic when it comes to decisions as Fox once was.
*POST AUTHOR*
I care, but more because a competitive NBC makes things more interesting than because of the fates of any of these shows.
I wish the people who watch Modern Family would also tune in for Community. It’s such a wonderful show.
I do! I’d like to say the same for Cougar Town, which probably makes me laugh harder than anything else all week. It’s not about Courteney Cox bedding younger men — get over it people! :-)
*POST AUTHOR*
I agree about Cougar Town. As its found its footing this season it has really become a solid ensemble comedy.
I also watch “Community” and “Parks & Rec” as well as “Cougar Town”. I think it would be a wise choice to rename the latter because at first I thought I’d never watch a show like that. Especially after I watched “Dirt”, Cox’ last show, which basically could’ve been named “Cougar Town”.
So from a ratings perspective I fully understand that NBC has made weird choices here. But I stopped watching Earl after Season Three and though Kat & Kim was just bad. Really really bad. Like garbage bad.
Considering Law & Order might move to TNT I honestly don’t get their decisions from a ratings point of view, but I fully support these decisions to be honest. All the shows I liked got renewed (sans Chuck, I don’t get it to be honest but then again the other show on mondays was Heroes so go figure).
I love NBC’s justification for taking P&R off the schedule until mid-season (or whenever they see fit) – that they’ve seen how on cable you can have a show off the air for a year and the interest and demand will build for it’s return. Yeah, that works with shows people actually watch! But look how well that practice did for “Heroes.”
The canceled L&O to make a LA version that will get canceled in 13 episodes… stupid stupid NBC.
Nothing But Crap!
The only surprising thing about bringing back Chuck yet again was that they’re not saving it as a midseason replacement for whichever one of their new shows will fail the fastest. Oh, well. At least NBC has finally freed me from Heroes, so one out of two isn’t bad. Maybe The Cape (horrible name) will actually be an improvement.