It was another big week for ABC, thanks to the NBA finals. The better story though might have come from cable, where TV Land debuted their first original sitcom, Hot In Cleveland. Not only was it the number one show on cable in a number of categories for the night, it’s numbers also prove as quite the embarrassment to a few network originals. The week also brought the return of True Blood.
ABC – It’s like the network hit the lottery with these NBA Finals. Not only did they get the storied Celtics vs. Lakers match-up, they also got a seven game series. That meant big numbers for Game 5 (18.65m/7.2) and Game 6 (17.96m/7.1). And huge numbers for Game 7 (28.2m/11.4).
Elsewhere, The Bachelorette (8.41m/2.6) continued motoring along while True Beauty (5.27m/1.9) was down, but not out. Happy Town (2.14m/.6), on the other hand, was both down and out. The week finished with what might have been the biggest surprise of last week. Friday’s Miley Cyrus In London (2.71m/.7) went largely unnoticed.
NBC - Once again, the NBC summer amounts to America’s Got Talent (10.55m/3), and a bunch of other stuff. Last Comic Standing (4.85m/2.2) and Persons Unknown (3.52m/1.2) got the week off to a slow start. Losing It With Jillian (4.36m/1.4) didn’t offer much help. 100 Questions (1.97m/.6) remains a boat anchor on Thursdays. And Friday Night Lights (3.44m/1) continues to do just what everyone knew it would.
FOX - Til Death (2.07m/.8) and Sons Of Tuscon (1.94m/.8) led off again last week, to similar results. There was better news on Monday though, as Lie To Me (6.48m/2) made gains in both measures. Oddly though, that still led to The Good Guys (4.29m/1.3) dropping again.
In reality news, Hell’s Kitchen (5.68m/2.7 – 6.52m/3) was solid on Tuesday. Things didn’t go quite as well for So You Think You Can Dance on Wednesday (6.55m/2.6) and Thursday (6.17m/2.3). Those are still okay summer numbers, but you have to start wondering if this is a sign that the new format isn’t working.
CBS - The week started off on a great programming note with Sean Hayes hosting the Tony Awards (6.98m/1.1). Unfortunately, while it was one of the better done awards shows in recent memory, theatre just isn’t much of a draw on TV. The network tried another special on Wednesday, firing off TV’s Greatest Surprises (6.58m/1.5). And things wrapped up with Flashpoint (6.95m/1.4) and Miami Medical (5.93m/1.1).
CABLE - As mentioned above, TV Land’s Hot In Cleveland (4.75m/1.2) got off to a great start. And that’s at 10PM on a Wednesday. Granted, it’s no Pawn Stars (5.29m/2.1 – 5.9m/2.3), but that is a very nice debut for a show that many people probably didn’t even realize was starting. Over at HBO, the return of True Blood (5.1m/2.9) had to be a welcome one. Although, it again makes me question why they were so quick to renew Treme (1.17m/.6). Other cable numbers:
Basic
Premium
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Jun 21, 2010 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
