FOX - A move for Bones is not official, but it is the best reasoning I can come up with for the decision to give Fringe another full season. Perhaps the network is actually going to try and build a real Friday night. It’s been my big complaint with the FOX Friday for years. They say they’re committed to building Friday, but their actions don’t back that up. Moving the already floundering Sarah Connor Chronicles there. Throwing out another season of Dollhouse after nobody watched the first one. Brothers. Kitchen Nightmares paired with Fringe. Those are not the actions of someone who is actually trying.
What would be actually trying is moving Bones to Friday at 8, leading in to Fringe. And I think that makes a lot of sense with what we know about next season and what we’ve seen this season. The X-Factor is coming, and it needs some mid-week real estate. Something has to give, and it’s going to be more than Traffic Light. Kicking Bones to Friday frees another hour for Simon. And it would also explain the curious decision to put Bones after Idol this year. Of all the shows FOX had that could have used that boost, Bones wasn’t one of them. It was doing just fine Thursday at 8. Perhaps this is the network’s best effort to grow the show before sending it off to fight the good fight on Friday.
Getting to the numbers for the week … Sunday was just okay, with Bob’s Burgers (4.43m/2.2), Family Guy (6.55m/3.3), and Cleveland (5.45m/2.6). Monday, House looked fine (9.49m/3.4). But then Chicago Code (6.16m/1.8) found some new lows. That great news for fans of Fringe might be really bad news for fans of Chicago Code. Later in the week, Traffic Light (2.71m/1) was a disaster standing on its own. American Idol remained strong on Wednesday (23.95m/7.9) and Thursday (21.3m/6.4). Finally, Kitchent Nightmares (4.07m/1.6) and Fringe (3.88m/1.5) finished the week. News of the renewal seems to have brought a small boost to Fringe.
ABC - The other big numbers news was the return of Dancing With The Stars (22.66m/5.3). Those aren’t Idol numbers, but still pretty amazing after all these years. The return also helped to once again lift Castle (12.03m/3.1) ahead of Five-0 at 10. Earlier in the week, Secret Millionaire (10.29m/2.5) was down again, but still looks good. The rest of Sunday was a disappointment in the form of Shark Tank (6.14m/1.9) and Detroit 187 (4.65m/1.1).
Tuesday, No Ordinary Family (5.35m/1.5) continued to struggle. And things got worse for the show when it was kicked to Saturday (3.52m/1), for some reason. The Best In Film special (7.09m/1.8) that stood in for V and Detroit 187 actually made for an improvement in the night’s numbers. Wednesday started okay with The Middle (7.05m/2), and Modern Family (10.9m/4.4) looked great at 9. That still didn’t do much for Mr Sunshine (5.79m/2.1) and Off The Map (4.46m/1.5). Thursday was business as usual for Wipeout (7.43m/2.3), Grey’s Anatomy (10.28m/3.7), and Private Practice (7.93m/2.6). And the week wrapped with another Shark Tank (4.83m/1.2) on Friday.
NBC - America’s Next Great Restaurant (3.78m/1.2) is looking more and more like NBC’s next canceled reality experiment. All was not lost on Sunday though, as Celebrity Apprentice (8.17m/2.8) continued to post good numbers. Monday, Chuck (4.23m/1.5) managed to find a series low, but still stay well ahead of The Event (4.11m/1.2). Harry’s Law (8.43m/1.6) took a hit from the boosted Castle, but still gains points for being the number one show for the network on the night.
The Biggest Loser (8.33m/3) is holding steady, and SVU (8.34m/2.6) remains a roller coaster mystery. And then there is Thursday. It was, as has become the norm, another disappointing night. Community (4.46m/1.8) only looks good when put next to Perfect Couples (3.41m/1.6). The Office (7.07m/3.4) remains the only legitimate scripted hit on the network, as Parks and Rec (5.15m/2.4) only ever succeeds when The Office hands off an audience. And I still have no idea why there is a 10PM comedy hour for 30 Rock (4.36m/1.9) and Outsourced (3.61m/1.5). Just how bad is it? Last year, on 3/25, The Marriage Ref (6.62m/2.5) was better by 2.6m/.8 in the hour. The Marriage Ref. The week ended with Who Do You Think You Are (6.55m/1.3).
CBS - It was the typical solid start to the week thanks to Amazing Race (10.13m/2.8), Undercover Boss (11.7m/2.8), and CSI Miami (10.93m/2.6). Monday was also good. Mostly. How I Met Your Mother (8.03m/3), Mike & Molly (9.7m/3), and Hawaii Five-O (10.01m/2.9) all looked fine. Mad Love (6.53m/2.4) isn’t pulling it’s weight though, and the network clearly misses the usual boost from Two and a Half Men.
Tuesday was also solid, with NCIS (19.46m/3.8), NCIS LA (16.56m/3.2), and The Good Wife (11.7m/2.1). On Wednesday, Survivor (11m/3.1) remains down but solid versus Idol. Suspect Behavior (8.8m/2.2), on the other hand, looked a little weak without the benefit of the Criminal Minds lead-in. Thursday and Friday were sacrificed on the altar of NCAA basketball.
CW - The giant dead spot in the schedule continued, as another week offered only Next Top Model (2.21m/1.1) and Shedding for the Wedding (.9m/.4).
CABLE - Syfy was at it again this week, with the premiere of Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen (.6m/.3). Those numbers are much lower than I was expecting. The show has been getting all kinds of promotion, but didn’t even land in the ballpark of what the other non-scripted Syfy stuff is doing. We’ll see what happens with week two, but this doesn’t bode well. And in crazy Jersey Shore (7.6m/4.1) news, the finale managed to beat everything on the networks in the demo except Dancing With The Stars, Modern Family, and American Idol.
Basic
Premium
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Mar 28, 2011 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
Given that this is just your “best guess” why title this Bones “is” moving to Fridays?
My best guess is a Terra Nova/Fringe Friday. Terra Nova is likely to debut big, have great special effects and very little plot. Might as well get a boost for another sci fi show (that actually is well written)out of Tera Nova before it inevitably burns itself out in a couple of months.
*POST AUTHOR*
As for the title, I have no answer for you. That’s just how it came out when the fingers hit my beloved Model M. Perhaps flipping is and Bones would have been more appropriate.
Getting to your idea of a Terra Nova/Fringe Friday, I think that’s a solid guess. It would make sense in relation to what has been the pattern over the last few years. And, I would argue, would doom both of them. Bones fans will follow the show to Friday. Not all of them, but certainly more than will bother to invest in Terra Nova, should it premiere there.
Brett — I liked your guess. Hadn’t really thought about the scheduling problem Fox was going to have. I figured Fox was just going to use the same slots that go to American Idol in the Spring for X-Factor in the Fall, but haven’t read anything about that yet.
(As for the post title — I’ve given up on post titles on any site being any more reliable than the URGENT MESSAGE notations on each piece of junk snail mail I receive — and at this point, it’s all junk. Same as when every news story is breaking news, or when every site is fed exclusive casting news.)
I’m still waiting to win the Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen t-shirt so I can burn it and post it on YouTube.
Did I win yet?
Really, Tom? Really?
Oh yeah, absolutely. It’s what I think of both the show and the network, as do many fans. I would do it with glee and film it in high definition. Call it my own special way of raising my yoyo finger at Syfy and the “Pissy Little Foameister.”
I cannot tell you just how happy I am that his show got such terrible ratings, especially as I loathe all things “reality” on television. I wouldn’t waste the money on buying a shirt to burn, but I really want to win it. I’ve even got a bottle of charcoal starter and an electric ignition device at the ready should I be the lucky winner.
Please pick me. My words cannot express the disgust I have with Syfy, only flaming shirts even come close. It probably won’t be as popular as “Friday,” but I’m sure many disenfranchised fans would appreciate the sentiment. I know I’d feel a lot better just burning the damned thing.
They tried to move Bones to Friday’s years ago and I don’t see it happening. However Bones will end soon, so if next season is the final season for Bones then maybe they will move it to Fridays.
I still think it will be Terra Nova/ (if it ever is made) and Fringe because I feel Fox now realizes Terra Nova/ is a mess of a show, so they will ditch it to Fridays.
However I could also see Chicago Code being on Fridays too because it get’s 7-8 million viewers, but the demo isn’t as strong as it should be.
But you say people want Fox to try with their Friday shows, no one but CBS has a real Friday night, so it’s not like it’s only Fox.
bones has good ratings on thursday/I heard they would go back to thurs at 8