ABC - Last week brought good news, and bad news, for ABC. On the positive side, they premiered their new Tim Allen comedy, Last Man Standing (13.19m/3.6) to very good numbers on Tuesday. That was at 8 o’clock, with no help from a lead-in. And… it was also facing baseball on FOX and NCIS on CBS. That is a great start for the show, and well deserved. It’s well done family comedy with a great cast.
There was more good news Wednesday, where Suburgatory (8.92m/3.1) held up well in week two. The Middle (8.87m/2.9) and Modern Family (13.65m/5.9) looked solid as well. There was even an extra bonus as both Happy Endings (7.29m/3.2) and Revenge (7.9m/2.7) were up week-to-week. Things were less exciting earlier in the week with Extreme Makeover (7.35m/2), Desperate Housewives (8.63m/2.8), Dancing With The Stars (16.79m/3 – 16.89m/3.3), and Castle (10.23m/2.1) all in the ballpark of expected results. If there was one noteworthy bit to the start of the week, it was the further decline of Pan Am (6.38m/1.9).
As for the bad news… There was nothing good to report for Charlie’s Angels (5.91m/1.3). Not only did that land them at 5th in the demo, it also prompted the network to cancel the show. With any luck, this will put the kibosh on the recent flood of remakes. The giant “It doesn’t work!” sign is getting rather easy to read. Grey’s Anatomy (9.97m/3.6) and Private Practice (6.51m/2.3) finished the week.
FOX - It was a rough week for FOX, because of baseball. The ratings for the two playoff games they did air (8.37m/2.5 – 8.39m/2.5) were ok, given the teams playing. The real problem came from resulting delays. Extra innings pushed Terra Nova (7m/2.5) and House (6.85m/2.7) late into the night on Monday, doing no favors for either show. And then an episode of X-Factor had to be pulled. And it just keeps getting worse for the network as the coming World Series isn’t looking to be particularly ratings friendly. The one episode of X-Factor (11.24m/3.7) that did air was also off the pace, and the week wrapped with Kitchen Nightmares (3.6m/1.4) and Fringe (3.14m/1.2).
CBS- It was another fairly smooth week for CBS. There were no alarm bells from the Sunday lineup of Amazing Race (9.62m/2.8), Good Wife (10.28m/2.1), and CSI Miami (10.23m/2.2) starting the week. Monday was also rather comfy, especially given the MLB/MNF competition. How I Met Your Mother (8.89m/4), 2 Broke Girls (10.71m/4.3), Two and a Half Men (16.2m/5.9), Mike & Molly (11.65m/3.9), and Hawaii Five-O (10.07m/2.7) had another strong night. The same could be said for NCIS (18.98m/4) NCIS LA (15.4m/3.3), and Unforgettable (11.72m/2.3) on Tuesday.
That same boring consistency was present Wednesday as well, with Survivor (10.69m/3.2), Criminal Minds (12.87m/3.8), and CSI (10.93m/2.6). As if all that wasn’t good enough, the network even got a boost at 8:30 on Thursday, where a repeat of Big Bang Theory (12.1m/3.7) made huge gains over the recently departed How To Be A Gentleman. That was joined by the new Big Bang Theory (13.58m/4.6), Person Of Interest (12.04m/2.8), and The Mentalist (12.39m/2.5). The week finished with the usual win on Friday, thanks to A Gifted Man (7.75m/1.3), CSI NY (10.02m/1.7), and Blue Bloods (10.91m/1.7).
NBC - The week started on a high after an exceptionally good performance from Sunday Night Football (22.1m/8.9). That success was short lived though, as the only other show able to crack 3 in the demo was The Office (6.08m/3.3). Worse, no other show was able to reach 2.2. Something to think about as we run through these numbers? CBS just round-filed How To Be A Gentleman after it had 7.58 million viewers and a 2.5 demo. Here’s the rest of the NBC schedule…
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Good grief… Thoughts on that? It might be time to just abandon the hopes for a comedy block on Wednesday and move Up All Night to Thursday after The Office. And this puts Prime Suspect just one tenth of a ratings point ahead of the number that got Playboy Club the boot. That ice is looking rather thin.
CW - Again this week I am at a loss with The CW. With the exception of the slightly bright spot that is Vampire Diaries (2.89m/1.4), nothing really looks very good. That VD number did earn a rare fourth place for the network, but drastic changes are going to be needed across the board if the network is going to gain any sort of traction. This schedule just isn’t going to do it.
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CABLE - The big premiere last week was USA’s Psych (2.995m/1). That’s a little lower than what some of the other USA shows have been getting. On the positive side, the show was up in viewers, and tied in the demo, with last season’s premiere.
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Clacked by Brett Love 
on Oct 17, 2011 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
The CW must be happy or at least find those numbers acceptable because Hart of Dixie, Secret Circle and Ringer were all picked up for full seasons. I’m enjoying the first two and keep hoping Ringer gets better….
*POST AUTHOR*
I don’t know that I would say happy. Acceptable maybe, but only in the context of those new shows not doing any worse than the rest of the schedule. I do agree with you about Hart of Dixie. I’m enjoying that one as well. At some point though, they have to expect the network to make some sort of gains. I think back to when we started the site and the CW was regularly getting 3 and 4 million viewers for the majority of their shows. Now they only have one that can top 2.