Ratings Clack – 10/05 to 10/11

CBS

It was a week that brought another round of premieres. Some (CSI) impressed, some were surprising (Kath & Kim, Life On Mars), and others (Valentine, Easy Money) were just disastrous. The big story for the week was the Thursday night showdown between CSI and Grey’s Anatomy.

Grissom’s troops took this round, but they had more than a little help from Warrick. There are many more battles to be fought in that war. Much like their partners in crime at 10:00, who have an interesting little battle of their own brewing. I’ll get to that, and a whole bunch of other ratings stuff, after the jump.

CBS - Given that CSI was the biggest premiere of the week, let’s start there. It really wasn’t even close at 9:00 on Thursday as the granddaddy of the CSI family knocked down 22.98 million viewers and a 7 in the demo. That put them well ahead of Grey’s Anatomy (14.54m/5.5). It doesn’t really settle anything though, as those numbers should jump back and forth based on the stories as we move through the year. Elsewhere, the 8:00 comedy hour on Monday night continues to grow. Big Bang Theory (9.32m/3.6) and How I Met Your Mother (8.96m/4) are both doing very well. Worst Week could be in trouble. At 8.79 million viewers and a 3.0, it’s now fallen below both of the 8:00 shows, despite following Two and a Half Men (13.94/5.1). The Wednesday comedy block is looking up as well. Old Christine (7.64m/2.1) and Gary Unmarried (7.43m/2.3) are actually growing. Those aren’t exactly the numbers the network is looking for, but the fact that they are improving in a new comedy block is reason enough to give them time.

ABC - We already covered the Grey’s numbers, so let’s turn to 10PM, where Grey’s and CSI handed off to two new shows. Life On Mars (11.6m/3.8) and Eleventh Hour (11.59m/3.4) both had decent numbers, but not anything you would jump up and cheer about. Life On Mars came out looking better, both for the numbers it had and because it had the smaller lead-in this week. There is still much to be decided between the two, though. Eleventh Hour isn’t the standard procedural that CBS has done so well, but it could serve as a landing spot if viewers don’t ultimately buy into the Life On Mars mystery. The next few weeks of these two should be very telling. Elsewhere, everybody loves dancing (18.81m/4.3), and nobody loves the whimsical Pushing Daisies (5.55m/1.9). That’s a number best described by the term, “Yikes!” Private Practice (7.25m/2.6) seems to be in better shape, but Dirty Sexy Money (5.95m/2) has problems as well. The only thing that one has going for it is they can at least point and say, “But we’re not Lipstick Jungle (4.77m/1.9).”

NBC - Yes, NBC has a problem with Lipstick Jungle, but it’s just the beginning of a very long list. Monday night continues to be a train wreck where the ratings are concerned. That one, more than any other, surprises me because it really is three very good hours of TV. Still, Chuck (5.89/2.2), Heroes (8.21m/3.9), and Life (5.78m/2.3) made for a horrible start to the week. Things only got worse for Life on Friday, managing just 4.92 million viewers and a 1.4. Ouch. I hope they wrap up the mystery soon. On the bright side, the combination of The Office (9m/4.6) and an SNL special (10.59/5) held up rather well against the CSI/Grey’s competition. Kath & Kim (7.46/2.3) was also something of a surprise, expanding on the My Name Is Earl (7.09/2.7) audience. Having seen Kath & Kim though, I can’t imagine those numbers are going to hold up. I’m in no hurry to go back.

FOX - There wasn’t a lot to talk about with FOX this week. The debate and baseball combined to knock out two nights of the schedule. In a shortened week, we found the Sunday comedies doing what they usually do. The Simpsons (7.43m/3.6), King Of The Hill (6.57m/3.3), Family Guy (8.42/4.3), and American Dad (6.85/3.5) are all doing fine. Bones also continues to hold up well, winning it’s time slot with 10.34 million viewers and a 3.3. Unfortunately, Monday is still Monday, and Terminator:TSCC (5.61m/2.3) and Prison Break (5.43m/2.2) are still in the tank. I guess the bright side is that they are really setting the bar pretty low for Dollhouse, once it finally debuts.

CW - This is something of an odd week for the CW. The new Sunday lineup kicked off, and it did horribly, but I don’t have any idea what that means for the shows. Valentine (1.1m/.3) and Easy Money (1.08m/.4) were both well below even CW expectations. But the shows are part of a block that the network has leased out, so I’m not sure how those numbers will ultimately be received. For what it’s worth, I like Valentine, and I’m surprised more of the CW audience didn’t at least give it a try. One bit of interesting news was the Monday night lineup. The network ran repeats of Gossip Girl (1.84m/.8) and Privileged (1.5m/.8). Those aren’t great numbers, but it’s interesting that Privileged kept the entire demo. It could be a signal of some schedule shuffling in the offing.

So, there we have it — another week in the books. The Grey’s/CSI battle is one that should be interesting to watch all season. The coming week brings a few more interesting premieres. NBC will try, try, again on Monday at 10 with My Own Worst Enemy. I watched the pilot over the weekend, and I like the show, but given the amount of negative press I’ve seen, and how the night has been going for the network, my expectations are low. Fortunately for the show, Life‘s ratings on Monday haven’t set much of a standard. Meanwhile, over at ABC, it’s time to cut the Dancing With The Stars performance show down to 90 minutes, so Samantha Who? will jump back in that comfy little slot. DWTS will also be helping out on Tuesday, as Eli Stone follows the results show. And finally, CBS is going to have some actual competition on Friday when we get our first look at the two hour premiere of Crusoe. Ghost Whisperer should be fine, but it could be rough on the already troubled The Ex-List.

Clacked by Brett Love
on Oct 13, 2008 @ 14:00 EST5EDT