Comments on: UPDATED Thursday: CSI Most Viewers, Grey's Anatomy Higher Demos; Plus ER

By: Tyler

Tyler — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:29:37 +0000

Wow then, ABC really sunk in the finals… That still seems steep even for football to be factored out.

By: sean

sean — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:07:41 +0000

the office got less than 8 million the week of oct 20-26

By: Zach

Zach — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:36:40 +0000

Did anyone see ER? That was an amazing show last night. Brings us back to the good ol’ days.

By: Johnthemon

Johnthemon — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:11:10 +0000

The Office may have hit a season low, but it’s still doing quite well (especially for NBC). As for 30 Rock, correct me if I’m wrong but I think it’s still doing a lot better than last season. As for Kath & Kim, they need something better in that slot. Too bad about “My Name is Earl”, but isn’t it up a bit from last week?

I don’t get why people still watch Survivor/CSI. Where’s the novelty anymore? Neither show has changed much since its premiere, but they’re both still super popular!

Fox Thursdays are DOA at the moment. Oh well who cares.

As for ABC…blech! Grey’s Anatomy is awful, and I haven’t watched Life on Mars. Nor will I ever.

By: jay

jay — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:22:49 +0000

I agree with everything said about how the Office is a solid anchor if NBC could just find a good bridge between it and Earl. The Office sucked at an hour, and to be honest I haven’t watched it since it burned me. It is also sinking in how the 18-49 and 18-35 numbers relate to each other. The Office is a megahit with the younger group, while the 35-49 seem to mainly switch to Grey’s at nine eastern from Survivor.

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:17:20 +0000

Kathy, my understanding is no, they won’t add those viewers back in (or for the ABC shows airing in Boston Saturday).

By: Kathy B.

Kathy B. — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:38:13 +0000

Any chance they add back the viewers in NY who watch on Saturday?

By: KT

KT — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:06:40 +0000

ALL SMALLVILLE FANS!! Support your show by going to CW Smallville page and clicking the advertisements on that page once a day. This gives CW direct revenue. Also buy Smallville DVD’s and products to support the show. It might be the last season but we should still show our thanks.

Smallville fans are the best!

By: Vader

Vader — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:56:59 +0000

Daisies, it was a lot better than other stuff from the last season, where stupid plots ran rampant. People looking for a happily ever after ending or an “aww” moment are unrealistic. The characters were portrayed the same way the were throughout the series. All the finale did was call the implication to people’s attention. I can’t recall one episode off the top of my head when one of the main characters cared about something happening to someone other than themselves or one of the other main characters. Anything else would’ve appeased the critics, but would’ve been absolutely cheesy and untrue to the characters.

By: DaisiesDeathKnell

DaisiesDeathKnell — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:58:46 +0000

Vader, the Seinfeld finale was loathed by the general public. They just really disliked the ending but I thought Larry put together a suitable episode that highlighted all of the series’ strengths while giving us some interesting closure. It was certainly better than four or five “treading water” episodes from the final season.

Curb Your Enthusiasm gave us four great seasons of television. I think Larry should’ve called it all off after the fifth season finale which was an absolutely PERFECT way to go out. On the other hand, the sixth season helped prove that he was still capable of delivering a decent product since the fifth was mostly unwatchable. Either way, one of those two “finales” should have been the finish line. I’m not sure what the hell they can do with the show given how it ended last season.

Survivor really knows how to earn those aged 35-49 viewers. If you just look at 18-34, it isn’t much better than the rest of the shows airing at that time slot.

Kath & Kim will surely be replaced by The Office “spinoff” (really just a new show by the same team). The new show should definitely air before The Office. It would make a good lead-in. Airing it after The Office would be a waste since 30 Rock’s rating would tumble by having My Name Is Earl as a lead-on. The surreal, quirky 30 Rock humor doesn’t gel with Earl’s broad strokes & weak writing. 30 Rock would lose a lot of people that tune in at 9 PM for The Office/30 Rock combination. NBC should try to make those people watch a 90 minute block rather than continue to go with an hour. Plus, what happens if this new show isn’t that great? Then you’ve pretty much diminished the ratings for 30 Rock for no reason whatsoever once people start tuning out after The Office at 9:30 and ignoring the spinoff.

As for Earl, despite never recovering from a creative slump early in the second season, it’s definitely worthy enough to be brought back next year. It’s a lock if the new series from The Office folks takes off as NBC could then have a stable block they can probably count on in 2009/2010.

By: Iggy

Iggy — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:51:10 +0000

Wow, Life on Mars dropped 1 million viewers in the finals?

By: Holly

Holly — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:08:35 +0000

Tyler, The overnight ratings for Ugly Betty were inflated because a football game aired on ABC in some markets. The final ratings were down to 8.35 mill and 2.5 in the demo.

By: maahem

maahem — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:47:13 +0000

Yay for Ugly Betty!!!

By: stacy

stacy — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:15:24 +0000

Darn it!!! I really hate to see Supernatural’s numbers so low. Does anyone know if there is a football game on in the next two weeks?

By: Vader

Vader — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 01:05:05 +0000

When exactly did the Seinfeld finale become bad? Must’ve missed the memo on that one.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:54:12 +0000

Betty keeps going up week after week! And it beat Survivor in the 18-34 demo for the second week in a row! Does anyone know if this is something new for Betty to do, or has it never beaten Survivor in any demo before this season?

By: Angie

Angie — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:41:00 +0000

Josh – New York is the largest viewing market in the country, I believe, and ther were zero viewers counted from there, so . . . it’s a huge chunk of CW viewership gone for the night.

By: dirtysexyj

dirtysexyj — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:22:37 +0000

e calling LOM a ratings success yet it has done exactly what other failed shows did after GA. I will bet a large sum of Cash Private Practice will retain much better after GA and give ABC a 18-49 victory on Thursdays.

If ABC cancels ES and PD and DSM based on ratings they should also can LOM

By: tom

tom — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:02:13 +0000

julia… i don’t think hbo gave him another shot… they want more curb. they wait for him to say if he wants to do another season. “the end” was a possible finale but he changed his mind. i really don’t think he commits to do a whole season just so he can nail a good series finale. if that were the case he would have ended with the one last season. because the finale was awesome. but this past season he also wasn’t sure if there would be another season. then he decided to do another. from what i read it’s based on if he thinks he can come up with a strong enough arc for the 10 episodes. last year was the problems with the wife and the black family, the year before that was the adoption thing. either way i look forward to the new batch.

By: R.J

R.J — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:01:13 +0000

Kitchen Nightmares is doing horrible this seaosn. What’s going on?

By: josh

josh — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:45:47 +0000

ugly betty, Smallville and SUpernatural seem a bit low in the finals, i know football was on, but still!

maybe this time next year NBC will have loads of new shows and be the new #1 network :p all of the networks have gone through a bad patch after all!

By: Julia

Julia — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:24:53 +0000

Tom, I’m pretty sure two seasons ago really was supposed to be the end, but no one liked the finale, so they gave Larry another shot. It’s not that he’s not sure, he’s just really bad at endings. Look at Seinfeld. Though I thought this past season was a great series finale, and I would have been happy with it.

By: Sinclair

Sinclair — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:13:39 +0000

Thursday broadcast finals (from Pifeeback):

08:00 P.M.
- “Survivor: Gabon” (CBS) : 12.885 million viewers (A18-49: 4.0/11)
- “Ugly Betty” (ABC) : 8.247 million viewers (A18-49: 2.5/7)
- “My Name is Earl” (NBC) : 7.045 million viewers (A18-49: 2.8/8)
- “Kath & Kim” (NBC) : 5.122 million viewers (A18-49: 2.1/5)
- “Kitchen Nightmares” -R- (FOX) : 4.585 million viewers (A18-49: 2.1/6)
- “Smallville” (CW) : 3.556 million viewers (A18-49: 1.4/4)

09:00 P.M.
- “CSI” (CBS) : 19.050 million viewers (A18-49: 5.1/12)
- “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC) : 14.902 million viewers (A18-49: 5.7/13)
- “The Office” (NBC) : 8.296 million viewers (A18-49: 4.1/10)
- “30 Rock” (NBC) : 7.602 million viewers (A18-49: 3.6/8)
- “Kitchen Nightmares” (FOX) : 4.909 million viewers (A18-49: 2.3/6)
- “Supernatural” (CW) : 2.944 million viewers (A18-49: 1.2/3)

10:00 P.M.
- “Eleventh Hour” (CBS) : 11.627 million viewers (A18-49: 3.1/8)
- “ER” (NBC) : 9.900 million viewers (A18-49: 3.7/10)
- “Life on Mars” (ABC) : 7.968 million viewers (A18-49: 2.6/7)

By: Nick C

Nick C — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:12:28 +0000

JT, I agree NBC should fire the execs. However, remakes would be my reasoning as well but in a different take. The remakes did well in their first viewing, so obviously there was a viewing base to justify the remake. Poor handling of the remakes lead to “bad remakes,” which just matches the “bad new shows.”

It’s all bad for NBC.

By: JT

JT — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:10:13 +0000

NBC needs to fire their executives for failing to realize that remakes of once successful shows aren’t gonna cut it. They need to think outside the box, much like ABC did when they brought us “Lost” and “Housewives”, two shows that significantly helped resurrect ABC from the dead.

A couple of new shows with a unique premise, smart writers and proper promotion are what they need to get themselves out of last place. I know that’s easier said than done, but it’s what they need to do.

By: tom

tom — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:55:43 +0000

they’ve ended the last 2 years of curb as though they were the final seasons… one was called “the end” and the other (last year) was a hysterical payoff for the seasons storyline and would have been a great ending. i think larry david is never sure.

btw: he’s starring in the next woody allen film. a comedy shot in ny.

By: Alde

Alde — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:24:23 +0000

Thanks for the info, tom. I was somehow under the impression that it has ended, likely because imdb.com dates the last season back to 2007. Months ago I tried to get into Curb but didn’t have enough time. Good to know that new stuff will still come out and it hasn’t completely ended.

By: fin

fin — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:18:07 +0000

Ugly Betty seems to be getting higher ratings each week: 9.2 beast since premiere. K&K should be cancelled (not just because of it being terrible) but also because of its numbers: look at them!!! NBC is just screwed and is too scared to take a risk but surely it can’t get much worse than this.

By: tom

tom — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:17:22 +0000

curb starts shooting in january i think… and of the shows 6 seasons… all but one preemed in the fall. but i can’t see them sitting on it till fall next year so prob. spring to qualify for the 2009 emmy awards.

By: anna

anna — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:09:14 +0000

I am so thrilled that Ugly Betty is continuing to do better!!! I hope it gets renewed!!!

By: Alde

Alde — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:40:48 +0000

You know, not in any way am I defending KR, but I find it funny how it gets the ‘in the past, grass was greener’ treatment. Do you guys honestly believe that back in a day the original KR was well acted and written? I mean, seriously? The point of shows like that has been pure fun since the day one. KR wasn’t the only one back in a day, there was A-Team and whatever the heck else. They pretty much all had the same ‘frame’, albeit different containment.

By: Alde

Alde — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:35:02 +0000

Uh, didn’t Curb end? Or am I completely off, as I’m not yet much into comedies.

By: Iggy

Iggy — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:34:44 +0000

EH is winning its time slot and its main competition is going off the air next year, so I expect it will get picked up, though I guess you can never be sure.

As for NBC, I saw about 15 minutes of Knight Rider and thought that the show would have 2 or 3 episodes tops. When I saw it got renewed, I dusted off old teleplays in my closet, because I was convinced for the first time in years that I do have a future in television writing. If those guys have jobs…

By: Steve C

Steve C — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:30:50 +0000

oh ok well thanks for explaining Julia and Bill. i was just wondering does anyone know when curb your enthuisium starts? its the only real funny show you guys have. no offence but your sitcoms are kinda terrible. they only great sitcom ever was frasier.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:25:46 +0000

Iggy,

I don’t think it has. Keep in mind that CBS has very high expectations for its shows and NBC … well … not so much. It’s almost like they’ve switched places over the last 10 years. 10 years ago NBC was huge and CBS was still kind of in a rut. Now its pretty much the exact opposite.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:19:19 +0000

Chris, they picked up K&K for its back 9, so I would assume 22, but I am doubtful that it will ever make it to 22.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:18:30 +0000

Thanks Robert!

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:16:27 +0000

Does anyone know how many episodes NBC has ordered for Kath and Kim? This show is disgustingly terrible. It almost makes me was to puke when I tune in to The Office a few minutes early. They need to replace that show STAT!

By: JT

JT — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:01:34 +0000

The dude who stars in 11th Hour is really creepy looking. Everytime I see a promo for that show I cringe.

By: Cool

Cool — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:01:10 +0000

because NBC sucks and CBS has a higher bar to renew shows, just like ABC or FOX.

By: Iggy

Iggy — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:47:35 +0000

Has eleventh hour gotten a full season pick up yet? If not why not? It’s surely a much better bet than Life or Knight Rider, which have gotten pick ups?

By: entertainmenttodayandbeyond

entertainmenttodayandbeyond — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:40:06 +0000

I thought ER would get a nice bump with Anthony Edwards return as Dr Mark Greene. He was great. Really good episode. That show was his, NO doubt!

Chuck

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:20:50 +0000

Shannon, it was down in the early metered market report, but up in terms of total viewers slightly. My guess is when the dust settles and the final numbers come out, it will be down a little. It’s one of the reasons I don’t like the early metered market numbers. By the time the fast nationals came out, the household rating changed to a 6.1 (pretty significant). But, the overnight numbers are fickle, especially when sports are involved and once viewing in Boston is factored out (people watching the football game on the local ABC afflilate are counted both in these, and the early metered market numbers), we’ll see…

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:17:00 +0000

Can someone please explain to me that on one hand the numbers for Life on Mars says it was down from a 6.0 to a 5.5 this week, but then I see it says 8.94 up from 8.92 last week. Was it up or was it down last night?

By: Robert Seidman

Robert Seidman — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:13:41 +0000

i think it likely the ABC numbers get adjusted somewhat downward too since the Boston market got the football game on the local ABC outlet.

By: tim

tim — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:12:21 +0000

ugly betty hit 9 million viewers. Im sure that helps. And with so many sophmore shows bombing on ABC, i cant imagine them not renewing ugly betty. Its not a hit, but right now, its a solid performer everyweek for ABC.

By: Gabriel

Gabriel — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:08:05 +0000

P.S.: The anchor is E.R.

By: Gabriel

Gabriel — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:02:21 +0000

As a The Office fan, NBC could retool the order of his [or her] comedies in order to boost Thursday audience. Personally, I think they would drop K&K and make more SNL ‘Thursday Edition’.

And Robert, Bill, NBC will really finish one of his [or her, again] anchors while everything else seems to fall apart.

Well, sorry for the awful grammar.

By: Bill Gorman

Bill Gorman — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:56:55 +0000

JT, we all have our blind spots. One of mine is relying on averages vs. trends. Berman’s fixation on lead in retention is one of his. I’m not saying retention is meaningless, but it’s nowhere near as important as Berman thinks it is.

By: Julia

Julia — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:48:11 +0000

JT, you need to learn not to read Berman. Here we get the numbers with little bias. Berman is all about bias.