Sunday Cable Ratings: 'True Blood' Beats 'Breaking Bad' Premiere, + 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians', 'Very Funny News', 'Real Housewives of New Jersey', 'Falling Skies' & More

Categories: '

(89) Comments - Add Yours!

1. Irish Townie

   Posted July 18, 2012 at 10:50 AM

   Brakin Bad is in a class by itself…walter white rules baby….or should I say dr watley

2. Steve-A

   Posted July 18, 2012 at 11:40 AM

   @CCV. Like a lot of HBO shows, sex is front and center because it’s HBO and they can do it. But a true blood has entered its fifth season. Sex is not the main focus or even a focus. True blood is watchable to most is because it’s fun, funny, and interesting. Maybe it will give way to GoT, but that’s not likely to happen. GoT is too complicated for most to get into.

3. Stay

   Posted July 18, 2012 at 11:46 AM

   Oh, marsinvestigations1, you actually made me laugh out loud when you said that True Blood has social commentary. I’m with CCTV (and I’ve been watching the whole way through), there is no social commentary. IT tries to pretend it has some, but there is no substance or follow through. Just own the fact that it is campy fun.

   And lol at the people getting so excited that it went up a point. Oh to be a True Blood megafan, you all must be so easily amused.

4. Joe

   Posted July 18, 2012 at 2:59 PM

   A lot of people are pissed of that True Blood is a huge hit. Especially GOT fans. They can’t handle that more people watch TB. Who cares. They both do extremely well. Get a life people.

5. CCV

   Posted July 18, 2012 at 11:42 PM

   I’m not upset at True Blood doing well…I LOVE HBO, and anytime HBO does well I’m pleased. There is so much horrible programming on network and basic cable that, even though I do not look at True Blood as a top tier show, it’s better than 90% of everything else on television. I categorize it along the lines of shows like Falling Skies and The Tudors, which is a more apt comparison–a decent “good” show with pseudo-intellectual aims that’s more worth watching than most shows, but nothing that will last beyond it’s own expiration date.

   Neither am I surprised or bothered that TB rates higher than GoT (as of this moment). TB is aimed at a broader audience, while GoT is willing to alienate viewers who don’t want to have to pay attention to the dense levels of detail. It’s the same reason The Wire was always in danger of being cancelled, and THAT show is the greatest achievement in television history. GoT is not The Wire, of course, but it has had a strong start, and it’s headed in the right direction. The same can be said for Boardwalk Empire, after a pretty good first season and a masterful second. I’d rather watch a meticulously crafted story that demands my attention and makes me think about the nuances and implications of events in the days between episodes than one that I don’t have to really invest myself in.

   This is not to say that such shows cannot be good. It’s Always Sunny and Curb Your Enthusiasm are examples of shows that don’t really demand much out of the audience, except knowledge of in-jokes and references, but are great nonetheless, and I love them. True Blood’s main draw is the sex and the soap opera relationships, which is fine, but not something that will hold my attention for an entire season.

6. shelly

   Posted July 19, 2012 at 8:01 AM

   where are the ratings for big ang on vh1..is it a flop

7. Mike

   Posted July 19, 2012 at 9:09 AM

   Really enjoyed political animals, hope it still gets a season order, Sebastian Stan, James Wolk, Weaver all continue to impress. If this doesn’t work out, they really should make Stan a regular on OUAT.

8. Trevor

   Posted July 19, 2012 at 12:47 PM

   Yeah, weird ANT FARM got 2.9 Friday for the premiere of a new episode and then the re-run on Sunday got over 3.7 million viewers. What this proves is that too much emphasis is put on the initial ratings – kids watch the shows on Disney when they want – they get re-run tons and kids also watch on their phones or thru iTunes, etc.

9. pirate1303

   Posted July 23, 2012 at 7:51 AM

   Political Animals is the worst written show on tv-the sub plots with the homo, duggie son are as bad as the other son overacting ad throwing tantrums-the drunk grandmother & bulimic finance top the cake-

   Bud is great Elaine, controlled won’t be a round past 6 wakes-