Sunday, December 18, 2005

Home Improvement E! True Hollywood Story Premieres Tonight; Week 13 First Four Day Ratings; How The Sitcoms Did

E! will have a new episode of E! True Hollywood Story tonight featuring the '90s sitcom Home Improvement. E! will take a two-hour look starting at 8 p.m. ET/PT on what happened behind the scenes on this sitcom starring Tim Allen.
Turn off that Shop-Vac, and tune in to see how a ragtag show grew into a prime-time phenomenon, lasting eight seasons and more than 200 episodes, on Home Improvement: The E! True Hollywood Story.
More details here, including a video preview. Next Sunday (Christmas night), E! will have a brand new episode of True Hollywood Story on the '80s sitcom Who's the Boss?, which starred Tony Danza, Judith Light, Katherine Helmond and Alyssa Milano. More details will be shared soon.

Week 13 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: CBS: 8.5/13.4; ABC: 6.1/9.7; NBC: 6.0/9.5; FOX 4.2/6.6; The WB: 2.4/3.7; UPN 2.2/3.4.
Total Viewers: CBS: 13.04 million; ABC: 9.21 million; NBC: 9.03 million; FOX 6.58 million; The WB: 3.58 million; UPN: 3.18 million.
Adults 18-49: CBS: 4.3/11.4; ABC: 3.3/8.8; NBC: 3.3/8.8; FOX 2.8/7.3; The WB: 1.5/3.9; UPN: 1.3/3.5.

Analysis: Like last week, repeats dominated the schedule with shows like Lost, Two and a Half Men, My Name is Earl, and CSI: Miami in repeats. The CBS comedies repeated pretty well on Monday, but Monday Night Football took home the prize. CSI: Miami repeat did very well with 13.79 million, but down from last week's repeat of 15.33 million. It was not so well for Arrested Development yet again which had an original episode and a repeat UPN's competing comedies did even better. Tuesday saw CBS win with a new Navy NCIS and the finale of The Amazing Race 8. Sitcom wise, a special holiday episode of Hope & Faith at a special night and time on ABC, did very well, building on According to Jim with 8.02 million viewers. A new House on Fox did well. On Wednesday, again CBS was all original and won the night thanks to Criminal Minds & CSI: NY. ABC's Alias again at a special night and time was not too good, Alias will now return in March, with a night and time to be determined. The WB aired the classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and had a good showing for them with 5.23 million viewers, taking audience away for George Lopez, which just drew 7.16 million for ABC. Thursday saw CBS winning even in repeats for the dramas. It's sad when repeats of Two and a Half Men and How I Met Your Mother are airing in a special night and time on CBS and they beat two new episodes of Joey on NBC. The Apprentice 4 finale was down big from previous installments.
Not included in the ratings are Friday and Saturday. Friday saw CBS winning with its dramas. Saturday saw NBC and ABC battle with Law & Order franchise repeats and the movie The Sound of Music. CBS also got a strong showing for Frosty the Snowman.
CBS will for sure win by a wide margin in total viewers for the week and adults 18-49. Will the remake of the classic movie Once Upon a Mattress lift ABC to victory on Sunday? Housewives is a repeat, people in the east might not see all of it as President Bush will pre-empt all the networks at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT).

Monday Sitcoms

  • The King of Queens (CBS) - 9.23 million tuned in for an encore broadcast; very good!
  • How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 8.42 million tuned in for a repeat, almost similar to what it did later in the week on a special night and time encore.
  • Arrested Development (FOX) - Only 3.91 million for an original. And an encore at 8:30 did worse with 3.42 million. UPN beat it with 3.77 million at 8:30!
  • Two and a Half Men (CBS) - A repeat scored 14.25 million, slightly up from last week.
  • Out of Practice (CBS) - 10.84 million for a repeat of the hiatus bound sitcom.
  • One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends (UPN), Half and Half (UPN) - All were original and did decent as CBS's competing comedies were in repeats and Fox aired the low rated Arrested Development. Here is how the networks did from 8-9pm in order: CBS, NBC, ABC, The WB, Fox and UPN. Fox averaged 3.67 million and UPN 3.6 million--you see how bad it was for Fox. Let Showtime or ABC take Arrested Development please!

Tuesday Sitcoms
  • According to Jim (ABC) - 7.89 million tuned in for the 2005 Christmas episode at 8 p.m. Classic Christmas episodes aired at 9 and 9:30 and scored a decent 7.99 and 7.82 million.
  • Hope & Faith (ABC) - Impressive on a special night and time. All-new holiday episode scored 8.02 million, built on lead-in in households, total viewers, and adults 18-49.
  • My Name is Earl (NBC) - Repeat at a special time of 9:30 p.m. did 7.04 million, not bad.
Wednesday Sitcoms
  • George Lopez (ABC) - Down a lot from last week, the holiday episode only did 7.16 million and 2.3 adult 18-49 rating. I guess people watched The WB's How The Grinch Stole Christmas instead.
  • Freddie (ABC) - Built from last week's 7.44 million to 7.48 million. Steady A18-49 rating continues, with a 3.0 rating for number one in timeslot.
  • Twins (The WB) - Special night and time was nothing to write home about. Following the Grinch, a big loss for this repeat with only 2.26 million and a 1.1 adult 18-49 rating.
  • That '70s Show (FOX) - Young audience is there, but not overall yet again.
  • Stacked (FOX) - 4.32 million only tuned in.
Thursday Sitcoms
  • Joey (NBC) - 7.99 tuned in for an hour of new episodes.
  • Two and a Half Men (CBS) - Special night and time encore at 8 p.m. did very well with 9.72 million...beating the new episode of the NBC comedy at 8 p.m.
  • How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - Special night and time encore at 8:30 p.m. did very well with 8.4 million...beating the new episode of the NBC comedy at 8:30 p.m.
  • Everybody Hates Chris (UPN) - New episode scored 4.95 million.
  • Love, Inc. (UPN), Eve (UPN), Cuts (UPN) - New episodes did decent enough for them ranging from 2.66 to 2.97 million.

Friday Sitcoms

Not even going here. Fox had a new and a repeat of Bernie Mac, a repeat of Family Guy and a new Malcolm. Didn't do well. ABC's Hope & Faith repeat and a new Hot Properties did better, but not good. WB's repeats of What I Like About You, Reba & Twins were on par with previous weeks. A special Scooby Doo Christmas special aired at 8:30.

Summing it up. Out of Practice, How I Met Your Mother Mon & Thurs, Two and a Half Men Mon & Thurs, and The King of Queens were the only impressive sitcoms this week. Everything else was OK (such as Freddie, Hope & Faith Tues) or just plain old terrible (such as Arrested Development, Bernie Mac, Malcolm in the Middle).


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Tuesday, March 19

Night Court - "The Duke's a Hazard" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Gurgs' royal boyfriend pays a surprise visit, she questions their compatibility; Dan defends his family's honor after he discovers a feud that dates back centuries.

Extended Family - "The Consequences of Being Irish" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Jim learns of Trey's St. Patrick's Day fundraiser plans, he offers his expertise in an effort to save Trey and the Celtics from embarrassment.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 18)

Tuesday, March 19

  • Tracy Morgan (The Last O.G./30 Rock/The Tracy Morgan Show) - Catch Tracy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Leslie Bibb (Palm Royale/God's Favorite Idiot/American Housewife/The Odd Couple/About a Boy) - Leslie appears on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Brendan Hunt (Ted Lasso), Marc Maron (GLOW/Maron) and Zainab Johnson (Upload) - Brendan, Marc and Zainab are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Hilary Swank (Camp Wilder) - NBC's Today catches up with Hilary in the 10am hour.
  • The cast of Girls5eva) - Busy Philipps, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell and Sara Bareilles are guests on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family/The Class) - Jesse talks about his podcast Dinner's On Me on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Annie Potts (Young Sheldon/Over the Top/Love & War/Designing Women/Goodtime Girls) - Annie talks about her legendary career and new film, Ghostbuster: Frozen Empire, on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
  • Joe Manganiello (How I Met Your Mother) - Joe stops by Tamron hall to chat about hosting the new Deal or No Deal Island, so check your local listings.


New on DVD/Blu-ray (November-March)

Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Father Knows Best - The Complete Series The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)

11/07 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Sixth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/14 - Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/15 - Letterkenny - Season 11
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
12/22 - Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection (includes The Ropers and Three's a Crowd)
01/09 - South Park - Seasons 11-15 (Blu-ray)
01/16 - Ghosts (UK) - Season Five
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)

That Girl - The Complete Series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series

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