Sunday, June 01, 2008

Summer Week 1 Sitcom Ratings; Coming Week Preview

It is summer time! Which means repeats and reality series, but there will be some scripted originals for the summer as well. Like we do every summer, we will just look at the sitcom ratings, but we will be back in the fall with our normal weekly reports.

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of May 19-25)
  • Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) - 950,000 viewers for the first summer repeat airing...you tell me if that is good or not?
  • Aliens in America (The CW) - 930,000 viewers for the first repeat airing, on par really with the lead-in...but this show is canceled.
  • The Game (The CW) - 910,000 viewers for a repeat...not good.
  • Girlfriends (The CW) - 870,00 viewers for a repeat for the long-running sitcom that ended this year.
Monday Sitcoms
  • The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 6.25 million for the first summer repeat airing...not bad
  • How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 6.65 million for the first repeat airing, building on the lead-in.
  • Two and a Half Men (CBS) - Even in the summer scoring in double figures, 10.81 million.
  • Rules of Enagement (CBS) - 8.47 million for a repeat is good...a typical retention.


Tuesday Sitcoms

  • According to Jim (ABC) 2 episodes - 4.55 and 4.79 million for two all-new episodes, including the season finale. Should have done better, but it seems people never know when this airs.
  • Samantha Who (ABC) 2 episodes - 4.78 and 4.57 million for two repeats on a special night...not bad because it was on par with Jim.
Wednesday Sitcoms
  • Under One Roof (MyNetworkTV) - 1.09 million for a new episode...up a bit from previous week.

Thursday Sitcoms

  • The Bang Theory (CBS) - 4.74 million for a repeat on a special night...actually the second week in a row it has encored here.
  • How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 4.77 million for a repeat on a special night, as with the lead-in, aired the previous week here, too.
  • The Office (NBC) 2 episodes - NBC really likes to repeat this show in weird slots...8pm and 10:30pm this week: 3.44 and 3.5 million, both not good.
Friday Sitcoms
  • None
Saturday Sitcoms
  • None
Tonight you can catch encores of The CW sitcoms and Fox's animated comedies from 8-10pm.

So what is new or notable this week that you might want to catch? Tonight CBS will launch Million Dollar Password at 8pm hosted by Regis Philbin and NBC has a two-hour Dateline from 9-11.
On Monday, ABC will be all-new with a two-hour The Bachelorette followed by the season premiere of The Mole, which returns after some years off! NBC will have Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals with Detroit up 3-1 in this series that has done much better than last year, but still not as high rated as other sporting finals.
On Tuesday Fox will be all-new with the reality line-up of The Moment of Truth and Hell's Kitchen. NBC has a half-hour episode of Most Outrageous Moments that is new at 8pm, while CBS has 48 Hours at 9pm that is new.
On Wednesday Fox will air a new two-hour episode of So You Think You Can Dance. ABC will be new at 10pm with the penultimate episode of canceled drama MEN IN TREES. MyNetworkTV will have a new episode of Flavor Flav's Under One Roof at 8pm. And if necessary, game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals will air on NBC...if not repeats will air.
On Thursday ABC will be all-new with the series of specials Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night, followed by Game 1 of The NBA Finals between Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. It should do big. Fox will also be new all-night with an another two-hour So You Think You Can Dance-Thursday. CBS will premiere a scripted series at 10pm, the burning-off of Swingtown and NBC will air a new episode of the low-rated Last Comic Standing from 8:30-10, leading into a new horror series at 10pm called Fear Itself.
On Friday ABC will have 20/20 at 10 and NBC will have a two-hour Dateline from 9-11pm. The CW of course will have WWE Smackdown.
Saturday will see Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals on NBC, if necessary, if not more repeats will air. And CBS will burn-off a new version of the movie Sybil from 8-10pm.

SITCOMS AIRING TONIGHT (May 23)

The Big Bang Theory - "The Santa Simulation" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Sheldon revisits some Christmas memories during a game of Dungeons and Dragons, while Penny, Bernadette and Amy try to find a girl for Koothrappali when he joins the girls for ladies' night.

Two and a Half Men - "I Scream When I Pee" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Alan’s smokin’ hot, famous ex-wife, Kandi, wants him back. Meanwhile, Berta isn’t interested in celebrating her birthday, so Walden helps make it special. April Bowlby (“Drop Dead Diva”) returns as Alan’s second ex-wife, Kandi.

Save Me - "The Book of Beth" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Series Premiere)
“Save Me” premieres with Emmy nominee Anne Heche (“Hung”) starring as Beth Harper, an absentee wife and mother who suffers a dramatic near-death experience and is revived only to discover that she now receives messages from God. As she warms up to her powers and begins dispensing advice that is astonishingly accurate, her husband Tom (Michael Landes, “Final Destination 2”) is skeptical and their teenage daughter Emily (Madison Davenport, “Shameless”) is horrified. Complicating matters even more, Tom’s mistress Carly (Alexandra Breckenridge, “American Horror Story”) shows up to confront Beth about the affair and quickly gets a shocking surprise.

Save Me - "Take it Back" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Beth (Anne Heche) begins a new life on the straight and narrow and wants to make amends with old friends she has offended. Her efforts to return a long-ago stolen espresso machine to next door neighbor Maggie (Joy Osmanski) are rebuffed. Meanwhile, Tom (Michael Landes) learns to adjust to his wife’s newfound ability to communicate with God and they both try to re-establish some sense of normality with their old friends and their daughter Emily (Madison Davenport).

The Office - "Couples Discount" (NBC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The Office pairs off into pretend couples to take advantage of a Valentine’s Day discount at a local mini-mall. Erin (Ellie Kemper) assures Pete (Jake Lacy) she will break up with Andy (Ed Helms) when he returns, but he has good reason to doubt her. Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) share a meal with Brian, the documentary's sound man.

Parks and Recreation - "Ms. Knope Goes to Washington" (NBC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Leslie (Amy Poehler) and Andy (Chris Pratt) visit Ben (Adam Scott) and April (Aubrey Plaza) at their new jobs in Washington D.C., and Leslie feels overwhelmed by the city -- especially after meeting two of her idols (Senators Barbara Boxer and Olympia Snowe). Meanwhile, Ron (Nick Offerman) throws a “thank you” barbeque for the entire Parks and Recreation staff.

Men at Work - "The Gibbs-Orcism" (TBS, 10:00PM ET/PT)
Tyler's new girlfriend is all too familiar to Milo and Gibbs, so they do their best to hide the truth from him. Neal and Amy do their best to avoid the "anniversary curse," but they can't seem to escape their fate.

Anger Management - "Charlie, Kate and Jen Get Romantic" (FX, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Martin tries to undermine Charlie and Kate's relationship by telling Kate that Charlie and Jennifer are getting back together.

Big Time Rush - "Big Time Bonus" (Nickelodeon, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Gustavo gives the guys a bonus for their hard work, but they quickly begin to make bad decisions with their money. Carlos hires a personal assistant, James buys a snake he can't live without, Kendall accidentally buys a truck full of oranges and Logan can't resist the power of tipping and getting favors done in return.

Wendell & Vinnie - "The Dutch & Us" (Nickelodeon, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Wendell befriends a lonely student from Holland, Jann. But when Jann abandons Wendell for a cooler crowd, Vinnie decides to help Wendell win him back by putting them in a situation where they're forced to spend time together.