Friday, September 23, 2005

'Lopez' & 'Freddie' Premieres Delayed By 1 Week Each; 'Chris' Neck and Neck with 'Joey'

With the monster numbers for the Lost season premiere this past Wednesday, ABC decided to re-air the season premiere next Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. replacing the one-hour fifth season premiere of George Lopez. Lopez will have its one hour season premiere now the week after on October 5. So mark those calendars for this underrated sitcom. The series premiere of Freddie was all set for 8:30 p.m. on October 5, and now that will be on October 12 instead. Of note, technically the second episode of Freddie will be the premiere episode and the pilot episode is actually on October 19. I thought the pilot was a little weak (see our pilot reviews), so maybe ABC thought that too and will air a stronger episode for the show's debut.
Also of note on the third episode of the season for Lost (October 5), sitcom star Katey Sagal (8 Simple Rules, Married...With Children) is guest starring as Helen, a lady from Locke's past. I hope she appears in more than one episode. She is rumored to be appearing in more than one.

As today's topic is network television, we think we should mention the debut of UPN's most talked about series ever probably (sorry America's Next Top Model!). That is of course, Everybody Hates Chris. Chris beat NBC's Joey in adults 18-49 in its half hour (3.2 rating vs. 3.0) for second place (behind Survivor) and was virtually tied with Joey for third in total viewers for the half hour (behind Survivor and Dancing with the Stars: Dance-Off). You might say, 'so what Joey is not a ratings sensation,' but this is big step for UPN and if Joey continues to tumble, NBC might move the show (maybe Tuesdays?) or just cancel it. If My Name is Earl continues to do what it did in its premiere, then you might see that on Thursday nights. In the big apple, WWOR was #1 in its half hour for Chris in adults 18-49 by a wide margin over both Survivor and Joey. But after Chris' airing, Love, Inc. and the rest of the UPN comedies all came down to regular UPN levels.
Other impressive series premieres this week so far besides Earl and Chris include Invasion, Criminal Minds preview, Surface, How I Met Your Mother, and Out of Practice. NBC's E-Ring did OK, but will have a big drop against Lost and the regular time-slot debut of Criminal Minds, which will beat E-Ring for a distant second place behind Lost. Bad series premieres this week include Kitchen Confidential, Just Legal, Apprentice: Martha Stewart. FOX has already canceled Head Cases after just two airings, but two terribly rated airings.

So what do I think will do good based on the numbers for the first episode? I think Everybody Hates Chris, Invasion, How I Met Your Mother will be the ones to perform similar numbers or even higher. I'm not convinced yet about My Name is Earl. Out of Practice might have a good lead-in, but I'm still questioning if it can hold much of it in subsequent airings. Surface got a decent sampling with 11.18 million viewers, but I expect a big drop this week. NBC got lucky on Monday and Tuesday with decent nights, but the last two nights have been big disappoinments.

Season to date (first four nights):
Households: CBS: 9.0/13.9; ABC: 8.5/13.2; NBC: 7.4/11.4; FOX: 4.3/6.6; UPN: 2.8/4.2; The WB: 2.4/3.6
Total Viewers: CBS: 14.16 million; ABC: 12.88 million; NBC: 11.22 million; FOX: 6.78 million; UPN: 4.25 million; The WB: 3.49 million.
Adults 18-49: CBS: 4.9/12.5; ABC: 4.7/12.1; NBC: 4.2/10.7; FOX: 2.9/7.3; UPN: 1.9/4.9; The WB: 1.4/3.6

Analysis: With three nights to go and two nights being "weak" - Sunday will be the key and expect ABC to blow away the competition on that night. So, it looks like ABC will win the first week, is what I'm projecting. Lost's big jump has helped a lot and the premiere of Invasion was more than solid. Maybe those Housewives can draw 27-30 million viewers for its premiere this Sunday? I hope to try to do this once every week (either Friday or Saturday) so you can expect who will win each week.
I won't post final numbers as that is available usually everywhere on Tuesday afternoon.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Saturday, May 17

none scheduled

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 12)

Friday, May 16

  • Lunell (Lopez) - Watch Luenell on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC. She will also be on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:39am.
  • Benito Skinner (Overcompensating) - Benito appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Mayan Lopez (Lopez vs Lopez) and Jerry O'Connell (We Are Men/Do Not Disturb/Carpoolers/My Secret Identity) - Mayan and Jerry are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Luke Kirby (Étoile) and Gideon Glick (Étoile/The Other Two) - Luke and Gideon talk about Étoile on NBC's Today in the 9am hour.
  • Stanley Tucci (Central Park) - Stanley talks about his new series Tucci in Italy with GMA co-anchor Michael Strahan on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm. He will also be on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Howie Mandel (Good Grief) - Howie talks about America's Got Talent on Live with Kelly and Mark (check your local listings) and on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your lcoal listings.
  • Marissa Jaret Winokur (What We Do in the Shadows/Retired at 35/Stacked) - Marissa talks about her latest project Mama I'm a Big Girl Now on Sherri, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

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