SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Week 24 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: FOX: 12.0/18.0; CBS 9.3/14.3; NBC: 6.8/10.5; ABC: 6.2/9.5; The WB: 2.5/3.7; UPN 1.6/2.3.
Total Viewers: FOX: 20.79 million; CBS: 14.65 million; NBC: 10.66 million; ABC: 9.34 million; The WB: 3.74 million; UPN: 2.27 million.
Adults 18-49: FOX 8.4/20.7; CBS: 4.7/11.7; NBC: 3.9/9.7; ABC: 3.6/9.0; The WB: 1.6/3.9; UPN: 1.0/2.4.

Analysis: Well the February Sweep finished on Wednesday and ABC won the period among adults 18-49 most largely thanks to the Super Bowl, but dropping the Super Bowl ratings of this year and the Oscar ratings from last year's sweeps, ABC was up big from last season--thanks to hits like Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Dancing with the Stars and Lost outdueling the Olympics. ABC finished second in total viewers behind Fox which finished number one thanks to America's number one show American Idol and strong showings of dramas House and 24. Meanwhile NBC has to be upset at only finishing third place in both total viewers and adults 18-49 for sweeps because of having the Olympics, which were down big from previous Olympics. CBS which mainly aired repeats (except for shows like Survivor) had to settle for 4th place in both measures. I still think CBS could have been 3rd or even 2nd place had it aired original programming (CSI would have rocked the Olympics), that would have made NBC's showing of the Olympics even worse than what it was. Monday saw NBC starting off post-Olympics on a sour note. The season premiere of The Apprentice was 4th place in its slot and dropped from lead-in Deal or No Deal's ratings. That's what The Donald gets. His ego and his facts need to be checked. I saw what he said on Regis & Kelly last Monday morning, saying his show did well last season despite not having a good lead-in. Well, now he does and he just dropped from the lead-in's rating. What is your excuse now, Donald? Can't blame Martha now! In other Monday news, CBS's comedies ruled and CSI: Miami as well. The Bachelor: Paris finale on ABC did very well. Medium at 10 p.m. was way down from usual numbers. Blame The Donald! Tuesday it was all Fox with American Idol with 30.09 million viewers. A special airing of sitcom The War at Home followed on Fox with 12.51 million, but you do the math and tell me how bad it did following AI. Once American Idol finished by 9:30 p.m. both ABC and NBC's comedies went sky up. Wednesday again Fox's Idol ruled with 29.64 million. ABC had Lost with 16.43 million, but down from its usual new episodes thanks to going up against AI for its first half hour. A special preview episode of Free Ride followed AI with 13.57 million. Free Ride will air Sundays at 9:30 p.m. following Family Guy. Don't expect 13.5 million then; it will be more like 6.5 million or less. Thursday CBS was back in total business as ABC's Dancing with the Stars is now finished and NBC's Olympics are now gone, though Fox still had American Idol at 8 p.m. tonight and scored 26.32 million beating CBS's Survivor which did 16.08 million. NBC's Deal or No Deal has been dropping each night this week after a strong start on Monday. The show will air Mondays only starting this week. CSI and Without a Trace ruled 9-11 p.m. with 27.81 and 19.78 million each. Fox's Skating with the Celebrities finale skated to only 14.12 million following American Idol, though that is better than what the two comedies did on Tuesday and Wednesday. Friday had a battle of CBS and NBC--NBC's move of Las Vegas did OK at 9 p.m. and new drama Conviction did OK as well, both were no match for CBS's dramas though. ABC's In Justice had its worst outing this week thanks to no Dancing with the Stars: The Results and now Las Vegas on NBC. Saturday was pathetic--all the networks were under a 5 rating. ABC's Acamdemy Awards will win the night obviously tonight. Expect 30-35 million viewers seeing Brokeback Mountain or Crash win the Oscar for Best Picture. For the week, Fox will probably hang on to total viewers and adults 18-49 but it will be interesting if ABC will catch up or not.


Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - New episodes! 10.81 million tuned in.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 9.82 million for an all-new show. I think CBS should move this to Wednesdays next fall.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - Fans waited and they came back, as 17.04 million tuned in.
• Courting Alex (CBS) - 13.78 million for the soon to be relocated series.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends (UPN), Half and Half (UPN) - Steady! Between 3-4 million, like usual for all-new episodes.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) 2 episodes - 8 p.m. repeat against Idol suffered, only 5.54 million, it was a repeat anyway...the 9 p.m. all-new episode did much better with 7.81 million--Catwoman rocks!
• Rodney (ABC) - Only 5.45 million for its last episode scheduled. Hiatus time!
  
• George Lopez (ABC) - A repeat on a special night and time did VERY good, up well over 2.5 million from last week to 8.83 million.
• Scrubs (NBC) - Two new episodes. 9 pm was up against AI, so only 6.73 million. 9:30 pm was not up against AI so 8.2 million.
• The War at Home (Fox) - Normally 12.51 million would be great for a sitcom, but not after losing well over 50% of the lead-in's 30.09 million.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• George Lopez (ABC) - Not too good for a new episode--5.4 million
  
• Freddie (ABC) - 5.08 million for an all-new episode, ouch.
• Still Standing (CBS) - Two all-new episodes beat ABC's comedies, 6.19 million and 6.71 million.
• Free Ride preview (Fox) - A sneak peek airing of the new Fox series did 13.57 million, but losing well over 50% of AI's audience.
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• Everybody Hates Chris (UPN) - 3.77 million for an all-new episode. I think it should do more than that.
  
• Love, Inc. (UPN), Eve (UPN), Cuts (UPN) - Cuts is back??? Ugh!
• My Name is Earl (NBC) - 11.27 million tuned in, for 3rd in its slot.
  
• The Office (NBC) - Didn't hold as well as it did in recent weeks from the lead-in's numbers, 8.45 million tuned in.
  

Friday Sitcoms

The WB Friday had What I Like About You and Living with Fran in dead last place in the 8 p.m. hour. The 9 p.m. hour was slightly better with Reba and Twins.

Summing it up. The King of Queens, My Name is Earl, Two and a Half Men, Courting Alex were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as How I Met Your Mother, The War at Home Tues 9:30, Free Ride Wed 9:30, George Lopez Tues 9:30) or just plain old terrible (such as Freddie, UPN Thurs, WB Friday).


TOMORROW'S BLOG PREVIEW

Stay tuned tomorrow for a SitcomsOnline.com Exclusive. We detail AOL.com's In2TV service. In2TV is of course the new online service hosting classic TV series. 30 series are featured with 10 episodes each for the first month. We will let you know which episodes of the sitcoms are there, with runtimes of the episodes, details on the features of In2TV, and sample video clips just for you to test! In2TV officially launches Wednesday, March 15, but before that, come on and join us tomorrow for some sampling! We just can't wait for some Larry & Balki, Alice, Chico (and the man, too!), The Seaver family, Mr. Cooper, those genius kids on Head of the Class, and those "remedial" kids on Welcome Back, Kotter!