Sunday, May 14, 2006

Week 34 First Four Day Ratings; How the Sitcoms Did

Week 34 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):

Households: CBS: 9.8/15.4; FOX 9.1/14.1; NBC: 7.1/11.1; ABC: 5.2/8.2; The WB: 2.4/3.8; UPN 1.9/3.0.
Total Viewers: CBS: 15.26 million; FOX: 15.17 million; NBC: 10.84 million; ABC: 7.98 million; The WB: 3.61 million; UPN: 2.77 million.
Adults 18-49: FOX 6.3/16.3; CBS: 4.7/12.2; NBC: 4.0/10.3; ABC: 3.1/8.1; The WB: 1.5/3.8; UPN: 1.3/3.3.

Analysis: It was more of the same for this week in May sweeps, but the real fun begins tonight with season finales, starting with the two-night Grey's Anatomy season finale! ABC and Fox will have the biggest season finals, ratings wise, but CBS could also have some. Meanwhile, NBC has probably had its strongest numbers for sweeps already, but Will & Grace's series finale might pull some numbers. But I am not expecting huge numbers like 25 million or something, but they will be lucky to get 15 million I think. Fox again had a strong first three days for the week. 24 was first in its 9 p.m. timeslot with 13.86 million viewers (Two and a Half Men won the 9 p.m. half hour for CBS with 14.87 million) and a strong 5.7 rating in A18-49. ABC's David Blaine special did well building on each half hour and peaking at 9:30 p.m. with a stunning 6.0 A18-49 rating. Prison Break on Fox at 8 p.m. starting the night with a second place finish in A18-49 and total viewers. CBS's comedies during the 8 p.m. hour needs a bit tweaking next fall, after a good run earlier this season, the shows were 5th place in A18-49, thanks to 7th Heaven's so-called series finale doing very well with a 3.0 A18-49 rating (and 7.56 million viewers). Monday's highest rated show, CSI: Miami, was just that with 19.96 million. ABC's What Abut Brian season finale was up again with 6.4 million viewers, and the series has been renewed. J.J. Abrams always strikes gold with his series. Tuesday was all Fox with American Idol & House, with 28.85 and 24.29 million viewers. House was up from last week's ratings by nearly 2 million viewers. CBS's dramas did well against them with NCIS and The Unit both scoring well but everything else was anemic, like usual. ABC's Bird Flu movie did about as good as the struggling comedies usually do--which is not good. A special The Unit episode at 10 p.m. was neck-and-beck with powerhouse Law & Order: SVU at 10 p.m.--12.33 to 12.88 million. Maybe SVU will be dethroned there next season? Wednesday it was again Fox, as Idol was too much for everyone with 27.88 million in the 9 p.m. half hour, though down nearly 2 million from last week. Lost on ABC did a decent 16.35 million opposite the AI juggernaut and an impressive 6.9 A18-49 rating, peaking at 9:30 p.m. with well over a 7 rating. CBS's Criminal Minds season finale was also in the game in the hour with 12.67 million. Deal or No Deal scored 15.54 million viewers for NBC to start the night, up more than 3 million from last week, which was affected by a special House airing. So that answers my question--House is more of a must see than that game show. Thursday it was all CBS in a big way. CBS's Survivor easily won in total viewers and adults 18-49 at 8 p.m. CBS won the 9 and 10 p.m. hours with new episodes of CSI and Without a Trace scoring 27.04 and 19.19 million, both slightly up from the previous week. NBC's comedies were all super-sized to 40 minutes and did decent, especially Will & Grace. Grace scored 9.36 million viewers. Friday saw NBC winning with Deal or No Deal winning the 8 p.m. hour and CBS bombing with a special in place of Ghost Whisperer. What were they thinking? Loser of the night was again NBC's Conviction, which was canceled this weekend. Saturday saw decent numbers for Fox's NASCAR coverage. NBC and CBS did decent with crime drama repeats. I think the networks will try to be more aggresive next season on Saturdays, with ABC leading the charge. FOX will win the week in adults 18-49, but CBS will win in total viewers. ABC will win tonight in a big way with the part one of the two-night season finale of the most talked about show, Grey's Anatomy. ABC's line-up of EM: Home Edition, DH, & GA are all-new and unstoppable!


Monday Sitcoms

  • The King of Queens (CBS) - 7.99 million for a new episode, up 500,000 from last week. Rumor has it the show will return at earliest mid-season 2007, if at all.
  • How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 8.07 million...not bad.
  • Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 14.87 million for an all-new episode.
  • New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) - 11.87 million tuned in, down 500,000 from last week.
  • One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends (UPN) - Girlfriends had an hour long episode doing very well for them at 3.47 million


Tuesday Sitcoms

  • Scrubs (NBC) 2 episodes - New episodes did OK with 6.2 million at 9 p.m., repeat did 5.59 million right after it.
Wednesday Sitcoms
  • Girlfriends (UPN) - Special encore of Monday's finale did 2.28 million, down from last week's Chris repeats.

Thursday Sitcoms

  • Will & Grace (NBC) - Super-sized 40 minute episode comes through with 9.36 million
  • That's 70s Show (FOX) - 6.18 million for an episode at 8 p.m. followed by a clip-show/interview retrospective at 8:37 p.m. to 10 p.m. that did 7.8 million. Series finale next week. Fox is hoping for 10 million maybe.
  • My Name is Earl (NBC) - 9.35 million, up from last week, but down a bit from lead-in.
  • The Office (NBC) - 7.66 million for another super-sized comedy from NBC.
  • Everybody Hates Chris (UPN) - 3.31 million for a new episode.
  • Love, Inc. (UPN), Eve (UPN), Cuts (UPN) - Free-fall...series finales of all aired.

Friday Sitcoms

None.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men, Will & Grace, My Name is Earl and The New Adventures of Old Christine were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as The Office, King of Queens, How I Met Your Mother) or just plain old terrible (such as UPN Thursday).


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Friday, May 30

Happy's Place - "Don't Sweat It" (NBC, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Bobbie asks Isabella to move in with her, but when Isabella sees that Bobbie likes to address conflict head on, Isabella decides it might not be the best idea.

Happy's Place - "Fish Fry Monday" (NBC, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Emmett sees Bobbie drowning in work, he devises a clever ruse to give her a much-needed day off fishing, all under the guise of reviving the tavern's Fish Fry Mondays; Isabella dives into the world of bartending with Gabby.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of May 26)

Friday, May 30

  • Nathan Fielder (The Rehearsal/The Curse) - Watch Nathan on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Paula Poundstone (Home Movies) - Paula performs stand-up comedy on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Nathan Lane (Mid-Century Modern/Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Ralph Macchio (Eight Is Enough) - Ralph swings by for a chat about Karate Kid: Legends on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Justina Machado (One Day at a Time) - Justina chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. She also talks about Broadway's Real Women Have Curves: The Musical on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
  • Yara Shahidi (grown-ish/black-ish) - Yara is telling Drew about the new venture she's taking on, where she's currently at with dating and more on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
  • Don Darryl Rivera (Only Murders in the Building) - Don talks about Broadway's Aladdin on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.


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)

More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD and Blu-ray Releases / TV Shows on DVD, Blu-ray and Prime Video / DVD Reviews Archive


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