Sunday, May 25, 2008

Week 35 Numbers (First Four Nights); How the Sitcoms Did

The final week of the season was week 35 (the season ended Wednesday but Thurs-Sun will count for week 35, but not in the 07-08 season ratings). I don't have final numbers for this past Thursday, which did have ABC program the season finales of Ugly Betty & Grey's Anatomy, but they will not count in the 2007-08 averages unfortunately. Since I don't have final numbers for Thursday, I'll give you the final May sweep ratings instead of the week's first four night numbers:

May 2008 Sweep Ratings (April 24-May 21, 2008):

Households: CBS 6.8/11, ABC 6.3/11, Fox 6.1/10, NBC 3.9/7, The CW 1.7/3, MNT 0.8/1
Total Viewers: CBS 10.66 million, Fox 10.01 million, ABC 9.68 million, NBC 5.95 million, The CW 2.66 million, MNT 1.19 million.
Adults 18-49: Fox 3.8/11, ABC 3.1/9, CBS 2.8/8, NBC 1.9/5, The CW 1.1/3, MNT 0.5/1

Week 35 Analysis: Week 35 goes through tonight, but the season ended Wednesday, with Fox on top the final three days of May sweep/07-08 season. ABC still had Betty/Grey's finales on Thursday, so through the first four days, they are second. Last week, week 34, CBS edged ABC for number one in HH and viewers again, as Fox was third in both categories, but not by much. Fox had the lead in 18-49. ABC was second, while CBS was third in 18-49 and NBC was an uncompetitive fourth in everything.
On Monday, ABC was on top with Dancing with the Stars doing 19.22 million for 65 minutes for the final Monday airing, up from the week before. The Bachelorette two-hour premiere did a solid 8.08 million...so if it is close to that this summer, ABC will be happy. CBS started with season finale of its sitcoms and leading it off was The Big Bang Theory at 7.34 million, down week to week, the season finale of How I Met Your Mother followed and built on that and did 7.99 million...down from previous week, #1 sitcom Two and a Half Men followed and closed its season with 14.7 million ... up from previous week. Closing the sitcom block was the season finale of Rules of Engagement at 12.29 million, also up a lot from previous week. Season finale of CSI: Miami closed the night for CBS at 16.26 million...up a ton from previous week. Fox aired the season closer of Bones to start off the night and it did a solid 10.3 million, up from the previous week and following at 9pm was the season finale of House doing 16.36 million, also up over a million week to week. NBC was in the bottom with American Gladiators at just 4.03 million for 90 minutes, down even from previous week, and Dateline NBC closed the night off with 5.85 million, for the second half of the night. The CW had the finale of Gossip Girl doing 3.0 million, up from previous week and the finale of One Tree Hill perked up to 3.23 million, up from previous week...these two shows will air again together in the fall.
On Tuesday, Fox was on top thanks to Idol at 27.06 million at 8pm, up nearly 3 million week to week. At 9pm Fox aired a new Hell's Kitchen and it did solid with 11.44 million...up a tad from previous week. ABC was next with a repeat of Monday's Dancing with the Stars doing 8.74. Then at 9pm, it was the two-hour live season finale of Dancing with the Stars: The Results and it did 20.12 million, down from the fall's finale by a bit, as Kristi Yamaguchi wins it all! CBS was next with the two-hour season finale of NCIS at 16.52 million, this show is a very quiet big hit, followed by the now canceled Shark with 10.27 million, as it aired its series finale. NBC was in the gutter again as a new Most Outrageous Moments at 8pm did just 3.95 million, just like previous week and a repeat followed with 3.99 million, down a tad week-to-week. A repeat of Law & Order: SVU followed with just 3.88 million at 9pm (that was nearly down three million from previous week), and another Law & Order: SVU followed at 10pm with just 5.76 million. NBC seriously needs help. The CW aired a repeat of Reaper at 1.56 million, followed by the season finale of Reaper at a solid 2.53 million, as it went up from previous week.
On Wednesday, it was Fox on top again. American Idol Results closed the season as David Cook won it all with 31.66 million for the two-hour finale. CBS was next with Price is Right Primetime at 8pm and did 7.59 million, up actually week to week and Criminal Minds and CSI: NY closed its season with the finals and they did 13.15 and 11.83 million, but the latter was down a tad week to week. NBC was next with two repeats of Law & Order starting the night off with just 5.4 and 5.05 million and the season finale of Law & Order followed with 8.57 million, up a bit from previous week. ABC was next with two repeats of Lost at just 3.03 million...too bad the season finale couldn't air on this night, as Thursday, May 29 seems to far out, but production issues couldn't make it possible. Damn strike. Closing the night for ABC was the season finale of Boston Legal at 6.47 million on its own...so not its fault it was not good. The CW had a repeat of Farmer Wants a Wife at 1.61 million, followed by an original episode of Farmer Wants a Wife at 1.86 million, down slightly from the previous week. MyNetworkTV aired a new Under One Roof starring Flavor Flav and it did 1.04...up over a million for the first time in 3 weeks. Season officially ends after this night!
On Thursday, the TV summer season started. But ABC still had two season finales to air. We don't have final numbers yet though. Ugly Betty finale and the two-hour Grey's Anatomy finale obviously won the night for ABC, as Grey's built on each half-hour and had its best outing since returning from the strike. Lost will have its two-hour season finale this Thursday. Fox did solid for the season premiere of the summer series So You Think You Can Dance?. NBC did better from 8-9:30 than usual with Deal Or No Deal airing instead of the sitcoms and the season premiere of summer's Last Comic Standing didn't do much. CBS aired repeats all night, as CSI did very below number for a repeat at 9pm.
Like usual, no Friday finals yet. CBS won though with reoeats of Ghost Whisperer and NUMB3RS. It was a worse Friday than usual. Saturday ratings had the NBA Playoffs on ABC so decent, while CBS's original movie couldn't get above 1.0 18-49 rating (prelim).
Tonight will be repeat filled, as the season is over and tomorrow is Memorial Day. So no one will be watching TV probably. NBA Playoffs on TNT will probably be the best draw of the night at 9pm along with NASCAR on Fox.
As for the week, since Thurs-Sun is primarily repeats, I think Fox will have enough to win the week. ABC will be 2nd likely after a strong Thursday.
This coming week sees more summer programming and repeats, but you'll find the season finales of According to Jim and Lost, too. But after this week, it is all over for regular season series.


Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for week of May 12-18)

  • Everybody Hates Chris (The CW) - The season finale did 1.48 million, up from the previous week. Not bad...but was doing better on Mondays...will be Fridays at 8 next fall.
  • Aliens in America (The CW) - The last episode did 1.28 million, also up week to week.
  • The Game (The CW) - The season finale did 1.66 million, up from the previous week...moving to Fridays at 8:30 next fall.
  • Girlfriends (The CW) - A repeat did 1.2 million, on par really, but down a tad from previous week.
  • The Simpsons (Fox) 2 episodes - Season finale did just 6.19 million...up a bit from previous week..but this is way too low. Earlier at 7:30 a repeat did only 3.79 million....up just a bit from previous week.
  • King of the Hill (Fox) 2 episodes - A repeat at 7pm did just 2.68 million, up a bit from previous week. Season finale at its normal time of 8:30 did 5.4 million...up from previous week, but still way low.
  • Family Guy (Fox) - A repeat did 6.18 million...while that is not good, it was a repeat and nearly beat the others on Fox.
  • American Dad (Fox) - Just 5.64 million for the season finale...but its lead-in was a repeat once again, but the episode was down a bit from previous week.
  • The Office (NBC) 4 episodes - 4 repeats did pathetic. 2.72, 2.65, 2.79 and 3.14 million...don't understand why they repeated them the last few weeks.

Monday Sitcoms

  • The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - 7.34 million tuned in for the season finale, down from previous week sadly.
  • How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 7.99 million for the season finale, down a million from previous week which had Britney.
  • Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 14.7 million for the finale, up a good margin over the previous week.
  • Rules of Engagement (CBS) - 12.29 million for the season finale, up even a better margin over the previous week. Factor? No Deal on NBC and no Samantha on ABC.


Tuesday Sitcoms

  • None

Wednesday Sitcoms
  • Under One Roof (MyNetworkTV) - 1.04 million, over a million yes, but should be doing a bit better. This is no House of Payne.
Thursday Sitcoms
  • None
Friday Sitcoms
  • None

Saturday Sitcoms
  • None.


Airing tonight (Sunday) are a mix repeats of sitcoms on The CW from 8-10.

Summing it up. Two and a Half Men & Rules of Engagement, were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory) or just plain old terrible (Under One Roof, Aliens in America).


We will have a full 2007-08 season (Sept. 24-May 21) wrap-up with complete final numbers soon.


Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows

Wednesday, April 23

The Conners - "Exercise Bands, Money Plans, and Faraway Lands" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Ahead of the deposition, Dan gets support from Jackie, Becky and Darlene. Mark is presented with an opportunity which leads to a major life decision. Meanwhile, Becky and Tyler consider the next step in their relationship – joint finances.

The Conners - "The Truck Stops Here" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Jackie prepares for a series of physical tests in an effort to rejoin the police force; Darlene confronts the insecurities in her marriage with Ben; Dan’s deposition stirs up feelings, and final farewells are made in true Conner family fashion.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 21)

Wednesday, April 23

  • Jenny Slate (The Great North/Big Mouth/Married/Bob's Burgers) - Watch Jenny on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
  • Amanda Peet (Brockmire/Togetherness/Bent) - Amanda appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Vinny Thomas (Platonic), Paul F. Tompkins (The Great North/BoJack Horseman/DAG) and Aparna Nancherla (The Great North/Lopez vs Lopez/Corporate) - Vinny, Paul and Aparna are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
  • Casey Wilson (The Righteous Gemstones/Black Monday/The Hotwives/Marry Me/Happy Endings) - Casey stops by Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 3:30am on Bravo.
  • Rita Moreno (One Day at a Time/Happily Divorced/9 to 5) and Ayo Edebiri (Big Mouth/The Bear) - Rita and Ayo are guests on Everybody's Live with John Mulaney at 10pm on Netflix.
  • Tika Sumpter (mixed-ish/Final Space/The Game) - Tika talks about her new children's book I Got It From My Mama on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
  • Bowen Yang (Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens) - Bowen talks about The Wedding Banquet and Saturday Night Live with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Cheech Marin (Rob/The Golden Palace) and Tommy Chong (That '90s Show/That '70s Show) - Cheech and Tommy talk about their documentary Cheech & Chong's Last Movie with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
  • Ricky Gervais (After Life/The Office) - Ricky talks about his upcoming tour on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
  • Anna Camp (Perfect Harmony/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/The Mindy Project) - NBC's Today catches up with Anna in the 9am hour.
  • Tiffany Haddish (The Last O.G./The Carmichael Show) - Tiffany co-hosts NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
  • Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Crazy Ones) - NBC's Today Food has Sarah in the 10am hour.
  • Anthony Mackie (Twisted Metal) - Anthony Mackie talks about Captain America: Brave New World on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
  • David Arquette (In Case of Emergency/Double Rush/Parenthood) - David and Danny A. Abeckaser discuss their film Mob Cops on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.


New on DVD and Blu-ray

I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray) The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series Frasier (2023) - Season Two

11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season

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


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

04/23 - Apple TV+ Announces Comedy Series Prodigies; ABC Renews Unscripted Series Slate
04/22 - Hallmark Channel's May For Moms Month; Prime Video Gets Korean Comedy Action Series
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04/20 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of April 21, 2025)
04/19 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Clueless Reboot in the Works at Peacock; King of the Hill Cast Reunion and Revival Preview at ATX TV Festival Next Month
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04/17 - BET+ Orders Martin Spinoff Varnell Hill; It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Returns in July
04/16 - And Just Like That... Season 3 on Max This May; MGM+ Comedy Series Adds Big Stars
04/15 - HBO's Harry Potter Series; Classic TV Comes to Life in NYC
04/14 - TV Stars Lineup for Summer of 69 Hulu Film; Jessica Kirson Comedy Special
04/13 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of April 14, 2025)
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04/10 - David Spade's Prime Video Comedy Special; Brett Goldstein's HBO Comedy Special Filmed in New Jersey
04/09 - Paramount+ Orders Season 3 of Colin from Accounts; FX's Adults Premieres May 28
04/08 - Prime Video's New Comedy Overcompensating; Nine Perfect Strangers Returns on Hulu in May
04/07 - NBC Celebrates Joan Rivers with Special; Remembering Jay North of Dennis the Menace
04/06 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of April 7, 2025)
04/05 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Fox Renews Three Animated Series and Brings Back a Fourth for Four More Seasons; ABC Renews Shifting Gears
04/04 - ABC 2025-26 Season Renewals for Scripted Series; New Season of Phineas and Ferb Returns June 5
04/03 - Fox Renews Animated Hits for 4 Additional Seasons and American Dad! Returns; South Park Season 27 Premieres July 9
04/02 - Rick and Morty Season 8 Premieres May 25; Netflix's Tires Returns June 5
04/01 - Disney Renews Wizards Beyond Waverly Place for Season 2; Prime Video Details Final Season of The Summer I Turned Pretty
03/31 - Prime Video's Dance-World Comedy Étoile; Netflix's Tom Segura Dark Comedy Bad Thoughts
03/30 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 31, 2025)
03/29 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Netflix Gives Pilot Order to A Different World Sequel; Malcolm in the Middle Reboot Recasts Role of Dewey
03/28 - Pat Sajak's Final Spin on Wheel and Return of Jeopardy! Masters; Remembering George Foreman and Wings Hauser
03/27 - IFC Renews SisterS for Season 2; Netflix Orders Live-Action Scooby-Doo Series
03/26 - Hulu Spring 2025 Slate; The Making of The Americas Special Narrated by Tom Hanks on NBC
03/25 - Deli Boys Now Streaming All Episodes on Hulu; Heartland Season 18 on UP Faith & Family
03/24 - Peacock April Highlights Include Three's Company; Antenna TV's 50 Years on the Beat Barney Miller Anniversary Marathon
03/23 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of March 24, 2025)