SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Before we get into our regular Sunday ratings blog, we want to give you a recap of Fox at the TCA press tour on Friday and ABC's first day today. First up for Fox was the executive session with Kevin Reilly. New comedy Breaking In, which was kind of canceled, is still being considered for the previously announced two-hour Tuesday comedy block planned for Tuesdays in March and early April. "It still has a shot. They've agreed to extend an option so we've kept it alive. And you know what, stranger things have happened," Reilly said. So maybe Fox has their back, as the theme song goes, "we've got your back!" Stay tuned! He also noted that Bones will only have 13 episodes this season because it will share its timeslot will spin-off The Finder, which will also have 13 episodes.
Among the major announcements, Fox announced the schedule for The X Factor. Hosted by Steve Jones, the two-night series premiere of The X Factor will showcase the live auditions which took place in front of audiences of thousands, around the country Wednesday, Sept. 21 from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT and Thursday, Sept. 22 also from 8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT. Auditions from Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark and Seattle, as well as from YouTube and the nationwide MyStudio audition booths, will continue the following week on Wednesday, Sept. 28 and Thursday, Sept. 29 for two full-hours each. Hopefuls who pass the initial auditions will travel to Los Angeles for "Boot Camp" beginning Wednesday, Oct. 5 from 8:00-9:30 PM ET/PT) and continuing Thursday, Oct. 6 from 8:00-9:30 PM ET/PT). Wednesday, Oct. 12 and Thursday, Oct. 13 will also feature 90-minute episodes. Then a special Tuesday airing will be held on Oct. 18 from 8:00-9:30 PM ET/PT. Glee and Raising Hope will be preempted on that date, but new comedy New Girl will air at a special time of 9:30pm. During a special extended Tuesday airing on Oct. 25 (8:00-10:30 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed), the judges will reveal who has earned one of the coveted spots among the season's finalists (all three regular Tuesday series will be preempted). It will then be up to America, as well as the judges, to decide who moves forward in the competition starting with the first performance show featuring the finalists from each category on Wednesday, Nov. 2 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed). The season will conclude on December 21 and December 22. Reilly says the 90-minute editions of X Factor in October will be used as lead-ins for additional airings of its comedies as well as perhaps Mobbed specials.
Fox also announced that Dec. 5 will be the date for the second annual Great American Country Awards. Then it was off to panels with the casts and crew of Allen Gregory, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, MasterChef, Hell's Kitchen/Kitchen Nightmares, New Girl, Primetime Emmy Awards, Raising Hope, Terra Nova, and The X Factor.

ABC started their first day of the press tour today. There were two announcements and some other tidbits. During the executive session, Paul Lee (President of ABC Entertainment) revealed a lot. Before we get to the major announcements, we learned an episode of Castle will feature a Marvel character this season. He also revealed ABC will air three Hallmark Hall-of-Fame movies this season, with the first being in late November/early December. And Lee had nothing but good feedback so far from nearly all of its new shows, except mid-season sitcom Work It, which he joked, knew nobody would like at TCA but will have a loyal following (maybe like According to Jim?). Lee also said no replacement voice has been found yet for the voice of Charlie for the new Charlie's Angels, but an announcement will come soon and that some of the original Charlie's Angels (Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson, Chery Ladd) could guest star at some point.
On to the major announcement, ABC announced today that this season will be the final one for the landmark series Desperate Housewives. The decision was made jointly by series creator Marc Cherry and ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee. All good things eventually come to an end, and in the eighth and final season, the stakes for everyone on Wisteria Lane are at an all-time high. Season Eight of Desperate Housewives will roll out on Sunday, Sept. 25, in a way that is accessible even to viewers who may have lapsed in their viewing, and be all the richer and more rewarding to the series' loyal fans. For Season Eight, Carlos' murder of Gaby's evil stepfather and the cover up by Susan, Gaby, Bree and Lynette has far reaching effects. Feelings of guilt begin to overcome everyone in different ways. Susan starts to withdraw from her friends and family, and Gaby works to reach out to Carlos while his guilt weighs heavily upon him. As Lynette and Tom are grappling with their disintegrating marriage and impending separation, Lynette is having trouble making the right choices ever since she participated in the cover-up. And Bree must be especially careful around her new love, Detective Chuck Vance (Jonathan Cake). Meanwhile a new sexy neighbor moves to town, Ben Faulkner (Charles Mesure, V), and he's Renee's first order of business. Marc Cherry's pilot Hallelujah will be redeveloped and we could potentially see it in 2012-13 and Cherry said it is "a different animal" and would prefer something new than a spin-off of Desperate Housewives.
ABC also announced that the spectacular celebrity cast for the new season of Dancing with the Stars will be announced live on ABC, Monday, August 29 from 8-10 pm, during that evening's episode of Bachelor Pad. Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke once again host the live unveiling of the all-star cast. The stars, the drama, the glamour and the glitter are back on ABC, as Dancing with the Stars returns for Season 13 on Monday, Sept. 19 from 8:00-10:00 p.m., ET with a sensational two-hour season premiere. Then on Tuesday, Sept. 20, there will be two hours of original programming, beginning with the special Dancing with the Stars: Meet the Cast at 8:00 p.m., ET, followed by the premiere of Dancing with the Stars the Results Show at 9:00 p.m., ET.
Then it was panels with the cast and producers of Pan Am, Charlie's Angels, ABC Daytime Session and The Chew, followed by The Chew Lunch, an ABC Family Executive Session, then more show panels with Once Upon a Time, Man Up! and Revenge. Then it is off to the Disney-ABC Television Group All-Star Cocktail Reception!
Tomorrow during day two of the ABC portion, panels for Last Man Standing and Suburgatory will be held along with a set visit to sophomore drama Body of Proof. We'll recap that tomorrow along with the list of the winners from the TCA Awards from Saturday night.

It's now the dog days of summer, but not to fret we will be back with our normal weekly ratings report with the first four nights numbers and analysis in the fall, but we still continue to have our regular how the sitcoms did all for the rest of this summer! Here are our summer ratings:

Last Sunday Sitcoms (counts for Summer Week 9, week of July 25-31)

• American Dad! (Fox) 2 airings - A repeat at 7pm did 2.02 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, which was up from the previous week. A repeat at 9:30pm did 3.77 million and a 1.8 18-49 rating, which was also up from previous week. Good numbers for the latter.
  
• The Simpsons (Fox) - A repeat at 8pm did 3.64 million and a 1.7 18-49 rating, down a lick from previous week but a decent summer showing in 18-49.
  
• Bob's Burgers (Fox) - A repeat at 7:30pm did 2.11 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, on par week-to-week but still could be better since 7:30 builds heavily usually from 7pm.
• Family Guy (Fox) - A repeat at 9pm did 4.17 million and a 2.1 18-49 rating, up from previous week and the best summer showing for a comedy since early summer.
  
• The Cleveland Show (Fox) - A repeat at 8:30pm did 3.38 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, which was up some week-to-week.

Summer Week 10 (August 1-7)

Monday Sitcoms

• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - 3.72 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating for a repeat at 8pm was on par with the previous week.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 5.24 million and a 1.3 18-49 rating for a repeat at 9pm is also on par week-to-week, but it was below normal.
  
• Mike & Molly (CBS) 2 airings - 4.78 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating for a repeat in its normal 9:30pm slot was down some from previous week again. But an 8:30pm repeat earlier did 3.98 million and a 1.1 18-49 rating, which was the same as the previous week in 18-49.
  

Tuesday Sitcoms

• Raising Hope (Fox) - preempted.
  

Wednesday Sitcoms

• The Middle (ABC) - A repeat at 8pm did 4.34 million and a 1.2 18-49 rating, up from previous week's below normal performance for a repeat.
• Modern Family (ABC) 2 airings - A repeat at 9pm did 4.34 million and a 1.5 18-49 rating, up a tad from the previous week. A repeat at 8:30pm also probably helped doing 4.36 million and a 1.4 18-49 rating, also up some from the previous week.
  
• Happy Endings (ABC) - A repeat at 9:30pm did 2.78 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, up a tad from the previous week. If you have missed any episodes, keep watching! A new episode will air Aug. 24 to promote the new season and the upcoming season one DVD. ABC Family will air a marathon as well on Friday, Sept. 16 from 5-11pm. Get hooked!
  

Thursday Sitcoms

• The Big Bang Theory (CBS) - A repeat did 6.3 million and a 1.6 18-49 rating, which was down from the previous week.
• Rules of Engagement (CBS) - A repeat of this comedy followed at 8:30pm with 5.29 million and 1.5 18-49 rating, which was down some from previous week.
  
• Community (NBC) - A repeat only did 1.95 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating, on par with the previous week but way too low even if it is a repeat.
• Parks & Recreation (NBC) - A repeat in its 8:30pm slot did only 1.86 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, again on par really with the previous week but who cares since it is so low.
  
• The Office (NBC) - A repeat at 9pm did 2.33 million and a 1.0 18-49 rating, best of the low rated block and up slightly from the previous week.
• 30 Rock (NBC) - A repeat at 9:30pm did 1.97 million and a 0.8 18-49 rating, on par with the previous week. It's sad that 3 of the 4 comedies for NBC were under 2 million.
  

Friday Sitcoms

• Friends with Benefits (NBC) 2 episodes - Finally this series has made it on air, but in burn-off mode on Friday nights in the summer. Preliminary ratings show the comedy did very low ratings coming in 4th place, losing to repeats. The first airing did a prelim 2.37 million and a 0.7 18-49 rating, while a second episode followed with only 1.99 million and a 0.6 18-49 rating. Final ratings might even have it go more down...stay tuned.
  

Saturday Sitcoms

• Family Guy (Fox) - ratings not available at publishing time.
• The Cleveland Show (Fox) - ratings not available at publishing time.

Tonight you can catch encores of Fox's animated comedies from 7-8pm only tonight due to the Teen Choice Awards.

Summing it up. Repeats of The Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement, and both Modern Family repeats were impressive for the week, along with week 9's The Simpsons, Family Guy & American Dad 9:30p. Everything else was OK (such as repeats of Two and a Half Men, The Middle) or just plain old terrible (such as Friends with Benefits, and the very low rated NBC Thursday repeats especially, Community).

Feeling the repeat blues? Look for original sitcoms on cable all this summer, with the great Hot in Cleveland on Wednesday at 10pm, followed by the penultimate week of the first season of Happily Divorced starring Fran Drescher this Wednesday at 10:30pm only on TV Land. Also catch the new Comedy Wednesday on ABC Family this Wednesday with an all-new Melissa & Joey at 8pm guest starring Christine Lakin, who we just interviewed, followed by week seven of new comedy State of Georgia starring Raven Symone at 8:30pm (last week we get FOUR ALL-NEW episodes from 9-11pm). Loretta Devine is very sassy in this series and makes Mrs. Roper look tame! Also of course House of Payne and Meet the Browns are on TBS Wednesdays. New sitcom airings is the perfect way to beat the summer repeat blues! Watch them! And on premium cable, it is of course Curb Your Enthusiasm, Weeds, and Entourage among the entrees.

[Source: Nielsen NTI Ratings. View Travis Yanan's Ratings Website].