ABC Pulls Don't Trust the B---- from Tuesdays?; Ratings Highlights for Thursday FX Comedy Season Premieres

Monday, January 21, 2013

ABC Pulls Don't Trust the B---- from Tuesdays?; Ratings Highlights for Thursday FX Comedy Season Premieres

Late on Friday, ABC quietly pulled the next all-new episode of Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 scheduled to air Tuesday, Jan. 29 at 9:30pm. Instead, ABC has opted to air a second all-new episode of Happy Endings, which is faring a bit better in the ratings. Happy Endings will be all-new and back-to-back on that night (yeah buoy!). After that, ABC already had both series preempted for Tuesday, Feb. 5 and Tuesday, Feb. 12, as on Feb. 5 they have a two-hour special for The Bachelor and on Feb. 12 President Obama has his annual State of the Union Address live at 9pm ET (ABC will air an encore of Modern Family that night at 10:30pm following the address). And if you're wondering, this Tuesday (Jan. 22) ABC has the two-hour premiere of The Taste from 8-10pm, which was already scheduled to preempt the comedies.

So anyway, after Jan. 29, the next possible date the Tuesday ABC comedies could return is Tuesday, Feb. 19. But we don't think Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 will return. Why? Well, after the two Jan. 29 episodes of Happy Endings air, the comedy would have 10 episodes left for the rest of the season. And low and behold, airing between Feb. 19 to March 19 (which is the last possible date for them to air, since Dancing with the Stars returns the next week) is 5 weeks. Do a little math and you can place all 10 remaining episodes of Happy Endings during those five weeks and double pump them back-to-back from 9-10pm. Hence, this means Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 wouldn't be on the Tuesday line-up and is pulled. While we love both comedies, frankly Happy Endings is doing better in the ratings and has more of an upside (syndication for one). That's our speculation, but you heard it here first that Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 is likely pulled on Tuesdays. If that is the case, then the sitcom has eight episodes left to air, as the series had a 13 episode order this season, plus the six remaining first season episode for a total of 19 this season (and only 11 have aired so far). Stay with us for further updates and we hope we get to see these remaining episodes of Don't Trust the B----, trust me!

Anger Management

FX's Thursdays comedies returned last week to some good numbers! Competing against tough competition on broadcast and cable, Anger Management's "Back-90" episode order got off to a fine start. The 9PM telecast notched 903,000 Adults 18-49 and 1.82 million total viewers, while the 9:30PM telecast increased +10% in Adults 18-49 to 994,000 while garnering 1.66 million total viewers. In addition, the season 4 premiere of Archer at 10PM delivered stellar results, repping the series' most-watched telecast ever in Adults and Men 18-49 (1.28 Million and 991,000, respectively) and Adults and Men 18-34 (882,000 and 712,000, respectively) and ranking as the #1 most-watched entertainment program last night in basic cable among both M18-49 and M18-34. Additionally, Archer ranked #1 in its time period outright [inclusive of broadcast] in both M18-49 and M18-34. Among Total Viewers (1.61 million), Archer was its second most-watched telecast ever behind only the series premiere [which had the b'cast premiere of The Simpsons Movie as its lead-in]. Then, the series premiere episode of the critically acclaimed comedy Legit at 10:30PM delivered 650,000 Total Viewers, 461,000 Adults 18-49, and 351,000 Men 18-49. The first run plus its encore airing (12:30 AM) combined to deliver 861,000 Total Viewers and 591,000 Adults 18-49.

And in late night, the return of Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell at 11:00PM outdelivered its most recent run average (7 episode which ended in mid-December) by +27% and repped the 4th most-watched telecast in Adults 18-49 out of the 14 telecasts to date. It delivered 331,000 Total Viewers and 261,000 Adults 18-49. Totally Biased climbed +27% over its Season 1B average in Adults 18-49 (10/11-11/29/12) in P18-49 (246,000 vs. 193,000), driven by a +50% jump in Men 18-49.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Wednesday, September 22

The Goldbergs - "The Goldbergs' Excellent Adventure" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The season nine premiere revolves around the iconic ‘80s family paying tribute to Pops. Together they venture down memory lane by visiting Pops’ favorite stomping grounds. Adam Goldberg, forever with camera in hand, captures the outing – theming it to “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” Hijinks and hilarity ensue, and we are reminded that there is no bond greater than family.

The Wonder Years - "Pilot" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
As the youngest in the Williams family, Dean is struggling to figure out where he fits in. Between his brother’s athleticism, sister’s popularity, mother’s intelligence and dad’s overall coolness, everyone else seems to have their lane figured out. He decides to pursue his calling as “The Great Uniter” and attempts to organize the first integrated baseball game between his team and his friend Brad’s team.

The Conners - "Trucking Live in Front of a Fully Vaccinated Studio Audience" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Lights, Camera, Action: “The Conners” is going live for both the East and West Coast broadcasts of the season four premiere episode. This iconic TV family continues to deal with the current pandemic while navigating breakups and newfound sobriety, all while planning an upcoming wedding.

Home Economics - "49ers Foam Finger, $7" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Connor invites the Hayworth clan to a San Francisco 49ers game as he tries to close his latest business deal. Desperately trying to prove that he knows the game, Tom gets a once-in-a-lifetime chance to showcase his football skills in front of the entire crowd of 49ers Faithful at Levi’s® Stadium. Meanwhile, Denise tries to get Sarah to come to terms with Shamiah’s new interest in cheerleading.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 20)

Wednesday, September 22

Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building) and Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building/Mulaney/The Martin Short Show) - Watch Steve and Martin on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Jim Gaffigan (The Jim Gaffigan Show/My Boys/Welcome to New York) - Jim appears on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly/Samantha Who?) - Melissa is a guest on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS.
Scott Foley (The Goodwin Games/Scrubs/A.U.S.A.) - Scott appears on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, so check your local listings.
Kim Fields (The Upshaws/Living Single/The Facts of Life/Baby, I'm Back) - Kim is a guest on a repeat of The Wendy Williams Show, so check your local listings.
Alyson Hanningan (How I Met Your Mother/Free Spirit) - Alyson will be on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
Jaleel White (Family Matters/Grown Ups) - Jaleel talks about his hit podcast Ever After on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
John Stamos (Fuller House/Grandfathered/Jake in Progrews/Full House/You, Again?) - John talks about his podcast The Grand Scheme on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Drew Barrymore (Santa Clarita Diet) - Drew appears on CBS This Morning sometime between 7-9am.
Martin Lawrence (Martin/Partners) - Martin gets excited for the NFL season by partnering with DraftKings on Access Daily, so check your local listings.
Jon Bernthal (The Class) - Jon talks about The Many Saints of Newark on NBC's Today sometime between 7-9am.
The Cast of The Wonder Years (2021) - Elisha "EJ" Williams, Laura Kariuki, Dulé Hill and Saycon Sengbloh are guests on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings. Dulé appears on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan (check your local listings) and chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT. Dulé and EJ will be on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.