Movie Box Review

Some things are eternal, and Michael Jackson appears to be one of them.

FOX:  GLEE's Michael Jackson episode propelled the show to a 3.6, its best rating in months.  The strong lead-in didn't help the network's sit-coms much, though:  NEW GIRL was only up 0.1 for the night, and RAISING HOPE fell to match its season low.

CW:  RINGER, returning from a hiatus that seemed almost as long as Mad Men's, didn't find absence making audience hearts grow much fonder, with the same 0.6 it had on November 29, which was down slightly from its 90210 lead-in.

NBC:  BIGGEST LOSER was even with last week, but that wasn't good news, as it was close to a season low.  Repeats of the serialized PARENTHOOD are always ugly, and last night's 0.7 was no exception.

ABC:  LAST MAN STANDING and BODY OF PROOF were at their usual unimpressive repeat levels, and the season finale of CELEBRITY WIFE SWAP couldn't leave town fast enough (The River takes its slot next week), setting a season low.

CBS:  All repeats, with 3d place finishes for both NCIS shows, but a win for UNFORGETTABLE in the battle of the reruns at 10PM.

Tonight is the last night before February sweeps, so ABC is all repeats, while the only new show on CBS is this year's installment of Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials, while NBC will have fresh episodes of its woeful Whitney/Chelsea duo.  FOX will hope to take advantage of the reduced competition with bigger numbers for American Idol, before its declining ratings becomes even more of a story than they already are.  

The FOX Tuesday line-up returned to moderate results.

FOX:  The network won the night, but unimpressively:  GLEE tied the season low it hit during the holiday season, and NEW GIRL was only 0.1 above its own.

CBS:  For whatever reason, the NCIS LA repeat tanked last night, down to a 1.7 that was well below its holiday season reruns.  That brought the UNFORGETTABLE repeat down, and the result was the rare sight (even with an all-repeat slate) of CBS in 4th place for the evening.

ABC:  Comparatively speaking, LAST MAN STANDING was the night's success story, up half a ratings point from its last original episode in December.  A rerun at 8:30PM did better than almost all the original programming that's been pumped into that slot this season, then CELEBRITY WIFE SWAP and (less happily) BODY OF PROOF hung steady.

NBC:  Despite the reruns on CBS, BIGGEST LOSER lost 0.1 from last week, and PARENTHOOD tied its season low with a 1.7 for the third week in a row.

CW:  Even by the network's standards, the 0.3 debut for the new reality show REMODELED is a disaster.  CW will be stunting the show all over its schedule for the next couple of weeks, trying to drum up some interest.  90210, which had been showing signs of life compared to some of the other CW veterans, subsided to a mediocre 0.6.

Only 2 words have any meaning on tonight's TV line-up:  AMERICAN IDOL.  The show survived its cast changes last season in fine form, so the only question, as ever, will be the size of its victory.  On a much smaller scale, CSI begins the arc of Marg Helgenberger's departure tonight, which may give that show a boost.

Potentially good news for Cougar Town fans.

ABC:  Cougar Town needs a timeslot, and Tuesday 8:30PM should be opening up any minute now, as 20% of the people who watched WORK IT the first time ran away screaming this week, and the show plunged to a 1.6 rating.  However, that real estate may not be as valuable as it should be, because lead-in LAST MAN STANDING hit a series low 2.2 last night.  All of this, mind you, is while FOX's Glee is still in reruns--when it returns with new episodes next week, the hour will only get more difficult.  CELEBRITY WIFE SWAP continued its low run, and BODY OF PROOF was up only 0.1 from last week's season low.

CBS:  An easy win in every hour, although UNFORGETTABLE tied a season low 2.2.  (As Mitch Metcalf notes, however, 10PM ratings last night are subject to adjustment due to coverage of the New Hampshire Republican primary.)

NBC:  BIGGEST LOSER was down a bit from last week, and PARENTHOOD was up only 0.1 from last week's season low.  However, those numbers were good enough for 2d place across the board, which in NBC terms is practically a win.

FOX:  Reruns, with a 1.3 for NEW GIRL looking best.

CW:  Where are they finding these movies?  Last night the network regaled America with 2 hours of TABLE FOR THREE, a film that seems to have been chosen because it starred One Tree Hill's Sophia Bush and Once Upon A Time's Jennifer Morrison (not to mention sometime Chuck villain Brandon Routh), and which previously had been seen only by their agents and close family.  

Tonight's big event is NBC's premiere of its new 8-9PM comedy hour, with WHITNEY shifted from Thursday and the new ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA?.  At 9PM, CBS airs the PEOPLES CHOICE AWARDS, which slumped badly last year from its 2010 number to a 2.7 rating.