Movie Box Review

February Sweeps go out not with a bang, but with the other thing.

ABC:  The first "midseason arc" episode of REVENGE looked almost exactly like all the other episodes, so it was fitting that the rating stayed even.  The show will now take a break from fresh episodes until the end-of-season push in April.  (Meanwhile, the network will air REVENGE FOR REAL, some kind of "ABC News" concoction about actual rich-people crimes.  If it works, no doubt NBC is poised to launch Smash For Real.)  Elsewhere, even with a 2-hour Idol as competition, HAPPY ENDINGS had a very nice 0.4 bump over the last 2 weeks--and continued to pile up its pre-Community Random Pop Culture Reference points with a nod to Krippendorf's Tribe that must have made Richard Dreyfuss very happy.  THE MIDDLE was also up a gratifying 0.4, while SUBURGATORY was slightly up and MODERN FAMILY was even.  

FOX:  AMERICAN IDOL 2-hour Wednesday was in the same position as its Tuesday:  dreadfully down from the parallel episode last year (44%, ouch), but only slightly down from last week.  The days of its dominance certainly seem to be over.

CW:  Audiences were not waiting with baited breath for the US vs. Brit version of AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL, which had a 0.6 that was down a disastrous 45% from last year's Spring premiere, and even down from its lead-in ONE TREE HILL.  (And for anyone looking for excuses, sorry:  last year's premiere also aired against a 2-hour Idol.)

NBC:  On the plus side, nothing got worse. ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA and SVU remained tied with their all-time lows, while WHITNEY and ROCK CENTER were a wildly exciting 0.1 above theirs'.  Next week, the network begins its Wednesday roundelay, with a new version of the schedule practically every week.  Fun!

CBS:  No good news here, either:  CRIMINAL MINDS tied its season low, while SURVIVOR and CSI were 0.1 above their respective lows.  The latter, though, still had enough to win the 10PM hour.

When NBC chose tonight for the debut of its difficult, highly conceptual AWAKE, the plan was for it to face no competition at 10PM but reruns.  Which is true, except ABC had the interesting idea of re-running its star-studded JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE post-Oscar special in the slot as counterprogramming.  Otherwise, little is new on the schedule:  FOX has another 2-hour Idol, and CBS stuck a new ROB amidst the rest of its otherwise all-repeat night.

Somewhere, Edward R. Murrow weeps.

CBS:  The attempt to resurrect Murrow's 59-year old celebrity interview vehicle PERSON TO PERSON with Charlie Rose and Lara Logan flopped badly with a 1.1 (wait, people didn't want to see the inside of Warren Buffet's house?).  But Survivor will be back next week, so no long-term damage done.  CRIMINAL MINDS was in its recent neighborhood (its lead over Mobbed on FOX will likely look better when final ratings are released and the Idol overrun into Mobbed's hour is removed).  As expected, CSI took a big hit from the last new episode, which was Marg Helgenberger's finale, but still won its hour.  Next week Elisabeth Shue debuts as the show's new female lead, and we'll see if that does anything for the show.

FOX:  AMERICAN IDOL held at a 6.0, which naturally destroyed the competition but was still down almost 30% from last year at this time--and was also about 10% below Monday's number for The Voice.  MOBBED was purportedly up for the night, but again that may well change once the Idol overrun is removed.

ABC:  THE MIDDLE and SUBURGATORY were basically even with their earlier numbers against Idol, while MODERN FAMILY and HAPPY ENDINGS, which had last aired new episodes against a 2-hour Idol, predictably did better against Mobbed.  REVENGE matched its last few originals--we'll see if next week's arc finale gives the show a bump.

NBC:  Even though Idol was stable, its NBC competition of WHITNEY and ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA? managed to be down to a pair of 1.5s, which is even with the series low that Up All Night had when it aired on Wednesdays.  ROCK CENTER unsurprisingly was slaughtered in its new 9PM timeslot, with a 1.1 against 3 networks that all averaged a 3.0 or more in the hour.  SVU was in last place at 10PM, although considering the difference in lead-ins, a 2.2 (only 0.5 behind CSI) was almost a moral victory.

CW:  ONE TREE HILL continues to hold nicely with a 0.7, while REMODELED continues to need one of its own with a 0.4.

Virtually all new sweeps episodes on every network tonight.  NBC will air a 1-hour 30 ROCK at 8PM, preempting PARKS & RECREATION, which should have little effect on the ratings, and while the network waits to launch AWAKE after sweeps, it'll re-air the post-Super Bowl edition of THE VOICE at 10PM.

AMERICAN IDOL returned to the schedule, towering over everything... except its own past.

FOX:  Idol came back with a 7.4, which naturally squashed all its competition.  In fact, it beat the ratings of the other 4 broadcast networks combined.  And yet... the number was down 24% from last season's Wednesday premiere.  Last year's 9.8 Wednesday premiere translated into an 8.8 Wednesday season average, so if the numbers work out the same way this time, the show could end up with a 6.6 Wednesday average.  That will certainly keep it as the season's top non-football series, but not quite the monolith it used to be (admittedly, a problem every other network would commit serial murder to have).

NBC:  All the networks choked on FOX's dust last night, but none more than the Peacock.  The 8-9PM sitcoms plunged, with WHITNEY at a new series low 1.6 and ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA? not much better with a 1.8.  This was followed by by the usual sad 1.1 for HARRY'S LAW, and a new 1.8  all-time low for the once-mighty SVU, which didn't even have to compete with Idol.

ABC:  All things considered, a decent 2d place for the night, except at 9:30PM where Criminal Minds narrowly beat out HAPPY ENDINGS.  None of the network's shows were down more than 0.4 from last week (MODERN FAMILY and Happy Endings declined only 0.1), and REVENGE even managed to inch up.

CBS:  With Survivor between cycles, the network aired an NCIS repeat at 8PM, which predictably got smashed.  CRIMINAL MINDS hit a season low, but down only 0.2 from its last fresh episode, which aired against much lighter competition.  The only real disappointment was CSI's 2.8, which won its hour but was down 0.1 despite the start of the much-hyped exit of Marg Helgenberger's character.  

CW:  ONE TREE HILL was down to a 0.7, which is still better than Gossip Girl or 90210 have been doing.  The REMODELED repeat that followed did the same 0.3 as the first run had done the night before.

Tonight, more Idol, with fresh competition from all the other networks, including the second episode of ROB on CBS.

OK, now they're not even trying:  every single show on network TV last night was a repeat.

CBS:  Which is exactly how CBS likes it.  Not to rub salt in NBC's many wounds, but the CBS average last night with reruns (2.1, highlighted by a 2.3 for CRIMINAL MINDS) was just about what NBC does with new programming almost every non-football night of the week.

ABC:  The sitcoms did OK, all things considered (1.2-1.9, with MODERN FAMILY, of course, at the top), but that 0.6 for REVENGE was painful.

FOX:   Managed with scrape above a 1.0 for the 9PM hour with NEW GIRL.

NBC:  Ugliest of the ugly.  The highest number was a 1.0 for UP ALL NIGHT, and then HARRY'S LAW did a CW-level 0.5.

CW:  A Hilary Duff movie that barely appeared in theatres did a 0.4, which is about what their series reruns have been scoring.

No relief tonight, although ABC will air a repeat Charlie Brown special at 8PM.

Viewers continue to be uninspired by the network offerings:  with one exception, season lows were the order of the evening.

CBS:  CSI benefited from a repeat SVU on NBC and no Revenge on ABC, and scored its second-best rating of the season.  Before that, though, SURVIVOR tied a season low even though this was the penultimate episode of the cycle, and CRIMINAL MINDS also tied its season low.

FOX:  X FACTOR tied what is effectively its season low (excluding only Thanksgiving Eve), and then the good news for mankind in general is that I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER crashed to a 1.9, which should mean its imminent demise.  (Maybe FOX could adopt Cougar Town or Community for the timeslot.)

ABC:  Repeats from 8-9:30PM, and then the BARBARA WALTERS MOST FASCINATING PEOPLE special was far less fascinating this year than last, hitting a 2.3 rating that was down almost 30% from last year's special.  

NBC:  If the network's Wednesday is ugly as a rule, imagine it in repeats:  nothing on NBC's air reached higher than a 1.2 last night.

CW:  This is worth nothing:  a repeat of the VICTORIA'S SECRET FASHION SHOW special that originally aired on corporate partner CBS scored a 0.7, which is as good a many CW series have been doing with first-run episodes this season.  In fact, it came within 0.1 of tying NBC for the hour.

Tonight, a mix:  CBS airs all new regular-series episodes except a repeat of BIG BANG THEORY; conversely, NBC is all-repeat aside from burning off a new episode of PRIME SUSPECT; FOX follows a new X FACTOR with a repeat BONES; and ABC offers yet another run of A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS and then 2 hours with its other news diva, Katie Couric, for a review of the year co-developed with People Magazine.  

Last night, viewers took a stand against the hatred of teenage daughters.

FOX:  I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER, in its 2d airing (and first against new episodes on ABC) slumped to a 2.1 rating, losing more than a third of X FACTOR's lead-in 3.3.  The Teenage Daughter numbers may continue to be erratic, because for the next 2 weeks ABC will be in holiday mode, airing a Barbara Walters special and more repeats on Wednesdays against original Teenage Daughter episodes.  But eventually programming will return to normal, and there's no basis to think Teenage Daughter has what it takes to survive.  Meanwhile, that X Factor number was itself its lowest rating other than Thanksgiving Eve, and a further decline from last week.

ABC:  Taking Thanksgiving Eve out of the equation, almost all the network's shows tied or set season lows (the quasi-exception was HAPPY ENDINGS, 0.1 above its non-holiday low).  However, some of those numbers are better than they sound:  Happy Endings was facing sitcom competition for the first time all season, and even at its lowered number, REVENGE was only 0.1 out of first place in its timeslot.

CBS:  SURVIVOR did a fairly standard number for the season (which in the context of this night looked pretty good), while CRIMINAL MINDS and CSI both tied season lows.

NBC:  UP ALL NIGHT tied its non-Thanksgiving Eve low, but that's pretty much where the show has been mired for the past month.  HARRY'S LAW lost the tiny increase it had last week when it aired against reruns on ABC.  SVU tied the season low it's had for the last few weeks (except when ABC aired reruns).  

CW:  Some good news!  AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL's cycle finale mustered a 1.0, very strong by CW standards.

A moment of silence:  tonight NBC airs what is currently the last-scheduled episode of COMMUNITY.  May it return to us soon.  Meanwhile, FOX will air what's become the Fall finale of BONES, because the episode that was supposed to air next week has been pushed to January so it can become the lead-in to the premiere of FINDER, the spin-off that's replacing it while Emily Deschanel has her real-life maternity leave (s opposed to Bones' on the show).  And ABC will fill the airwaves' holiday stocking with such lumps of coal as a Christmas edition of AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS and something called THE GREAT BIG AMERICAN AUCTION.  

It was ABC's turn for some post-preemption malaise.

ABC:  The network's Wednesday schedule returned from its CMA Awards break to drops across the board.  The 2 new shows were hit hardest, as SUBURGATORY dipped 0.3 and REVENGE 0.4.  Neither of the declines were anything to worry about (Revenge still tied for 1st place in its hour), but as we enter the holiday season with its frequent repeats and specials, the night suggests how difficult it is for networks to fill roughly 36 in-season weeks of programming with (usually) 22 episodes of regular series, while managing not to lose the attention of viewers.

FOX:  X FACTOR didn't return to its pre-baseball level, but it's stabilized at a 3.8 that was easily good enough to win the night.

CBS:  Without the CMA Awards as competition, all the network's shows were up, especially CRIMINAL MINDS, which had a nice 0.3 bump from last week.  

NBC:  Is there an emoticon for "Oy"?  UP ALL NIGHT was up a tick but still under a 2, while SVU's 1.9 was below last year's average of Law & Order:  LA--which, as you'll recall, was cancelled.  Worst of all was HARRY'S LAW, which managed to hit a season low 1.1.  (Soon to be a star of your post-football Sunday night programming!)

CW:  AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL was steady at 0.8.

Tonight's big event will be a heavily-promoted 2-hour "intervention" episode of PRIVATE PRACTICE on ABC.  

A seemingly atypical night turned out to be fairly typical after all.

ABC:  The network preempted its entire line-up for the CMA AWARDS, and did very well, with a preliminary 4.8 that was up a tick from last year's ceremony (and up in every half-hour from the night's usual line-up except for MODERN FAMILY's slot).

CBS:  Considering the network's target audience, no surprise that CBS bore the brunt of the unusual competition.  SURVIVOR, CRIMINAL MINDS and CSI all hit or tied season lows, but the damage seemed to be minimal, with each drop only by a few tenths that the network should be able to recover.

FOX:  X FACTOR was also down 0.3, which was less than a 10% drop from last week.

NBC:  At least in the early numbers, yet another bit of bad history for the Peacock:  SVU's rating went below a 2 for the first time ever, which meant the entire night's line-up was below that mark.  (Although HARRY'S LAW was unaccountably up from last week, albeit to a still-pathetic 1.3.)

CW:  An AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL rerun led in to a new episode that did a CW-standard 0.7.

Correction 11:20AM:  Tonight will be the last "normal" Thursday of November sweeps, Tonight will be the last November sweeps Thursday featuring regularly scheduled shows (although CBS will air reruns 9-11PM), as next week ABC will be airing a Regis Philbin retirement special and a 2-hour "very special" PRIVATE PRACTICE.  

Everyone was down, as the new season started to settle in on itself--but some were down more than others.

ABC:  MODERN FAMILY is doing quite spectacularly, more than 20% above last season's average.  The results in other timeslots were more mixed.  SUBURGATORY had a very nice debut at 8:30 (again, kudos to ABC Marketing this Fall), but it's a little disappointing that THE MIDDLE wasn't able to capitalize on NBC's increasing woes at 8PM, although it was still slightly above last season's average.   HAPPY ENDINGS was up a whopping 50% from its average last season, and almost double last year's season finale (which was admittedly in the less attractive 10:30PM slot)--and by the way, rightly so, since in a way Happy Endings had last year's most impressive reboot, miraculously becoming funny after a terrible first few episodes.  REVENGE is still OK, a solid second place in its timeslot, but it's no longer looking like a hit (other than in comparison to last season's disaster The Whole Truth)--and because of its serialized nature, once viewers have left, it'll be awfully hard to get them back.

FOX:  More of the same for X FACTOR:  it's not a blockbuster, but it's a big enough hit to win the night.  I'm not sure how FOX's coverage of the baseball post-season will affect X Factor's schedule over the next few weeks, but if the show has to skip many episodes, that'll be something to keep an eye on.

NBC:  UP ALL NIGHT has pushed past being a dubious success story to a show on the brink of trouble.  Last night's 2.1 puts its numbers squarely into COMMUNITY/PARKS & RECREATION territory, and as much as I love those shows, that's not where you want your big new comedy to be.  FREE AGENTS is just waiting for its cancellation notice, which may be delayed for PR reasons if NBC doesn't want to be the first network to admit to Fall failure.  HARRY'S LAW can't even pull in its presumed older audience, let alone 18-49s.  And the arrival of Danny Pino did nothing for SVU--if the show falls any lower than its current 2.0, it would be a candidate for cancellation anywhere but NBC, where they have too many bigger problems.

CBS:  Stability, thy name is CBS.  SURVIVOR and CSI barely budged from last week, and although CRIMINAL MINDS is now a bit below last season's average, it's facing very strong competition from Modern Family and X Factor.  

CW:  H84 was slightly less DOA than last week (it's unutterably sad to think that may be because Kim Kardashian was featured), and AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL continues to be more than 30% below last season's average.

Tonight, quite a few shows will be airing their second episodes and waiting to find out how many viewers come back for more (look for plenty of Pilot + 1 Reviews tonight).  For NBC, the critical numbers will be for The Office and Whitney in the 9PM hour, which is all that's keeping the network from complete non-football oblivion.

On the night that two of the Fall's most-hyped new arrivals made their debuts, the clear winner was a returning hit.

ABC:  When their horse has the lead, horse-racing fans will sometimes yell out "Wire!" in the hope that the finish line will miraculously appear and the race will end exactly as is.  That's how ABC should feel about last night.  America showed that it's been waiting all summer for the return of MODERN FAMILY, which triumphed over the debut of X-Factor and romped to a 6.0 victory in 18-49s.  This propelled REVENGE into a timeslot-winning 3.4 at 10PM--not a giant number, but higher than any 10PM series averaged last season.  And even THE MIDDLE, facing huge competition, was barely behind Survivor in the race for second place in its hour.  Of course, next week Modern Family goes back to being a half-hour, and Revenge won't get the same lead-in from Happy Endings.  But for a week, ABC can bask in a Wednesday well-launched.

FOX:  Well, X-FACTOR... is not American Idol.  Or for that matter, The Voice.  That's not to diminish a very strong 4.4 debut (slightly updated from Mitch Metcalf's report), and competition show ratings tend to increase over the course of their run.  But coming out of the gate well behind Modern Family and just barely ahead of Criminal Minds, X-Factor isn't exactly the historic event that seemed to be on the horizon.  Nonetheless, it's a very solid number that marks a big increase for FOX on the night, so the only problems with the rating are the high expectations that preceded it.

NBC:  It's only 3 days into the season, and already the Tylenol concession is the one to have at the Peacock.  Absolutely nothing is going NBC's way right now.  They'll live with UP ALL NIGHT's 2.3 if that number doesn't continue slipping, but 4th place in the timeslot (and nowhere close to 3rd) is hardly a win.  The most exciting thing about FREE AGENTS is that it's now locked in a battle with Playboy Club for the title of earliest cancellation.  HARRY'S LAW couldn't even draw in the older crowd that was sustaining it on Mondays--it was 4th in total audience--and its 1.2 rating in 18-49s was embarrassing.  And the Meloni-less SVU was clearly the big loser in the battle for 10PM.  

CBS:  With the least-hyped schedule of the night, a quietly solid result.  SURVIVOR is clearly on the down side of its illustrious run, but that was still good enough for 2d place in the hour; CRIMINAL MINDS more than held its own in the hugely competitive 9PM slot, even exceeding its season average from last year.  And the new CSI, with Ted Danson taking over the lead,  may have declined from its Thursday average, but that's misleading, because its old slot had much higher total viewership--in its new home, CSI may well become the winner at 10PM once Revenge settles to its post-premiere level. 

CW:  Oh, do they air shows on Wednesdays?  H8R is barely a blip with a 0.4, and AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL is doing a half-decent cable number with a 0.7.

Thursdays are always a battleground, and tonight sees an assortment of important debuts, including Charlie's Angels on ABC, Person of Interest on CBS, and both Whitney and Prime Suspect on NBC (both of which have to air against a 2-hour Grey's Anatomy season debut on ABC, as the hits keep coming for the Peacock).