Movie Box Review

Not a lot of viewer enthusiasm on a night when nothing topped a 1.8.

NBC:  CHUCK continued to lurch toward its January 27 finale with a 0.9.  The network's issue comes at 9PM:  one obvious move would be to yank the horribly rated THE FIRM off Thursday and put GRIMM in that slot, but Grimm hit a series low 1.4 last night, making it harder and harder to consider the show a "hit," even on NBC.  Leave Grimm on Friday where not much is expected from it (but where returns are low), or try to make it more of a mainstream success (and risk losing it altogether)?  Tough call.  DATELINE wound up the night with an unimpressive 3rd place finish.

ABC:  A tie for the night's win, sparked by the final regular-series hour of EXTREME MAKEOVER:  HOME EDITION and a Madonna interview on 20/20 that both gave the network a 1.7 in their hours (tying for 1st place at 9PM, 2d place by 0.1 at 10PM), following a 1.4 for the first hour of the Extreme Makeover finale. 

CBS:  Shared 1st place for the night, with a 1.3 for A GIFTED MAN at 8PM but better results the rest of the night.

FOX:  KITCHEN NIGHTMARES started the night off well with a 1.7 that won the 8PM hour, but then FRINGE fell to 4th place at 9PM, tying its 1.1 series low.  Let's hope the producers have an endgame in mind for the rest of this season, because the show's tenuous lease on life may be nearing an end.

CW:  Both NIKITA and SUPERNATURAL were down from last week to 0.5 and 0.6, respectively.

Saturday night will be dominated, possibly to a historic extent, by CBS's coverage of the Tim Tebow/Tom Brady Armageddon Bowl.  ABC will try to zig a little bit to that massive zag by airing the Miss America pageant.  In late night, Daniel Radcliffe (who has a movie opening) will test his post-Harry Potter appeal by hosting Saturday Night Live, with music guest Lana Del Rey.  Sunday will feature debuts by CBS's Undercover Boss and FOX's animated version of Napoleon Dynamite, but the night's big event will be NBC's Ricky Gervais-hosted Golden Globes.

A night of virtually all-new programming brought in plenty of viewers.

CBS:  Back with new episodes for the first time in over a month, the network was up across the board by 0.2-0.4.  On a night where football reigned, that didn't win any hours, but bodes very well for when the atypical competition is gone.

NBC:  Even poor CHUCK got an upswing as it enters its final month of existence, albeit to a 1.0.  The night's only rerun, GRIMM, couldn't even beat CW in its hour.

CW:  Both NIKITA and SUPERNATURAL were up 0.1 from their pre-hiatus episodes, giving them solid numbers for that network.

ABC:  EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION, on the verge of fading into non-regular programming, was up to 1.4-1.6 over its 2 hours.  With a new Blue Bloods on hand at 10PM, 20/20 fell into 4th place (because FOX was still airing its game) for its hour.

FOX:  The COTTON BOWL didn't score a huge number (its final rating, probably somewhere around a 3, will be determined early next week when national numbers are released), but it was strong enough to win every hour of the night.

Sunday's schedule will bring plenty to keep an eye on:  CBS will be all new (and will start the night with a sure-to-be-massive overrun from the Denver/Pittsburgh NFL playoff game), ABC and FOX are also stocked with fresh episodes, and NBC debuts its much-hyped series version of THE FIRM.  But a lot of the action will also be taking place elsewhere, as Showtime debuts HOUSE OF LIES and brings back SHAMELESS  and CALIFORNICATION, and PBS, of all networks, achieves relevance with the return of the beloved DOWNTON ABBEY.  

With reruns and holiday specials occupying most of the airwaves, NBC was able to grab a rare non-Sunday win.

NBC:  The Peacock was the only network airing original scripted programming, and although CHUCK and GRIMM were each a bit down (to 0.9 and 1.5, respectively), that was enough, combined with DATELINE's 1.3, to take the night.  

ABC:  EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION, now officially on its way out as a regular series, held steady with a 1.3 average over its 2 hours.  The 20/20 at 10PM, however, got crushed by Dateline, down to a 0.9.

FOX:  Repeats of Charlie Brown, Ice Age and Simpsons holiday specials couldn't do better than 0.9-1.2.

CBS:  An all-repeat night, in the 0.8-1.0 range.

CW:  Winter repeats continue.

On Sunday, CBS airs its 3-hour SURVIVOR finale/reunion extravaganza, against the football game NBC had to take (Baltimore vs San Diego) because they weren't allowed to air the one they wanted (New England vs. God Tim Tebow Denver), along with repeats and holiday specials on the other networks (plus the finale of ALLEN GREGORY).  All the pop culture noise, though, is over at Showtime, which has the DEXTER season finale followed by what's become, despite its seemingly blah 0.5 rating, the event of the season:  the season finale of HOMELAND, probably the most eagerly awaited last episode since Breaking Bad's earlier in the year.  Don't screw it up, Homeland producers!

No news was good news for NBC last night.

NBC:  The network returned from several weeks of seasonal hiatus in pretty chipper shape.  CHUCK was up slightly from its last airing, but more importantly, GRIMM held steady with a 1.6 that on this night and this network was a veritable present under the tree, winning its hour.  Then DATELINE (airing against a CBS rerun) was equally strong, also winning the hour.

ABC:  Unexcitingly even, with EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION's 1.2 average over its 2 hours and 20/20's 1.3 the same as last week.

CBS:  Christmas specials won the 8PM hour and were a very solid 2d at 9PM, but the BLUE BLOODS repeat at 10PM came in behind both newsmagazines.

FOX:  Repeats didn't budge the needle, with FRINGE notably awful at 0.4.

CW:  More repeats, as the network's winter intermission continues.

Sunday's schedule will be all over the place, with new episodes on FOX and CBS (including the cycle finale of THE AMAZING RACE at 8PM), a rerun of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY on ABC, what should be a big Giants vs Cowboys football game on NBC, and on HBO, the season finale of BOARDWALK EMPIRE coupled with a "preview" of the pilot for their big-name (Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Michael Mann, David Milch) horseracing series LUCK.  

It turns out that while Americans are football crazy, they're not crazy.

FOX:  The first-ever PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, in which UCLA was never close to nationally-ranked Oregon, could only manage a dismal 1.4 rating in 18-49s (although given the West Coast focus of the game, that could come up in final national ratings).  On a night when hardly anyone was watching network TV, though, that was enough to tie CBS for the lead.

CBS:   A GIFTED MAN, CSI NY and BLUE BLOODS were all down, with none scoring above a 1.6, but that still won every timeslot except 8PM.

NBC:  One hopes that whatever advertiser deal NBC made to put GAME OF YOUR LIFE on their air and disrupt the run of Grimm was worth it, because the TV-movie did a genuinely pitiful 0.5 rating.  That lowered DATELINE to a 1.0.

ABC:  EXTREME MAKEOVER was down at 8PM and even at 9PM, then a Beyonce interview on 20/20 (plus the hit Dateline took) provided a marginal benefit at 10PM.

CW:  No one cared about NIKITA's midseason finale at 8PM, as the show fell to a 0.5.  SUPERNATURAL recovered at 9PM to a 0.7, which is OK by CW standards.

Something unusual for NBC these days:  good news.

NBC:  A 1.6 rating may not sound like anything to celebrate, but it's a pretty good number for Friday night (only one show all evening did better last night).  More importantly, it represented a stable hold for GRIMM from last week, and it was good enough to tie CBS for the lead in its hour.  That's practically enough for a celebration down Lankershim Avenue outside NBC's offices.  One cautionary note:  Grimm won't air again for at least 3 weeks, with preemptions on both of the next 2 Fridays.  As FOX can testify, those kinds of breaks can wreak havoc with new shows.  

FOX:  FRINGE, possibly feeling the weight of Grimm's presence in its timeslot, held at its series low 1.1 rating after KITCHEN NIGHTMARES won the 8PM hour.

CBS:  The highest rated show of the night was BLUE BLOODS, locking up the nightly win.  Even the soon-to-disappear A GIFTED MAN was only 0.1 off the lead at 8PM.

ABC:  Third place in every hour, although EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION was up nicely from last week.

CW:  Both NIKITA and SUPERNATURAL were within the 0.6-0.8 CW window.

Sunday night will be disrupted by the AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS on ABC.  Last year's awards did a 4.3 in 18-49s, which was down substantially from the 5.5 the show had done the year before.

The small fluttering bit of NBC's fall that was still breathing may have started to die last night.

NBC:  GRIMM didn't win its timeslot last night, after another 15% drop.  On Friday night, a 1.5 is still a decent number (good enough for 2d place in the 9PM hour last night), but the show's momentum is clearly moving the wrong way, and the network will be hard-pressed to justify calling the show a "hit"--not that that's likely to stop them.  CHUCK continued its creep to the TV graveyard 

CBS:  A GIFTED MAN's 1.2 was on par with its season track record and good enough for 2d place in its timeslot, but the network will have to decide very soon whether that's good enough to survive.  BLUE BLOODS took a hit at 10PM, possibly because of a promotable 20/20 on ABC.

FOX:  FRINGE hit a series low 1.1, and that's low indeed.  The series has a full season order, so it'll have plenty of time to see how Grimm plays out before there's any need to panic.  KITCHEN NIGHTMARES had an easy win at 8PM.

ABC:  EXTREME MAKEOVER was nowhere to be found at 8PM (just 0.2 above Nikita on the CW), but the 10PM 20/20 was way up over last week.

CW:  Both NIKITA and SUPERNATURAL were within the 0.6-0.8 CW norm.

The absence of World Series Game 7 didn't have the dramatic impact that might have been expected.

NBC:  Hey, GRIMM won its timeslot, that's something NBC doesn't get to say very damn often this season.  So:  success.  A back 9 order may very well be around the corner from a network craving anything that looks like good news.  But the spin on last week's 2.1 rating was that only baseball had held it back, and yet with far less competition this week, the number is down 15%.  If it declines even a bit more, in 2 weeks it may no longer be winning its hour.  So:  success?  Meanwhile, the network has to be concerned by the godawful 0.8 lead-in Grimm is getting from CHUCK, which is tantamount to starting the night with a rerun.  If any show on NBC right now needs a strong lead-in, it's Grimm, but with its depleted stocks, the network may not have one to give it.

CBS:  A GIFTED MAN's chances for a full-season pick-up weren't helped by showing no additional signs of life with the World Series out of the way.  BLUE BLOODS had a commanding win against the 2 newsmagazines at 10PM, almost outrating both of them combined. 

FOX:  Even though FRINGE was up only a tenth from its last new episode, it deserves a little credit:  that was after a 3-week gap (a rerun and the World Series intervening), and versus the new and hugely-publicized direct competition of Grimm.  The show will never draw big numbers, but its fans are loyal.

ABC:  EXTREME MAKEOVER HOME EDITION benefited from the end of baseball, and both hours did OK.  20/20 was only a tenth below Dateline at 10PM.

CW:  Baseball didn't mean much to this network's audience, and its shows stayed on track.

A quiet night, but there was some stirrings of change thanks to ABC.

ABC:  EXTREME MAKEOVER:  HOME EDITION made its Friday debut (it will ultimately be joined by Shark Tank), and while the 8PM episode didn't do much, the show zoomed forward at 9PM to come within 0.1 of CSI NY.  That was followed by a promotable 20/20 (interview with a Bernie Madoff relative), which made the most of its lead-in to take the hour.

CBS:  Despite the ABC onslaught, their numbers remained very solid (although in A GIFTED MAN's case, at a low level), with nothing moving more than 0.1 from last week.  

NBC:  Next week, the network will make its real Friday push with the debuts of CHUCK and GRIMM.  8PM remained low-rated reruns, but DATELINE was bruised by the ABC shows, down by a third from last week.  (One sidelight to NBC's decision to push the Grimm premiere by a week is that critics are by and large ignoring the delay and reviewing the show this weekend, partly because it ties in so well with their reviews of Sunday's similarly-themed Once Upon A Time.  The reviews have been mixed, so this may not end up meaning much, but as a result, when Grimm really does arrive next week, comparatively few reviews will run in the media to greet it.)

FOX:  KITCHEN NIGHTMARES won its hour steadily, and the network ran a repeat of FRINGE at 9PM.

CW:  NIKITA was up, SUPERNATURAL was down, but in both cases by only 0.1, so hard to make any judgments.

We'll have an updated chart with specific ratings and trends up later today, but meanwhile here's a rundown on how last night's shows fared.  Note that both NBC and CBS will have football-related changes once the night's final, time-zone adjusted ratings are released, and that the CBS schedule slipped by a bit more than half an hour in most of the country due to its football overrun.

ABC:  The night's big headline was that PAN AM is now seriously in trouble.  It had a 1.9 rating last night, which continues a troubling trend for the show (3.1, 2.5, 1.9), and it's running 35% below Brothers & Sisters last season (which, remember, was cancelled for those numbers).  Any further decline and the show's flight could have an unexpected--and final--landing.  Its lead-in DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES was no great shakes either, with a 2.7 rating that continued its own decline (3.2, 2.9, 2.7).  It's now an awful 40% below last season's average, although still the highest scripted performer of the night.  Earlier in the evening, EXTREME MAKEOVER:  HOME EDITION had a 2.0 on one of its final Sunday appearances, and AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS was down slightly to a 1.4.  

CBS:  As noted, a football overrun will likely shift some of these numbers.  As of now, THE GOOD WIFE appears to be steady or up slightly from last week with a 2.2, but CSI MIAMI looks to be disturbingly down to a 2.0 (from 2.3 in the past 2 weeks), which would be off an ugly 45% from last year's average.  In earlier shows, THE AMAZING RACE appears to be down a bit to a 2.7 (from 3.0 in the past 2 weeks), which is about 10% off last year's pace, and SIXTY MINUTES, as of now, appears to be slightly up to 3.6 from last week's 3.5 (but was the show most directly affected by the football overrun).

NBC:  Its NFL FOOTBALL number will also be affected by time-zone modification.  As of now, it's at a 7.9, which would be up from last week's game but down from the previous 3 weeks (10.0, 10.7, 8.3, 7.3).

FOX:  The baseball playoff game was waylaid by rain, forcing a last minute substitution of CLEVELAND SHOW and X-FACTOR reruns.  Consequently, it wasn't a factor with a 1.0 average.

The season's first week came to an end with more of a whimper than a bang.

ABC:  All things considered, PAN AM got off to a solid start (insert "good take-off," "little turbulence" or similar pun of choice).  Its 3.1, while not enormously impressive, held just about all of what turned out to be a lousy lead-in from DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, and continued steady through the hour.  If it can continue to score in Housewives' neighborhood, the network will be satisfied enough.  The Housewives number, however, suggests that the show will limp through its final season, already 20% below last year's average.  EXTREME MAKEOVER had to compete with football on multiple networks in its first hour, then recovered to last season's average in the second.

CBS:  During football season, preliminary numbers for CBS on Sundays are tricky, because unlike FOX, CBS allows its entire schedule to slide after the late game ends.  So THE GOOD WIFE, which was the major event of its evening, didn't actually air at 9PM in parts of the country.  Based on current numbers, though, the show appears to have made an unimpressive move to Sunday, below last season's average and down from its AMAZING RACE lead-in (as well as from what Undercover Boss was doing in the slot most of last season) .  Race seems to be around its average, but the 60 MINUTES number is particularly suspect because football overruns aired in its first scheduled half-hour.  CSI MIAMI, burdened by its lead-in and aging too, appears to be well below last season's average. With A Gifted Man already looking weak on Fridays, it may not be too long before CBS contemplates getting Good Wife off Sundays and moving it to that night.

FOX:  Their animation line-up thrives with a football lead-in and the young male audience it carries, and everything scored above average last night. 

NBC:  Between now and January, let's just assume that NBC always wins Sunday nights, OK?  Even though last night's game wasn't quite the event it was expected to be, thanks to Peyton Manning's injury (although it was still a good, close game), as usual it devoured everything in is path.