Movie Box Review

Ow, says FOX.  See FOX say Ow.

FOX:  AMERICAN IDOL's 4.4 rating was its lowest since the show began as a summer series 10 years ago.  That was down 14% from last week, 38% from the first hour of last year's parallel episode, and 43% from last season's Thursday average.  The combined Wednesday/Thursday average for this week was more than 20% lower than NBC's rating for Monday's The Voice.  Oh, I could go on.  The question is what--if anything--can FOX do to reverse the trend?  The show is locked into its format and judges, so look for some high-profile theme nights and other stunting.  The network may also have to give Idol some of the valuable promo time that would otherwise have gone to launching shows like Touch.  Meanwhile, THE FINDER was down to the rating it was getting before it had Idol as a lead-in, although considering that  Idol was down 1.4 rating points from the lead-in it provided 2 weeks ago, Finder's 0.2 decline wasn't at all alarming.

NBC:  The lower Idol numbers on FOX didn't do anything for 30 ROCK or PARKS & RECREATION, both of which were even with last week's season lows (if you exclude 30 Rock's oopsie DVR listing episode).  This is too bad, as both featured first-rate episodes this week, especially 30 Rock with its inspired Leap Day William concoction.  THE OFFICE is also on a creative upswing, although the Tallahassee gambit that's perking the show up is by definition a temporary one.  Office, facing The Finder instead of Idol, was up a decent 0.3 from last week, still far from its numbers earlier this season.  UP ALL NIGHT also had a 0.3 boost with the higher lead-in.  The last rerun GRIMM before Awake arrives next week received little interest with a 0.9.

ABC:  GREY'S ANATOMY tied its season low, and PRIVATE PRACTICE took a big 0.4 hit from last week's crossover episode.  

CBS:  THE BIG BANG THEORY is now the unquestioned king of the 8PM slot, although ROB slipped a bit to a new low (at 3.0, it's still in pretty good shape).  PERSON OF INTEREST benefited from the reduced FOX competition at 9PM and rebounded 0.3, but THE MENTALIST tied its season low.  (The 10PM ratings in general support the idea that in the absence of strong programming, this is when people are catching up on their DVR playlists, since Mentalist and Private Practice were both down, and no one was watching NBC.)

CW:  Already in repeat mode for the night (new shows won't return till mid-March), with a SUPERNATURAL thrown in instead of the usual SECRET CIRCLE at 9PM and garnering an unremarkable 0.3. 

No special events for the evening tonight, just fresh sweeps episodes of all the regular shows (except at CW).

Unfortunately for NBC, there are other nights in the week besides Monday.

NBC:  The gradual season-long collapse of THE OFFICE continued last night, as the show's 2.5 hit not just a season low, but its lowest rating since Season 1 in 2005--i.e., the season that almost got it canceled.  That was still by far the s network's highest number of the night.  30 ROCK was misleadingly up from last week, which was an aberration caused by a program description that resulted in DVRs not picking up the episode; last night's 1.6 was in line with the other episodes this season (and slightly below recent episodes of Parks & Recreation, which it replaced for the night).  UP ALL NIGHT tied its Thursday low.  Perhaps the most pathetic news of the evening was that the meager 1.5 earned by a repeat of the post-Super Bowl VOICE at 10PM still marked almost double the rating Prime Suspect and The Firm had been doing in that slot.

FOX:  AMERICAN IDOL was up 0.2 to a 5.7 (losing again in its first half-hour to Big Bang Theory), still down more than 20% from the parallel night last year.  THE FINDER was down slightly, mired in 4th place for its hour.

CBS:  BIG BANG THEORY continued to win its half hour, dead even with the past 2 weeks.  ROB, too, has spent the past 4 weeks within a tiny range of 0.2 up or down.  This stability has been great for PERSON OF INTEREST and THE MENTALIST, which both tied their season highs--Mentalist won its hour, and Person was a strong 2d at 9PM.

ABC:  WIPEOUT hit a new season low, but after that the news improved.  GREY'S ANATOMY, back on track after the previous week's "alternate universe" episode, had its highest rating in more than a month, while PRIVATE PRACTICE was on the lower end of its numbers, but very stable.

CW:  VAMPIRE DIARIES' steady 1.2 put it in hailing distance of both NBC and ABC for the hour.  SECRET CIRCLE was up slightly to (for CW) a very strong 0.8.

No sweeps events tonight, just an evening of all-new episodes.  On Saturday, NBC repeats its entire Monday night line-up all over again, while ABC prepares for the return of Cougar Town with a mini-marathon after a Valentine's Day-themed Charlie Brown special.  And FOX gets into the holiday spirit, too, with America's Most Wanted:  Crimes of Passion Special Edition. 

Sweeps!

FOX:  AMERICAN IDOL was steady with last Thursday at 5.4, which meant it was again down around 30% from last year and again saw its first half-hour lose to CBS's Big Bang Theory.  THE FINDER, airing against original episodes on every network this week, lost most of last week's gains and fell to a 4th place 2.4 in its hour (which may go down further if Idol had an overrun).

NBC:  The shows on NBC (you may know them better as "the stuff that airs between Smash commercials") suffered more ignominy, as 30 ROCK hit a new all-time low of 1.3 (down 20% from last week's then-all-time low), and THE OFFICE, with a 2.7, had its lowest ever rating on a Thursday.  PARKS & RECREATION provided comparatively good news by rising 0.1 from last week to a 1.8, but UP ALL NIGHT fell 0.1 from last week, also to a 1.8.  For anyone who wondered if THE FIRM could get any lower, the answer was yes--down to a 0.8, where it was probably beaten by plenty of cable networks.

ABC:  An unimpressive start to sweeps, as WIPEOUT matched its season low 1.8, GREY'S ANATOMY got no boost from its hyped "alternate universe" episode and matched the 3.5 of its last original, and PRIVATE PRACTICE, while up 0.2 from its last original, was still near that season low.

CBS:  A strong 2d place to FOX for the night.  BIG BANG THEORY won its half hour, and then ROB was steady with last week, both shows down only 0.1.  PERSON OF INTEREST hit a series high 3.3 that left it only 0.2 out of 1st place for its hour, and THE MENTALIST, while down 0.2 from last week, easily won its hour.

CW:  VAMPIRE DIARIES rose slightly to a 1.2, which left it only 0.1 behind 30 Rock at 8PM.  SECRET CIRCLE was even with last week's 0.7.  

Lots of news, but it's only good for one network.

CBS:  Keeping in mind that the Thursday 8-9PM landscape will change drastically next week with the return of American Idol, CBS got everything it could have wished from the debut of ROB at 8:30PM.  The show's 4.1 blew past the numbers that Rules of Engagement was doing in that slot (let alone How To Be A Gentleman), retained 80% of its BIG BANG THEORY lead-in, and boosted PERSON OF INTEREST at 9PM to its own season high of 3.2.  THE MENTALIST was at a standard 2.7 at 10PM, good enough to win the hour.  Last year, the CBS 8:30PM sitcom (S#![ My Dad Says) did a 2.8 against the debut of Idol, after a 4.2 for Big Bang Theory, so even if Rob takes a hit from last night, it's in a good position to improve CBS's numbers overall.

NBC:  Ugh.  30 ROCK only made it to a 1.8 in its season debut.  That's a little better than what Community had been doing at 8PM, but a whopping 30% behind last year's season average.  On any other network, it would be in line for cancellation.  PARKS & RECREATION didn't benefit from the new lead-in, rising only 0.1 from its last original outing after a Community episode.  (In what now look like the halcyon days of 2011, NBC's 8-9PM sitcoms averaged a 2.2 against the debut of Idol.  That's not gonna happen next week.)  Despite all the marketing dollars spent to promote the new 9PM hour, THE OFFICE tied its season low, and UP ALL NIGHT, in its new timeslot, was up only 0.1 from Whitney's lowest rating in the slot.  But the worst was yet to come:  THE FIRM had its timeslot premiere with a catastrophic 1.0, 45% lower than the number Outsourced did last season at 10:30PM.  That would be a decent (and not exceptional) number for USA; it's a ridiculous rating for NBC. 

FOX:  THE FINDER had a very unimpressive 1.7 debut.  Of course its lead-in beginning next week will be probably triple the 2.4 it had from BONES last night, which should certainly leave it looking healthier--but still, a 4th place finish doesn't suggest much audience enthusiasm.

ABC:  The network took a hit from the higher level of competition on the night, not to mention the marketing dollars spent by the other networks in promoting their changes, as GREY'S ANATOMY and PRIVATE PRACTICE fell to the mid-levels of their season numbers.

CW:  VAMPIRE DIARIES was down a significant 0.3 (by CW terms), but still huge (by CW terms) with a 1.2.  Even with the diminished lead-in, SECRET CIRCLE held steady at a strong 0.8.

Tonight:  the return of FRINGE!  (There may not be many more chances to use that phrase.)  And the final regular episodes of EXTREME MAKEOVER:  HOME EDITION.  

The bi-yearly gathering of TV journalists is going on in LA this week, and while the schedules for most networks have already been set through the rest of the season (sudden cancellations notwithstanding), ABC, with its piles of short-run series ordered from last year's pilot season, had some additional announcements to make:

TUESDAYS:  Beginning April 24, PRIVATE PRACTICE will move for the remaining 4 weeks of the season into the 10PM slot currently occupied by the not-long-for-this-world BODY OF PROOF.  This will give the network a chance to see whether the show is now strong enough to survive without a Grey's Anatomy lead-in, and also clear space for the Thursday move below.

WEDNESDAYS:  Starting April 11 (after HAPPY ENDINGS is done for the season, with what should be a minimum of repeats from here on), the very promising sit-com now known as DON'T TRUST THE B____ IN APT 23 will inherit the prime post-Modern Family slot at 9:30PM.  For those keeping count, this makes 2 series this season in which ABC is coyly trying to suggest but not use the word "Bitch," the other being whatever they're calling Good Christian Bitches, which will air on Sundays starting in March.  We all look forward to next season's network spin-off Once Upon a F___ing Time.  

THURSDAYS:  Shonda Rhimes isn't losing the post-Grey's slot, just shuffling it a bit.  When Private Practice moves to Tuesdays, Rhimes' new Washington-set soap SCANDAL takes over, as of April 5.

The one piece on the ABC board still unaccounted for is the return of COUGAR TOWN, as to which the network continues to be vague.  One can't help but notice, though, that a half-hour might open up on Tuesdays if WORK IT were to meet a tragically untimely demise, providing yet another reason (as if any were needed) to root against it.

Most of the other networks yielded the floor to ABC for the night.

ABC:  GREY'S ANATOMY hadn't aired a new episode, remarkably enough, since November 10, and viewers were thrilled to have it back, providing the show with a season-high 4.5.  PRIVATE PRACTICE, gone since November 17, was just below its season-high at 2.7.  WIPEOUT's 2.8 was far below last year's 3.8 season premiere, but good enough for 2d place in its hour.

CW:  THE VAMPIRE DIARIES was also new for the first time since early November, and returned in form with a terrific (for its network) 1.4.  THE SECRET CIRCLE was also in form, but that meant a 0.8, still above just about every other CW series.

   

CBS:  Champions of the reruns (of course), with a win at 8PM for the repeat BIG BANG THEORY, and 2d place showings the rest of the night.

FOX:  Decent 1.1-1.2 for 2 hours of BONES repeats.

NBC:  Apart from a 1.1 for the 9PM OFFICE repeat, nothing topped a 0.9.

Tonight, despite the Cotton Bowl on FOX, the other networks air all-new programming with the exception of a repeat GRIMM on NBC.

Thursday night brought a mother lode of returning serialized dramas to broadcast TV, with both ABC and CW returning to duty.  Let's start by looking at ABC's 10PM PRIVATE PRACTICE, airing a fresh episode for the first time since a 2-hour special on November 17.

WHERE WE LEFT OFF:  As usual, there was all manner of trouble for the Santa Monica doctors.  Pete and Violet (Tim Daly and Amy Brenneman) were in the midst of a marital break-up; Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) had just emerged from a brutalizing bout with drug addiction and rehab, which included her breaking the heart of Sheldon (Brian Benben); Cooper (Paul Adelstein) had just discovered that he had a son with a one-night stand that he never knew about, somewhat to his wife Charlotte (KaDee Strickland)'s chagrin,;and Addison (Kate Walsh)'s continued determination to have a baby, now by adoption, was widening the cracks in her relationship with Sam (Taye Diggs).

WHERE WE ARE:  Private Practice has always been the weak sister to Grey's Anatomy, which of course is also produced by Shonda Rhimes.  The show lacks the narrative engine of the young doctors' ambition on Grey's, and it has a tendency to punch its metaphors, and the analogies between its patients' predicaments and those of their doctors, with a clumsy unsubtlety, as in this episode where the "rules" that govern a menage a trois trying to have a mutual baby (one woman's egg implanted in the other) fall apart, all too squarely echoing the rules Violet and Pete are trying to set in their separation, and the rules Cooper has to start enforcing with his new son--and in case the parallels weren't clear enough, we got a scene where all the doctors talked about how the menage's issues reminded them of their own.

Nevertheless, the show wisely didn't try to push the suds further than usual for its midseason debut, instead providing a fairly typical episode.  There was some big news, notably the episode-ending conclusion (or so it seems) of Addison and Sam, but mostly the developments were incremental.  Enough unspecified time had gone by since the last episode that Charlotte, the show's Bitch With A Heart Of Gold, was ready to let Amelia perform surgeries again, and Pete and Violet had officially broken up, but there was no special melodrama.

The trouble with Private Practice this season is the same one that afflicts many soaps when they get to their 5th season:  after a while, all the show can do is rotate its romantically-involved characters and relationships.  (Now that Addison and Sam are done, presumably the show will play the card of putting her with Benjamin Bratt's Jake, as has been inevitable since he joined the cast.)  Storylines like Cooper's newly-discovered son feel awfully close to shark-jumping, and how many times can Addison be bitterly disappointed in her drive to have a baby? (In this episode, a birth mother so admired and respected Addison that she gave her baby to a church couple instead.)   It would be best for all concerned if the series could start pointing its way to a definite finale, the way cable shows have increasingly been able to do--but Private Practice's rating, hovering around 2.5 in a fairly stable way that's down only about 10% from last season, as opposed to the 25% nosedive Grey has taken (although Grey's average rating is still almost a point higher than Practice's) makes it a valuable performer for the network, and likely to keep spinning its wheels for a while to come.

The final Thursday of November sweeps wasn't impressive for anyone.

ABC:  The network had to be disappointed with the 2.5 earned by its 2-hour, much-promoted "intervention" episode of PRIVATE PRACTICE, which was down not only from Grey's Anatomy numbers but even from Practice's 2.8 last week.  (It was, however, a strong episode, especially the first hour written by Shonda Rhimes.)  The Katie Couric/Regis Philbin interview special at 8PM did better than recent episodes of the dead CHARLIE'S ANGELS, but not by much.

FOX:  X FACTOR continued its slide, with last night's 3 its lowest Thursday number by a factor of 10%.  That was, however, still good enough for an easy 2d place finish in its hour.  The news was better for BONES, which capitalized on the absence of Grey's to win at 9PM.  

NBC:  Well, on the plus side COMMUNITY and PARKS AND REC were both up slightly from last week.  But THE OFFICE, despite reduced competition in its hour, tied its season low, and WHITNEY, preparing for its move to Wednesday--where it will have to be a self-starter--hit a new all-time low and went below a 2 for the first time.  The cancelled PRIME SUSPECT played out the string, tying its series low.

CBS:  Even though all its shows except RULES OF ENGAGEMENT were down from last week (and PERSON OF INTEREST and THE MENTALIST both tied their season lows), the network was able to win the night thanks to the absence of Grey's.  

CW:  As the network's Thursday is on hiatus until January, it filled in for the night with an obscure aquatic action movie that happened to star VAMPIRE DIARIES' Paul Wesley.  Even with the temporary and artificial boost of NY and Denver preemptions for the brutal (if you're a Jets fan) football game, the movie did no better than the CW norm, and that will be reduced later today as national numbers come in.

Tonight the Grimm watch will continue for NBC.

For one network, a night that moved in the wrong direction.

FOX:  Does FOX have to start worrying about X FACTOR?  The show seemed to make its way through the wave of baseball-related preemptions and reschedulings very smoothly, but this week has been troubling.  Both Wednesday and last night, the show has hit season lows for those respective nights, and while the numbers are still perfectly fine (last night's 3.3 was enough for a strong 2d place in its hour), this is the part of the season when competition shows are supposed to start building, not falling apart.  BONES was also down almost 20% from last week, although a drop after the season premiere isn't unusual.  

ABC:  If the network hadn't used the 8PM hour to burn off what may have been the last completed episode of CHARLIE'S ANGELS, ABC might have won the night.  The "fall finale" episode of GREY'S ANATOMY was up to a very solid 4, the highest number it's seem since the season premiere, and PRIVATE PRACTICE is peaking at the right time, with its season-highest rating as lead-up to next week's  2-hour special.

CBS:  Even with mostly reruns, CBS was in the hunt to win the night.  BIG BANG THEORY and RULES OF ENGAGEMENT won their hour handily, and the MENTALIST rerun easily beat NBC's new programming at 10PM.

NBC:  The good news was that THE OFFICE stayed on the safe side of a 3 rating, and WHITNEY, while far from a hit, retained a steady 70% of that number.  The 8PM hour was a disaster, though, with COMMUNITY and PARKS & RECREATION both tying their season lows.  (And when it comes to those shows, that does mean "low.")  PRIME SUSPECT, like a crippled racehorse no one will have the mercy to shoot, continued to howl in pain at a 1.2.

CW  The "fall finale" gambit worked less well for VAMPIRE DIARIES and SECRET CIRCLE, which were both down a bit from last week.

Tonight the Friday watch will be on GRIMM, which needs to stop dropping so NBC can reasonably claim a fall hit (by Friday standards), and A GIFTED MAN, fighting to stay off the autopsy table.