Movie Box Review

FOX's decision to move TOUCH to Thursdays and BONES to Mondays left THE FINDER as the odd show out, and today that other shoe fell:  Finder will run its remaining episodes (essentially burning them off) on Fridays at 8PM, starting April 6.  This pushes the unscripted HOTEL HELL to summer.

This may not be great news for FRINGE, because Finder's lead-in is likely to be fairly anemic--the show has been in the low 2s even with an AMERICAN IDOL lead-in, and can be expected to decline when asked to open low-rated Fridays.  On the other hand, one could make the argument that the scripted Finder provides a more compatible lead-in to to Fringe than KITCHEN NIGHTMARES.  (One could also make the argument that with Fringe's numbers, its lead-in is the least of its problems.)

FOX made a couple of fairly last-minute changes to its midseason plans today.  The new TOUCH, created by Tim Kring and starring Kiefer Sutherland, won't move to Sutherland's old 24 Monday 9PM timeslot after all; instead, starting March 22, Touch will air Thursdays at 9PM, keeping the AMERICAN IDOL lead-in it had for the successful "preview" airing of its pilot last month.  

Because of this change, when BONES returns from Emily Deschanel's pregnancy leave, it moves to 8PM Mondays starting April 2 (with the final episodes of HOUSE airing at 9PM), losing its own cushy Thursday berth.

Why the change?  The obvious conclusion is that FOX felt, having seen several episodes, that Touch wasn't going to be the self-starter it originally hoped the show would be, and with House a diminishingly effective lead-in, and THE VOICE a surprisingly strong competitor, FOX feared Touch would go the way of ALCATRAZ on Mondays.  This way, they're giving their high-profile new show its best shot.  (And if the show's quality doesn't improve from its pilot, it may need all the help it can get.)

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.  

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.

Whatever America is doing early in this holiday season, it's not watching network television.

NBC:  The network attempted to help GRIMM in its return after a 3-week hiatus by giving it a showcase Thursday night run, but its 1.6 rating didn't suggest bubbling fan interest (and may prefigure an ugly score in its timeslot return tonight)--it scored better than PRIME SUSPECT, but that's the definition of "not saying much."  Earlier in the evening, a parade of season lows:  PARKS & RECREATION, THE OFFICE and WHITNEY all tied their lows, while the "winner" was COMMUNITY, a whopping 0.1 above its low for its last pre (permanent?) vanishing episode.

CBS:  BIG BANG THEORY was just above its season low, while RULES OF ENGAGEMENT narrowly set a new one.  Initial numbers have strong results for PERSON OF INTEREST and THE MENTALIST, but CBS in Pittsburgh aired the Steelers vs Browns game, so those numbers are due to come down.

FOX:  The FOX affiliate in Cleveland had the other end of the NFL game, so these numbers are probably high as well.  That won't be good news for FOX, since even with the NFL boost, right now X FACTOR is at a season low and BONES is only 0.1 above its own low.

ABC:  WIPEOUT's season premiere at 1.9 was 20% below last season's average.  After that, AMERICA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS and  THE GREAT BIG AMERICAN AUCTION specials were nothing of the sort, with lousy 1.9 and 1.4 numbers respectively.  

CW:  Gone fishin till January.

Tonight, as noted above, the question is how GRIMM will fare in its return to timeslot, against atypical competition:  CBS and FOX are airing holiday specials and reruns.

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.