CliqueClack TV » Castle

Funny man J.B. Smoove guests on Castle

Aryeh S. — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:00:31 +0000

Weird to see J.B. Smoove, here as Norman Jessup, playing something other than the buddy on a comedy series. In fact, it was really weird to see him on Castle only 24 hours after watching his Leon Black pretending to be a Jewish accountant in order to allay Michael Richards’ fears of Grote’s disease, on Curb.

He was okay, but Smoove isn’t really so much of a shining actor. Then again, he and Castle bantered excellently, so the turn had more pluses than minuses … wait a second; is Smoove in line for another sidekick role here?

I doubt it, since that’s Castle’s role on the show, at least as far as Beckett goes. But it would be funny for Castle to call up Jessup somewhere down the line when he’s stuck on a book. After all, he is a “wordsmith.”

I was actually pretty bored by this week’s case, and I did not find it up to this season’s snuff. For me, it was really the ancillary stuff that was interesting. For instance, anyone see a familiar face when they saw John Knox? That’s Jonathan LaPaglia, better known as ADA Bell on Cold Case. That’s silly.

Or how about Castle’s Cape Fear file? It really is interesting to see how on-par Castle is with seasoned detectives. I used to think that that denigrated the police, but last week’s episode gave me a much better perspective on things. When Castle lectured Captain Montgomery on murder having some basic principles, it really swiveled the entire show for me. A detective is still a detective, but a mystery writer develops the same intuitive skills that a successful cop must. I don’t think Castle would make it with a gun and a badge, but it doesn’t detract from the NYPD that Castle’s their match in the brains department.

And I loved Castle “writing a book” while riding in the car with Beckett. It’s fun that he gets to wink and nod every time he can make use of Beckett’s not-so-secret love for his work. I wonder what she’d say if we could ever get inside the confessional with her.

And then there was Alexis reaching out to Beckett with her secret. Putting aside everything else, when did their relationship develop to the point where Alexis would even have her number, let alone use it to get together with Beckett? And does it mesh with what we know of the character that Castle was able to keep his head while not knowing what Alexis was keeping from him? Speaking of, is it fathomable that she’s such a nerd? A program in France is something to play close to the vest?

Oh, and before I forget: what’s with the weekly elementary intro this season? Is the show picking up so many new viewers each week that they need to air a brief rundown of the premise? Because it’s a little strange for us long-time viewers. Just something to stick in your cap before the quote:

“I’ve always been good with locks. When I was in the joint, I was thinking, ‘How can I take this and make it more productive?’ You know? So I’ve been applying to locksmith schools. But, you know, they won’t let me in on account that I’m a felon. Can you believe that?” – Jessup, to Castle and Beckett

Photo Credit: ABC

Is sitcom quality limited by a finite amount of available humor?

Aryeh S. — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:30:59 +0000

Or, put another way, is there only so much funny out there in TV land that if another success story shows up, or something already on the air gets better, everything else is destined to get worse?

Maybe it’s that as individual viewers we’re only allotted so much laughing in a week. I don’t know which is the case … all I know is that, week in and week out, some of my favorite sitcoms are consistently falling flat.

Let’s look at my network comedy viewings for the week. On Sundays, I tee things off with The Simpsons and Family Guy, but they’re both more shows to watch while doing something else. I’ve been catching The Simpsons for years now, but I think it’s loyalty more than enjoyment that keeps me coming back. Plus it’s not offensive, so nothing’s really pushing me to cancel that season pass (although it was borderline distasteful how bad the movie was). And Family Guy? I like Stewie and the evil monkey.

Mondays we move on to How I Met Your Mother. Now, I’m a believer in Barney and Robin as a couple, but, eerily coincidentally, ever since they got together at the beginning of this season, I’ve barely found anything to laugh at on what was once one of my favorite shows. Maybe it’s the new jiggering of things that was required to have them dating, but episode after episode has just gotten worse for me, culminating in an abomination last week with Barney in a fat suit. Debbie and I are definitely watching different shows.

But jump ahead to Wednesday night. Where did The Middle come from? And Modern Family’s not too bad itself. Strong concepts, talented casts, and writers who know how to craft a joke, or a funny situation. I know that others have found the same to applaud on Cougar Town, but I think I actually liked Hank better (and I definitely preferred Joey), so that should give you a pretty good picture of where that one resides for me.

And then on Thursday, while The Office is struggling for me, 30 Rock is showing some strength, with the right mix of characters balancing out the weaker, now less prevalent ones. Which, to me, is like Thursday went and sat itself down on its head. What planet am I on?

(Oh, and nothing to do with nothing, but I’ve caught a few of this season’s episodes of Parks and Recreation and Community on Hulu, and I’m still waiting for something to make me crack a smile.)

But back to my point — it could also be that the balance isn’t being helped any by the fact that shows like Castle and NCIS, to name but two, are funny as well, thus further diluting the week’s quota of ha ha. Or maybe it’s just some unseen-by-us-viewers seesaw that’s being ridden by the stars of two shows, like Patricia Heaton on one end and Neil Patrick Harris on the other; we don’t know about it, but when Heaton’s the heavy, Harris is flailing in the air (come to think of it, he was mostly MIA during the Everybody Loves Raymond years … something to that theory, maybe?).

Or this could all be due to any number of other factors or theories. The moral of the story, however, is that they all lead back to the same conclusion: I’m just not laughing with my television like I once did. Anybody else out there feeling the same?

Photo Credit: CBS

Ratings Clack – Should FOX switch Fringe and Lie To Me?

Brett Love — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:00:23 +0000

After the dramatic entrance of V last week, there were no similar big splash stories to lead things off this week. Then, as I was perusing the year-ago numbers, something occurred to me. It’s quite possible that FOX could improve both Monday and Thursday at 9:00 if they swapped Fringe and Lie To Me. If you look back to the initial Fringe run, it had a lot of success following House. In fact, while the House numbers are virtually unchanged from Tuesday to Monday, Fringe was holding much more of the House audience on Tuesday than Lie To Me currently is on Monday.

Example:
11/18/08: House (13.03m/5.5), Fringe (9.36m/4.2)
11/09/09: House (13.31m/5.3), Lie To Me (7.41m/3)

And that was against very similar competition. Both faced DWTS on ABC, which was pretty much a wash. NBC was greatly improved against Fringe with Biggest Loser (7.84m/3.3), as opposed to Trauma (5.35m/1.8). And CBS was mixed, with The Mentalist (15.83m/3.5) trailing the Men/Big Bang hour (13.62m/4.6) in the demo.

Now we look at where we are this season. Fringe did manage something of a rebound this week, finishing with (5.91m/2.2) on Thursday. That’s still a distant fourth place, and should find the show on the hot seat at the end of the season. It would, obviously, do better on Monday following House. The question is, would it do better than the (7.41m/3) that Lie To Me is currently offering? I think it would.

On the other side of that coin, while I’m not quite as confident about the move of Lie To Me to Thursday, I do still see the potential for it to outperform the current Fringe numbers. That bar has been set, after all, rather low. It would likely take a hit in the move, but the end result would be that Thursday at 9:00 is stronger as well. Just something to think about. The usual numbers junk is after the jump.

ABC - The bubble burst on V (10.7m/3.8) rather quickly. Sure, that’s still a very nice number, but it’s also a heck of a one week drop. Consider the jury still out on this one until we see what episodes three and four bring to the table. Earlier in the week, the return of football on NBC brought Sunday’s Extreme Makeover (10.38m/3), Desperate Housewives (13.79m/4.4), and Brothers & Sisters (9.08m/2.9) down a tad. It was still a successful start to the week.

The good news continued as Dancing With The Stars (17.62m/3.4) and Castle (9.82m/2.4) both gained viewers. The DWTS Results (16.23m/3.5) were up as well, despite the V drop. The news wasn’t so good for The Forgotten, as In The Spotlight with Robin Roberts (9.34m/2.3) finished well above what the show has been doing. Wednesday, the CMA Awards (17.18m/5.3) were a huge improvement over the usual comedies and Eastwick. FlashForward (8.28m/2.6) sunk to third in both measures to kick off Thursday, while Grey’s Anatomy (14.87m/5.6) and Private Practice (10.25m/3.9) were both up. Ugly Betty (4.45m/1.3) finished things off on Friday.

FOX - The network didn’t really gain anything with the all-Seth night, featuring Family Guy (7.26m/3.7), Seth & Alex (6.73m/3.4), Family Guy (7.99m/4.1), and Cleveland (6.44m/3.2). The news was better on Monday as House (13.31m/5.3) remained the clear demo leader on the night. So You Think You Can Dance remained steady, if not impressive, on Tuesday (5.76m/2.3) and Wednesday (5.72m/2.2), while Glee (7.53m/3.4) was tied for #1 in the demo with Criminal Minds. Thursday, Bones (10.22m/2.9) took over the #2 spot from FlashForward. And Friday, repeats again topped the recent comedy/Dollhouse combo.

CBS - The good news is that Sunday was up across the board with Amazing Race (11.62m/3.5), Three Rivers (7.99m/1.8), and Cold Case (8.16m/1.7). The bad news is that those numbers from 9:00 to 11:00 are too low. Things were better on Monday. The network was down slightly from 8:00 to 9:00 with How I Met Your Mother (8.67m/3.5) and Accidentally On Purpose (7.89m/2.9). Then, up with 2 ½ Men (14.44m/4.6) and Big Bang Theory (12.8m/4.7). At 10:00 is where the real magic started.

The big crossover CSI event led to gains for Miami (14.38m/4), NY (14.51m/3.8), and the OG CSI (17.38m/4.1). He didn’t get to be part of the big event, but Gibbs and the crew at NCIS (20.96m/4.4) easily returned to the top of the Tuesday pyramid. That was good news for NCIS: LA (16.23m/3.7) and The Good Wife (13.35m/2.8) as well. Old Christine (7.19m/2.1) and Gary Unmarried (7.3m/2.4) were both up on Wednesday, despite that CMA increase at ABC. Criminal Minds (12.77m/3.4) was solid. Although, that demo battle with Glee could prove very interesting.

Thursday, as with CSI, Survivor (12.94m/4) was up too. The Mentalist (16.17m/3.6) was off a bit in viewers, but is still having a very good second season. And Friday was another easy win for the night by Ghost Whisperer (8.01m/2), Medium (8.16m/1.9), and Numb3rs (8.16m/1.8).

NBC – The return of Sunday Night Football (21.88m/8.5) was certainly welcome. Hopefully, it softened the blow of another series low for Heroes (5.26m/2.3), and the further struggles of Trauma (5.35m/1.8). The Biggest Loser (9.65m/3.8) remains a success on Tuesday. Mercy (6.68m/1.7), on the other hand, can only claim that it is an improvement over the Knight Rider numbers. L&O: SVU (8.77m/2.8) remains a mystery. That was good for fourth place, again, but it is headed in the right direction. And that 2.8 demo is starting to look really good given the rest of the NBC schedule.

Thursday was more of the same as Community (5.09m/2.1) and Parks & Recreation (4.58m/2.1) again fell short of the Kath & Kim bar (11/06: 5.57m/2.4). By comparison, things look pretty good for The Office (8.05m/4.2) and 30 Rock (6m/3). Law & Order (7.5m/1.7) finished things up on Friday.

CW - The week got off to a very good start as One Tree Hill (2.67m/1.3), Gossip Girl (2.37m/1.3), and 90210 (2.06m/1.2) all saw gains. That was the highest rated Gossip Girl since the season premiere. Things didn’t go so well for Melrose Place (1.28m/.7). It would seem that the network is just waiting to see what difference Heather Locklear makes before pulling the plug.

Next Top Model (3.2m/1.5) was again nipping at NBC’s heels in the demo on Wednesday. As was Vampire Diaries (4.1m/1.9) on Thursday. Supernatural (2.69m/1.3) was on par as well. Finally, Smallville (2.7m/1.2) continued to defy the odds on Friday, drawing more viewers than OTH, GG, 90210, Melrose, and Supernatural.

Cable - It’s probably way too early for the folks down at Stargate HQ to be getting nervous, but concern might be in order. Friday 11/06 found the Universe dropping again, to (1.63m/.7). That didn’t do any favors for Sanctuary (1.42m/.5). It will be very interesting to see where the show levels out. Over at USA, White Collar (3.85m/.9) continues to search for a level as well. Other cable numbers to consider:

Mad Men (2.32m/.8)
Dexter (1.76m/.9)
Lincoln Heights (1.03m/.4)
Sons Of Anarchy (3.83m/1.9)
Nip/Tuck (1.75m/.9)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (.98m/.3)
Bored To Death (.63m/.3)
Californication (.76m/.4)
Rita Rocks (.48m/.2)
South Park (2.78m/1.5)
Secret Girlfriend (1.19m/.6)
It’s Always Sunny (1.87m/1.2)
The League (1.03m/.6)
Monday Night Football (16m/6.5)
The Hills (2.1m/1.3)
Top Chef (3.02m/1.7)
Mythbusters (2.13m/.9)
Ghost Hunters (2.91m/1.4)
Ghost Hunters Academy (2.07m/.9)
Project Runway (3.13m/1.4)
Keeping Up With The Kardashians (3.17m/1.7)

Photo Credit: FOX

Castle – That was so awesome

Brett Love — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:22 +0000

Actually, the episode wasn’t so awesome. It was solid. Another interesting case for the team, and another chance for Castle to prove his worth. Captain Montgomery even had a little more to do this week. With that line though, and particularly the delivery of it, I realized exactly what it is that keeps me coming back week after week. As great as Beckett and the rest of the team are, it really is all about Castle.

There really wasn’t anything groundbreaking about the mystery of the week here. If you have been watching crime-time for any length of time, you have no doubt seen this story many times before. The rich family covering up a murder. Even the angle with the victim being Blake Wellsley’s daughter didn’t come as a shock. The closest thing to a surprise was that they hired Gregg Henry, and his character didn’t do it. It’s hard to put a new spin on the traditional stories.

Where Castle succeeds while treading those familiar grounds is in the writing of Castle, and the performance of Nathan Fillion. He really is well cast here. And those moments, like tonight, where he sits quietly by, observing something big and then reacting, are what really sell it. When he popped up after Montgomery shot down Blake’s proposal with, “That was so awesome!”, it really was. Both from the standpoint of the case, and the episode we were all watching. He’s as giddy about what he just saw from Montgomery as I am about what I saw from Castle.

If not for Castle, and all the peculiar charms he brings to the show, I could very easily dismiss this one and go about watching something else on Monday nights. I still have a Canadian speed-skating event on the DVR from the weekend, after all. And you know what that means … Catriona Le May Doan! As long as Castle keeps being Castle though, I’ll keep tuning in.

Photo Credit: ABC

Ratings Clack – V gets off to a great start

Brett Love — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:30:08 +0000

The World Series was the big ratings winner last week, but with New York involved, everyone kind of expected that, right? What nobody expected — most notably ABC — was the success of the V premiere. The numbers weren’t just good. It was the highest rated scripted program on the network, topping the Housewives and Grey’s. Even better, the V demo rating was the highest for a scripted show on any of the networks. Someone at ABC has to be kicking themselves for only ordering four episodes of V, while they continue to crank out more Hanks than they know what to do with.

ABC – It was the big show for the week, so we’ll start with the V (14.3m/5.2) premiere on Tuesday. Even more impressive, it did that against Biggest Loser and NCIS. Not an easy timeslot. That was obviously unexpected, or production wouldn’t have been cut to 4, for now. It makes the results of episode two very interesting. How much of that audience will be back for more? That huge leap in the 8 o’clock hour didn’t do anything for the rest of the night. The Dancing With The Stars results show (15.05m/3.1) was up just a tenth in the demo, and The Forgotten (7.27m/1.9) actually managed to lose a million viewers week-to-week.

Earlier in the week, things were pretty standard on Sunday with Extreme Makeover (10.75m/3.3), Desperate Housewives (14.08m/5), and Brothers & Sisters (9.02m/3.3). Monday, Dancing With The Stars (16.69m/3.4) and Castle (9.43m/2.4) were both off just a bit, but we’ll chalk that up to baseball. Wednesday remains a mixed bag as Hank (5.09m/1.3), The Middle (6.04m/1.8), and Eastwick (4.44m/1.5) all continue to struggle. Modern Family (8.77m/3.5) and Cougar Town (6.87m/2.8) do like solid performers, however.

FlashForward (8.57m/2.6) makes Thursday interesting. It continues to drop, and you have to wonder if the audience is just giving up on it already. It long ago lost track of Survivor, and this week was also topped by Bones. Grey’s Anatomy (13.95m/5.1) and Private Practice (9.11m/3.4) remain a successful pairing. Friday, Ugly Betty (4.76m/1.3) remained steady, but the big surprise was from the Rihana episode of 20/20 (8.18m/2.7).

CBS - It was, for the most part, another very solid week. Sunday was steady, with Amazing Race (11.22m/3.3), Three Rivers (7.7m/1.6), and Cold Case (9.02m/1.7). Of course, that steady means that Three Rivers remains a disappointment and its future prospects are not good. Monday was also solid with How I Met Your Mother (8.82m/3.5), Accidentally On Purpose (8.09m/3.1), 2 ½ Men (13.51m/4.4), Big Bang Theory (12.73m/4.7), and CSI: Miami (12.52m/3.6). Those numbers are off a bit, but we’ll give them a World Series pass as well.

Tuesday, that giant V premiere didn’t do much to slow down the NCIS (20.18m/4.3) juggernaut. NCIS:LA (15.29m/3.6) and The Good Wife (12.74m/2.7) were also on par. Wednesday brought a slightly baseball-weakened combination of Old Christine (6.68m/2), Gary Unmarried (6.29m/2), Criminal Minds (12.55m/3.4), and CSI:NY (12m/2.8).

Thursday, Survivor (12.44m/3.7) is again firmly in control of the hour. More interesting, The Mentalist (16.21m/3.6) topped CSI (15.6m/3.5) in both measures again. The troubling bit came on Friday, as Ghost Whisperer (7.93m/1.8) and Medium (7.58m/1.8) both lost to Law & Order, while Numb3rs (8.09m/1.8) was beaten by 20/20. I can’t remember the last time CBS was beaten in all three Friday hours while running all new episodes.

FOX - The World Series was the story last week. Games on Sunday (22.76m/7.8), Monday (17.09m/5.3), and Wednesday (22.34m/7.4) all did extremely well. So You Think You Can Dance (6.12m/2.4) held down the fort on Tuesday, and Bones (8.66m/2.6) and Fringe (4.86m/1.7) were back on Thursday. Bones moved to #2 in the hour, while Fringe remains a distant fourth.

The quick reaction is to blame the time slot, but compare it to what So You Think You Can Dance is up against on Tuesday at 8. ABC gains 5.73m/2.6. NBC gains 3.93m/2. CBS gains 7.74m/.6. That’s 17.3 million more viewers, and 5.2 more demo points facing SYTYCD, and it still outperformed Fringe. There is also the argument that because World Series Game 7 was scheduled Thursday, people didn’t know it was on. Unfortunately, that doesn’t explain the fact that Bones still managed 8.6 million viewers, or all those other weeks of subpar Fringe numbers. And in case you were wondering, House and Bones repeats on Friday again topped the Brothers, Til Death, and Dollhouse numbers.

NBC - With no football in prime time this week, the big success actually came on Friday. Law & Order is finally showing a little life, with episodes at 8 (7.99m/1.8) and 9 (8.41m/1.9) both winning their hours. Earlier in the week, it was more of the same on Monday from Heroes (5.86m/2.5) and Trauma (5.82m/1.9). The Biggest Loser (9.11m/3.5) remains a solid hit on Tuesday. Wednesday, Mercy (6.63m/1.7) and SVU (7.95m/2.4) were off, but it was the final game of the World Series, so let’s wait and see.

Thursday, Community (5.45m/2.3) and Parks & Recreation (4.91m/2.2) were both up. However, they do both remain below what Kath & Kim (5.57m/2.4) were doing at this time last year. The Office (8.09m/4.1) and 30 Rock (6.15m/3) continue along the same path. Leno had another rough week, falling below 4 million viewers once, and below 1.5 in the demo three times. I’m starting to think that Leno one night a week might not be a bad idea. Give him the post Biggest Loser slot, and return scripted to the other four hours. The numbers:

Monday: 3.92m/1.2
Tuesday: 5.96m/2
Wednesday: 4.81m/1.4
Thursday: 4.83m/1.6
Friday: 4.6m/1.2

CW - Nothing too exciting to report this week. One Tree Hill (2.32m/1.1) and Gossip Girl (1.98m/1) look to have taken a small hit from baseball. 90210 (1.92m/1) and Melrose Place (1.48m/.8) continue to struggle as we all wait to see what Heather Locklear will do to the Melrose numbers. Next Top Model (3.87m/1.7) was up, despite baseball. Thursday remains the strongest night of the week with Vampire Diaries (4.09m/1.9) and Supernatural (2.65m/1.2). And Smallville (2.76m/1.2) continues to grow.

CABLE - Not a lot to yell about on cable this week either. It is worth noting that the second episode of White Collar (5.075m/1.2), from 10/30, held up very well. It looks like USA has found a few more characters. Stargate Universe (1.97m/.8), from the same night, found itself falling below the 2 million viewer mark. Sanctuary (1.6m/.5) and Monk (4.69m/1) were fairly steady. Some other numbers:

Mad Men (1.78m/.7)
Dexter (1.88m/.9)
Lincoln Heights (1.11m/.3)
Greek (.66m/.3)
Sons Of Anarchy (3.52m/1.8)
Nip/Tuck (2.17m/1.1)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (.98m/.4)
Bored To Death (.72m/.4)
Californication (.82m/.4)
South Park (2.82m/1.5)
It’s Always Sunny (1.99m/1.3)
The League (1.41m/.9)
Monday Night Football (12.37m/5.1)
Kate: Her Story (3.79m/1.7)
The Hills (1.99m/1.2)
Mythbusters (1.82m/.8)
Ghost Hunters (2.73m/1.3)

Photo Credit: ABC

Castle – Here Kitty Kitty

Brett Love — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:18:07 +0000

After last week’s Halloween extravaganza, this week Castle took a turn for the musical with “Famous Last Words.” What it lacked in flashback costuming shenanigans, it made up for with a very clever plot that let the Castle family take the lead in the crime solving. Castle has always been helpful to Beckett and her team (mostly), but this is the first time that the team got it completely wrong. And with an assist from Alexis, Castle saved the day.

There was a lot to like about this case from the start. Hailey’s (Erin Foster) body left mimicking a scene from a music video was a good start, and did well pointing the finger at Franco, the stalker. What really sold me right away on the case though, was the appearance of Alexis at the squad room, and the way Beckett was willing to take advantage of her particular expertise.

I was suspicious of the new managers, the Busches, right away. But the various twists and turns did a nice job presenting a believable list of alternate suspects. I didn’t finally settle on Ian (Robert Curtis Brown) until they went to the big wrap-up scene all too quickly. They certainly did an admirable job of trying to sell it. Castle and Alexis having their little heart-to-heart really did feel like the close of the episode. But there was just too much time left to go. That, and Bree’s (Anne Ramsay) protestations, sealed the deal.

More interesting than the result though, was how they got to it. Everyone at the station seemed satisfied with Bree as the killer, and Ian was going to get away with it. If not for Castle, Beckett would have nabbed the wrong person. That fact is something that goes a long way in justifying his position with the department. Friends with the mayor is one thing, but actually cracking cases is something completely different. All things considered, I’d call it another solid entry in the Castle story.

Photo Credit: ABC

Ratings Clack – The Mentalist knocks off CSI

Brett Love — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:00:29 +0000

A combination of baseball and pre-sweeps repeats made for a bit of an odd week. Repeats don’t mean there aren’t numbers of note however. We had Jay Leno’s first shot against CSI: Miami and NY repeats, and a look at what running repeats on Friday does for FOX. That is, nothing good for Dollhouse season 3. Also interesting this week — The Mentalist finally topped CSI in viewers and the demo, and even a repeat Gibbs appearance is worth 16 million viewers.

FOX - Having the baseball playoffs paid off big for the network when NY joined the party. The three contests last week included ALCS Game 6 (15.48m/5.2) on Sunday, and World Series Game 1 (19.51m/6.3) and Game 2 (18.9m/5.8) on Wednesday and Thursday. Needless to say, those were some serious gains over the usual occupants.

Elsewhere, So You Think You Can Dance (5.85m/2.6) was well off the usual House number in it’s one-time stop on Monday. On a brighter note, with CBS in repeats, it still finished #2 in the hour. Lie To Me (6.33m/2.4) struggled without the House lead in. There were similar numbers for the first SYTYCD competition episode (6.47m/2.5) on Tuesday. The only other number of note came from the House (3.4m/1.1) repeat on Friday, which topped the usual Brothers, Til Death, and Dollhouse combination.

ABC - The week got off to a steady start with Sunday’s Extreme Makeover (10.59m/3), Desperate Housewives (14.18m/4.7), and Brothers & Sisters (9.97m/3.3). On Monday, Dancing With The Stars (17.38m/3.6) was steady in the demo. That’s positive news for Castle (9.99m/2.5), which was up a tenth. There were more gains on Tuesday, as Charlie Brown (8.8m/2.8) easily bested the usual performance of Shark Tank. DWTS (15.2m/3) was down in the demo over the previous week, but The Forgotten (8.26m/2) still managed to grow.

Charlie Brown (6m/2) also proved to be an improvement over Hank on Wednesday. The rest of the night, including The Middle (6.49m/2.2), Modern Family (9.33m/3.7), Cougar Town (7.54m/3.2), and Eastwick (5.02m/1.8), was up as well. Less exciting, FlashForward (8.92m/2.7) managed to find series lows on Thursday. Grey’s Anatomy (13.74m/5.2) was down week-to-week, but still the highest rated scripted program for the night. Private Practice (9.16m/3.6) continues to hold up well. Friday, Ugly Betty (4.5m/1.2) was steady, if not impressive.

CBS - The week started with a reasonably steady full slate on Sunday, featuring Amazing Race (11.22m/3.4), Three Rivers (7.78m/1.7), and Cold Case (9.3m/1.8). Then, there were a whole lot of repeats as the network took Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off. Of note among those was the Monday 9-10 comedy block winning the hour in the demo. Tuesday, NCIS (16.7m/3.3) was the most watched show of the night. And CSI: Miami and NY both won their hours outright.

New programming picked back up Thursday with Survivor (12.19m/3.7), CSI (15.24m/3.4), and The Mentalist (15.53m/3.6). That is of particular note, given that it’s the first time The Mentalist has beaten CSI in viewers and demo this season. Friday was down week-to-week, but the network still won all three hours with Ghost Whisperer (8.28m/2), Medium (7.69m/1.8), and Numb3rs (7.74m/1.8).

NBC – It was, for the most part, a fairly steady week. Sunday Night Football (14.98m/5.9) was off a bit facing baseball, but still a huge winner for the network. Heroes (5.72m/2.5) was right on pace with last week. Oddly enough, Trauma (5.78m/1.9) was actually up for the week in which it was canceled. The Biggest Loser (9.67m/3.7) continued to cruise on Tuesday. And NBC got an animation boost of their own as Monsters vs Aliens (6.24m/2.2) improved on the Mercy demo on Wednesday.

Law & Order SVU (8.24m/2.8) was down in viewers, despite the Criminal Minds repeat. I suppose we can chalk that up to baseball. Thursday, Community (5.32m/2.1) was the only show that was actually up week-to-week. Parks & Recreation (4.8m/2), The Office (8.21m/4.2), and 30 Rock (6.1m/3.1) were all down, but close enough to expected averages. Friday, Law & Order (7m/1.4) continued to struggle.

Leno didn’t have a good week. Before the premiere, one of the network’s talking points was that while the show will get beat by originals, wait until it airs against repeats. We’ve seen what that looks like, and it’s not good news for Jay. Not only is Leno still being beaten by repeats, the numbers are still dropping. This week, Leno against a repeat CSI:Miami finished below Leno against a new CSI:Miami last week. Friday also brought the lowest demo in the series.

Mon – 4.74m/1.3
Tue – 6.06m/1.8
Wed – 5.03m/1.5
Thu – 4.41m/1.5
Fri – 5.14m/1.2

CW - The little network had a very good week. They took Tuesday off, but the other four nights were all up over the previous week. One Tree Hill (2.67m/1.3) and Gossip Girl (2.31m/1.2) took advantage of the missing House and repeat comedies. Next Top Model (3.51m/1.6) actually faced much stiffer competition with World Series Game 1, but looks to have gained some of those displaced SYTYCD viewers. Vampire Diaries (4.18m/2) and Supernatural (2.92m/1.4) were at the highest levels we’ve seen since the premiere. Smallville (2.6m/1.2) wrapped the winning week on Friday.

CABLE – The shine has worn off The Jeff Dunham Show (2.33m/1) rather quickly, as week two had less than half the viewers of week one. The other notable bit from the cable world was the premiere of FX’s new comedy, The League (.99m/.6), which is much better than its ratings might lead you to believe.

From the previous Friday, 10/23, here are a few of the cable numbers:

Stargate: Universe (2.02m/.8)
Sanctuary (1.69m/.5)
Monk (5.42m/1.5)
White Collar (5.4m/1.4)
Wizards of Waverly Place (4.39m/.8)

And from the week just completed:

Mad Men (1.72m/.6)
Dexter (1.68m/.8)
Greek (.77m/.4)
Sons Of Anarchy (3.39m/1.8)
Nip/Tuck (2.2m/1.1)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (1.05m/.4)
Californication (.77m/.4)
Bored To Death (.65m/.3)
South Park (2.57m/1.3)
Secret Girlfriend (1.38m/.7)
It’s Always Sunny (1.35m/.8)
Top Chef (3.04m/1.7)
Project Runway (3.24m/1.4)
The Hills (2.05m/1.2)
Dirty Jobs (2.31m/.9)
Mythbusters (2.56m/1)
Ghost Hunters (3.06m/1.4)

Photo Credit: CBS

And the Firefly Easter egg on Castle is …

Keith McDuffee — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:56:38 +0000

… a catalyzer!

“Wait, a what?” For anyone who’s up on their Firefly lore, a catalyzer is that critical piece of equipment that a Firefly-class ship needs in order to function … pretty much at all. You probably would remember this piece best from the awesome Firefly episode “Out of Gas“, being the piece that Mal needs to replace in order to get Serenity working again and able to call back his crew.

For those of you who don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, read on.

Nathan Fillion had mentioned via Twitter that he placed a Firefly “Easter egg” on the set of his show Castle, later saying that we should look for it no sooner than this past week’s Halloween episode. Days later, it seems someone’s found it.

First, here’s a decent image of a catalyzer from Firefly, so you can get some idea of what one looks like:

Pretty unremarkable, right? Well, “it’s a nuthin’ part ’til ya need one.” According to Nathan Fillion via Twitter, fellow Twitterer @andreajean915 was one of the first with keen enough eyes to have found the item sitting on a shelf in Castle’s home, as pictured and circled above. This is from about the 15-second mark of the episode.

To the left is a close-up of the catalyzer in that image. Even in close-up and lightened up a bit, I’ve got to give mad props to Andrea for figuring it out.

Whether the catalyzer will remain a part of the Castle set from now on isn’t known, but it sure would be damn cool for it to stick around. Who knows, maybe soon enough we’ll see the call-back button from “Out of Gas” appear … and Castle will press it.

Photo Credit: ABC; WB

Castle – There are no cows in space

Brett Love — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:23:41 +0000

Halloween really lends itself well to the Castle style, and the writers really pulled out all the stops when given the chance to run with it. The big surprise of Nathan Fillion in his Mal costume from Firefly was given away long ago, but it was still great to see. As a bonus, it wasn’t just Castle wearing the costume. That was a full on Mal entrance he made … before being shot down by Alexis. She even got the line of the night when she asked, “Didn’t you wear that like five years ago?”

Getting to the case, it wasn’t quite as crazy as “Fool Me Once“, but it was in the ballpark. Moving from the fangs, to the coffin, to Morlock, to the werewolf … I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear a “Best.Case.Ever.” from someone. The mystery of it was actually pretty good as well. We certainly had a nice selection of suspects to choose from. I decided on the wife, Janice (Anita Barone) about two minutes before Castle figured it out. Once Beckett revealed that she was the nanny, previous to the murder of the wife, it all made too much sense.

Getting to that point, they got a lot of great mileage out of the vampire underground. When they discovered Morlock’s lair, of course there was a coffin. And Castle’s reaction to opening that coffin was perfect. As was his reaction to the attack that followed. They really went all out with Morlock, didn’t they? That’s a scary looking dude. I thought Vixen was going to make something of a return at the end, in the form of Beckett’s costume for the party. Alas, that didn’t pan out, but the alien jumping out of her chest was still a great gag.

Of course, the case was only part of the story. Once again we were treated to another good story with Castle and Alexis at home. The show really does that relationship well. There’s genuine concern from Castle for her safety. And while he does err on the side of being the “fun parent” most of the time, he does put his foot down when he needs to. It does help that he’s blessed with the best kid ever, I suppose. Still, the show never misses anything by pausing to give some time to the two of them.

One final thing. So much was made of Fillion dusting off the browncoat, but he wasn’t the only one recalling past roles. I can’t be the only one that watched Seamus Dever as the diabolical Dr. Devlin on General Hospital? Jon Huertas got into it as well, as a soldier, ala Generation Kill. I guess recalling his time on The Joe Schmo Show would have been too inside baseball. It all made for another very fun episode. I’m thrilled that we will be getting a full season of this.

Photo Credit: ABC

Ratings Clack – Smallville continues to defy the odds

Brett Love — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:00:19 +0000

We do often get caught up in the big numbers from the big networks. It is, after all, hard to overlook the fact that NCIS is still growing its audience in the 7th season. There are still some very interesting stories happening on the little network, CW. When it was announced that Vampire Diaries would be paired with Supernatural, while Smallville was shuffled off to Friday, many people expected that was the end.

The show wouldn’t be able to come back from a year grinding away on Friday nights. After a few weeks looking at the numbers though, that’s not the case at all. Clark and the gang can celebrate good times, despite taking a hit from the move. In fact, this week Smallville topped new episodes of One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, 90210, and Melrose Place. It’s far from done. Elsewhere, we had our first sizable crop of repeats this week, which brought some interesting results.

CW – With Smallville getting the lead, we’ll start with CW this week. The week got off to a slow start with One Tree Hill (2.21m/1) and Gossip Girl (1.98m/1.1) both down. Things picked up, if you can call it that, on Tuesday with 90210 (2.25m/1.1) remaining steady and Melrose Place (1.5m/.7) gaining in viewers. Next Top Model (2.99m/1.4) was steady as well. Vampire Diaries (2.27m/.9) and Supernatural (1.83m/.8) were repeats, but it is worth noting given that the Vampire Diaries repeat had more viewers than all of the Monday and Tuesday originals. Smallville (2.52m/1.1) closed out the week with the best performance for a scripted show on the network, and also managed to finish tied for third in the demo on the night.

ABC – It was something of an uneventful week for the network. Sunday’s performance was steady with Extreme Makeover (10.33m/3), Desperate Housewives (13.68m/4.6), and Brothers & Sisters (9.72m/3.2). Likewise, Monday finished very much like the previous week with Dancing With The Stars (16.82m/3.6) and Castle (9.69m/2.4). It is worth noting that the Castle numbers have been good enough that the network has picked up the back 9.

Things started to change on Tuesday, as Shark Tank (5.92m/1.8) and DWTS Results (14.92m/3.4) both saw gains. Unfortunately, that didn’t do anything for The Forgotten (7.3m/1.9), which slipped to the lowest numbers of the season. Those 10PM struggles were repeated on Wednesday, with Eastwick (4.78m/1.6) also finding new lows. That came on the heels of a night of comedy that was down across the board with Hank (5.78m/1.5), The Middle (6.53m/2), Modern Family (8.66m/3.4), and Cougar Town (7.31m/3.1). Things really don’t look good for Hank.

There were more changes on Thursday, although they really weren’t that surprising. FlashForward (9.87m/3.1) gained in viewers while holding steady in the demo. Grey’s Anatomy (15.06m/5.3), on the other hand, posted big week-to-week gains. Of course, that was against a repeat CSI. Surprisingly though, it didn’t translate into gains for Private Practice (9.93m/3.7). The show was down without the crossover element, despite facing a repeat Mentalist. Friday, Supernanny (4.7m/1.1) returned above the year ago premiere, and Ugly Betty (4.55m/1.2) limped to a third place finish in the hour.

CBS - The week started off with shenanigans as the football overrun bumped Cold Case for the night. Amazing Race (10.92m/3.3) and Three Rivers (7.38m/1.9) didn’t see any benefit from that. Monday was mostly par for the course, with one notable exception. Accidentally On Purpose (8.25m/3.3) actually beat How I Met Your Mother (8.07m/3.4) in viewers. Did anyone see that coming? Later, the duo of 2 ½ Men (14.07m/4.8) and Big Bang Theory (13.47m/5.3) continued to dominate the 9PM hour. CSI: Miami (13.16m/3.9) finished the night on a winning note.

Tuesday was up across the board, on the back of NCIS (21.25m/4.7) continuing to impress. That led to good things for NCIS:LA (16.48m/3.9) and The Good Wife (13.26m/2.8). Wednesday remained steady. Old Christine (6.58m/2) and Gary Unmarried (6.76m/2.2) seem to have fought off the ABC comedies, while Criminal Minds (14.27m/3.8) and CSI:NY (13m/3) easily win their hours. Survivor (12.9m/4) was the lone new entry on Thursday, but it is worth noting that The Mentalist (11.79m/2.8) beat CSI (10.14m/2.2) in repeats. Friday was again an easy victory for Ghost Whisperer (8.46m/2.1), Medium (8.43m/2.2), and Numb3rs (8.05m/1.8).

NBC - Overall, it was actually a good week for NBC, relatively speaking. Sunday Night Football (18.17m/7.2) continues to be huge. And Heroes (5.72m/2.5) was actually up. With Mercy (7.18m/1.9) getting a full season, things don’t look good for Trauma (5.46m/1.8). Tuesday, The Biggest Loser (9.82m/3.9) was also up. There were more gains to be had on Wednesday, as L&O: SVU (9.15m/2.8) continued to grow. There is still the very real possibility that it could compete with Criminal Minds in the demo by the end of the season.

Thursday continues to be a mixed bag. Technically, Community (5.04m/1.9) and Parks & Recreation (4.93m/2.1) had the 8PM hour up over last week. But really, if Kath & Kim are looking down at your numbers, that’s really bad. The Office (8.73m/4.4) and 30 Rock (6.84m/3.3) took advantage of the CSI vacation. Friday, Law & Order (7.17m/1.5) continued to struggle, while Dateline (7.91m/1.8) continued to make the case for canceling Southland.

Leno… didn’t have a good week.The numbers continue to shrink, slowly. Two nights below five million, and two below 1.5 in the demo. Most troubling might be the fact that despite nice gains from The Office and 30 Rock on Thursday, and facing a repeat Mentalist, Leno was actually down.

Mon – 4.74m/1.4
Tue – 5.46m/1.8
Wed – 5.14m/1.5
Thu – 4.97m/1.6
Fri – 6.15m/1.4

FOX - The week started off with one of the most interesting repeats of the week. An old Family Guy (8.13m/4.2) was stuffed in with new episodes from The Simpsons (8.69m/4.1), Cleveland (7.62m/3.8), American Dad (6.25m/3.1) but still managed to be the highest rated. Monday, being pushed back by baseball didn’t do any favors for House (11.65m/4.4) and Lie To Me (7.79m/2.9). The news was better from baseball (10.3m/3.4) on Tuesday. Wednesday, So You Think You Can Dance (6.91m/2.6) and Glee (7.15m/3.3) were steady. I’m curious to see what happens as SYTYCD gets into the competition.

Baseball (11.85m/3.7) returned Thursday, offering a boost to the usual numbers. Friday was more of the same. The only semi-surprise was that Til Death (1.97m/.7) managed to fall below 2 million viewers. Yikes. It’s pretty bad when you lose viewers from Brothers (2.35m/.8). Dollhouse (2.15m/.8) slipped again, marking its second worse performance ever.

Cable – Ryan asked for numbers from Stargate: Universe and Sanctuary last week. I don’t usually include them because unless Syfy sees fit to issue a press release over the weekend, the post is up before they come out. So, the next best thing is week old numbers. For the 10/16 broadcasts the numbers were Stargate: Universe (2.1m/.9) and Sanctuary (1.77m/.6). That same night, USA had Monk (3.98m/1) and Psych (3.68m/1.2). The interesting premiere this week was The Jeff Dunham Show (5.34m/2.2). That’s impressive, given the overwhelming hatred of the show from critics. It’s also worth noting that Sons Of Anarchy (3.7m/2) beat both Leno and The Forgotten in the demo. Other interesting cable numbers for the past week:

Monday Night Football (13.47m/5.5)
Hannah Montana (5.72m/1)
Mad Men (1.61m/.5)
Dexter (1.51m/.7)
Californication (.77m/.3)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (1.08m/.5)
Bored To Death (.66m/.3)
Project Runway (3.02m/1.3)
Real Housewives Of Atlanta (2.97m/1.6)
It’s Always Sunny (1.52m/.9)
Lincoln Heights (.92m/.2)
Greek (.68m/.3)
The Hills (1.83m/1.1)
Dirty Jobs (1.86m/.9)
Mythbusters (2.28m/1)
Top Chef (2.86m/1.5)
South Park (2.58m/1.4)
Secret Girlfriend (1.29m/.6)
Nip/Tuck (2.23m/1.2)
Ghost Hunters (3.07m/1.4)

Photo Credit: The CW

Castle – Hey, it’s Nikki Heat!

Brett Love — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:51:53 +0000

We lead off this week’s post with that line from the book party, because that really was the best bit of the episode. Not the book party in and of itself, mind you, but Castle and Beckett and their back and forth over whether or not there would be a Nikki Heat sequel. It’s actually a very good sign for the show. Despite the fact that “When The Bough Breaks” was far from the show’s most interesting case, the Castle/Beckett dynamic still made for a very good episode.

Starting with the case … this one was just OK for me. Much of the start of it just felt like going through the cop show motions, checking off the boxes. It did redeem itself somewhat at the end with the baby-switch surprise, but it’s still not going to be marked down as a favorite when I look back on the season. I do give bonus points for the casting of Reed Diamond (Dollhouse) and Elaine Hendrix (Roxy Wasserman!). And, it really did end on a very nice note with Hajek (Ivo Nandi) meeting his son for the first time as Melissa asked about her son. Overall though … good, but not great. And you know what? That’s OK.

Because … as we’ve all learned by now, Castle isn’t just your run of the mill cop show. The real fun is to be had in the relationship between Castle and Beckett. The introduction of the chance for Castle to get a gig writing three novels, for a series featuring a certain British secret agent, laid the groundwork for some very fun back and forth. Of course, we all knew that somehow, some way, Castle would end up working on the next Nikki Heat. Despite that, though, it was still awfully fun watching the two of them figure it out.

My favorite bit of it was the confrontation at the party for Heat Wave. It was clear that they both want Castle to stay around, even if neither of them will admit it. But the argument that somehow grew out of that shared desire, headed in the exact opposite direction, was what is becoming a classic Castle/Beckett spat. Appointing myself referee, I’ve decided that this round goes to Miss Beckett for the line, “There’s plenty to the character. She just needs a better writer.” Well played.

The payoff was also done very well, with the dueling phone calls. The exchanged looks between the two as they both figured out what was going on, and what it meant for their immediate futures, were perfect. We’re still a long way from seeing either of them admit what it is they are really after here, but the “Are you coming?” at the end at least hints at progress being made.

If I have one complaint, it also comes from the book party. You know how they say the camera adds ten pounds? Well, apparently, it adds about 200 pages as well. That is most definitely not the book that you will find for sale at your local shops. Considering how much work they put in to integrating Heat Wave into the show, that surprised me. All things considered, though, still another solid chapter in the Castle saga. Next week? Halloween!

Photo Credit: ABC

Ratings Clack – Where is FlashForward headed?

Brett Love — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 16:00:41 +0000

FlashForward is one of the more interesting shows of the new season where ratings are concerned. On the one hand, so far it has been a huge upgrade for the 8-9 spot on ABC. And while it has been surpassed by Survivor, it does continue to hold off Bones in the demo. On the other hand, the ratings don’t seem to be settled yet, which makes each week a new adventure. This week, the yo-yo headed back up. What will next week bring? One can only guess. I continue to think that it will eventually be passed up by the fiercely loyal Bones audience at some point, finding its place as the number 3 show in the hour. Elsewhere this week, there was good news for Dancing With The Stars, NCIS, Law & Order, So You Think You Can Dance, and Smallville. The news wasn’t so good for Hank, Parks & Recreation, Three Rivers, or Melrose Place.

ABC - Overall, it was a very good week for the network. Sunday was off a bit week-to-week with Extreme Makeover (9.81m/3), Desperate Housewives (13.42m/3.6), and Brothers & Sisters (8.97m/3), but those are still solid numbers. And there were plenty of gains through the rest of the week. Monday, Dancing With The Stars (16.79m/3.6) and Castle (9.77m/2.3) were both up. Tuesday was also up for the night with Shark Tank (5.24m/1.6), DWTS (13.96m/2.9) and The Forgotten (7.43m/2.1). The Forgotten was down in viewers, but up in demo. Wednesday was a bit of a mixed bag with Modern Family (9.35m/3.6) and Cougar Town (7.99m/3.3) both up, while Hank (6.15m/1.6), The Middle (6.77m/2.1), and Eastwick (5.08m/1.7) were all down.

In a bit of oddness, Thursday found FlashForward (9.07m/3.1) and Private Practice (10.36m/3.8) both posting gains while Grey’s Anatomy (13.79m/5) took a bit of a dip. Still, that’s a dip that still left it #1 in the demo for the night. Friday was also up with the premiere of Ugly Betty (5.01m/1.3 – 5.18m/1.3). Of course, that’s well off last season’s Ugly Betty numbers, and up over repeats. I’ve no idea what ABC is expecting from Ugly Betty on the night, but the increased competition should be worrisome for FOX.

CBS - The Tiffany network also had a good week, starting with The Amazing Race (10.52m/3.2). Unfortunately, Phil’s gains didn’t do much for Three Rivers (7.33m/1.7) and Cold Case (7.87m/1.9). Both of those should be considered on the bubble at this point. That was just a temporary setback though, as business picked back up Monday. How I Met Your Mother (8.56m/3.6), Accidentally On Purpose (7.73m/3), 2 ½ Men (14.17m/4.8), and Big Bang Theory (13.07m/5) all bounced back from an off week, gaining in viewers and demo. CSI: Miami (13.27m/4) was off just a bit in viewers, but also up in viewers. That 8-9 hour of comedy continues to be interesting. In moving Big Bang to 9:30, the 8-9 hour is down 1.1 million viewers and 4 tenths in the demo versus last year (Big Bang 9.36m/3.6, HIMYM 9.14m/3.8). Although, to be fair, the 9-10 hour is up 1.4 million viewers and .6 in the demo (2 ½ Men 14.57m/5.3, Worst Week 9.78m/3.3).

Moving on, NCIS (21.04m/4.5) continues to roll. Despite that being up, NCIS:LA (15.38m/3.5) and The Good Wife (12.98m/2.8) were both off week-to-week. The good news though is that they both remain up over last year (Mentalist 14.86m/3.4, Without A Trace 10.99m/2.6). Wednesday also saw gains with Old Christine (6.99m/2.1), Gary Unmarried (6.91m/2.3), and CSI: NY (13.4m/3.2) up in both measurements. Criminal Minds (13.92m/3.8) was off slightly in viewers, but also gained demo.

Thursday saw week-to-week gains across the board with Survivor (11.78m/3.5), CSI (15.38m/3.6), and The Mentalist (15.08m/3.5). It’s interesting to note that The Mentalist is so close to becoming the #1 show for the network on the night. Friday, as usual, was an easy win with Ghost Whisperer (8.21m/2), Medium (8.04m/1.9), and Numb3rs (7.77m/1.8) all holding up well against baseball.

FOX - A bit of a mixed bag of results in a week that was still very good. The Sunday toons, The Simpsons (7.6m/3.7), Cleveland Show (7.87m/3.9), Family Guy (8.97m/4.6), and American Dad (6.75m/3.5) were all down, but still very strong. It’s worth noting that Cleveland is building on the Simpsons audience. Monday was also down, with House (13.49m/5.2) and Lie To Me (7.87m/2.8). Not a worry for House, the #1 demo of the night, but Lie To Me should be better. Tuesday was a great result as Hell’s Kitchen (8.04m/3.8) continues to hold up amazingly well.

The really interesting bit of the week came on Wednesday. So You Think You Can Dance (7.21m/2.8) continues to grow now that the weeks (and weeks) of auditions are over. It’s now #1 in the demo for the hour. That led to a slight boost for Glee (7.65m/3.4) as well. Thursday was more of the same, with Bones (9.59m/2.8) on par, and Fringe (5.78m/2.2) continuing to struggle in the 9PM meat grinder. Friday was way up over the usual schedule with baseball. Sports are iffy for numbers, but the early results say something in the neighborhood of 7.54 million viewers and a 2.4 for the night.

NBC - How NBC did this week really depends on your glass. Is it half full, or half empty? For example, the entire Monday lineup was up in viewers and demo. But then, when you come up to numbers like Heroes (5.55m/2.4), Trauma (5.49m/1.8), and Leno (5.09m/1.6), it’s hard to really celebrate. There were similar results for Mercy (7.37m/1.9), which was up in the demo. As well as Community (5.01m/2) which gained in both over last week. The only really bad news probably comes from Parks & Recreation (4.53m/2). To give an idea of how bad that is, last year at this time Kath & Kim knocked down 6.01 million viewers and a 2.5.

There was good news to be had. As usual, Sunday Night Football (16.02m/6.2) remains a power. The Biggest Loser (9.14m/3.5) was also rather steady. The Office (8.03m/4.1) was down from the big wedding episode, but remains the best rated scripted program on the network. 30 Rock (6.39m/3), given the demo, also had a successful debut. There was also some good news on the Law & Order front. Both SVU (8.77m/2.6) and L&O (7.6m/1.6) remain down year-to-year, but they are also both gaining. That’s a trend worth watching. It could be that as people tire of the new programming, they’ll return to the old standbys.

Leno, overall, had a rough week that ended with his worst showing yet on Friday. The only victory for Leno came on Wednesday, as the show was #2, edging out Eastwick. The numbers:

Monday (5.09m/1.6)
Tuesday (5.77m/1.8)
Wednesday (6.15m/1.8)
Thursday (5.37m/1.8)
Friday (4.97m/1.2)

CW - Count the littlest network as also having a good week. One Tree Hill (2.55m/1.2), Gossip Girl (2.36m/1.2), Vampire Diaries (3.88m/1.8), Supernatural (2.58m/1.2), and Smallville (2.62m/1.1) were all up over last week. 90210 (2.25m/1.1) was off a tenth in demo, but gained viewers. Next Top Model (3m/1.4) was off over the previous week, but remains the #2 show on the network. The only really bad news continues to be Melrose Place (1.38m/.7) which has now fallen well off the pace of Privileged last season.

CABLE - The most intriguing number for me on cable this week was Nip/Tuck (2.92m/1.4). That’s not a bad number, but it’s more interesting in showing just how successful FX is with Sons Of Anarchy (3.31m/1.8). It looks like SAMCRO will be around for awhile. Let’s just hope the writer’s get this whole Oz fascination out of their system sooner, rather than later. Some other cable numbers of note:

Mad Men (1.53m/.6)
Army Wives (3.93m/1.3)
Monday Night Football (13.14m/5.4)
Top Chef (2.67m/1.4)
South Park (2.56m/1.3)
Secret Girlfriend (1.25m/.6)
It’s Always Sunny (1.61m/1)
Project Runway (2.97m/1.3)
Mythbusters (2.69m/1.2)
The Hills (1.72m/1)
Ghost Hunters (2.91m/1.3)
Real Housewives of Atlanta (2.64m/1.4)
Greek (.66m/.3)

Photo Credit: ABC

What happens when shows stop calling to you?

Aryeh S. — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:16:28 +0000

I find myself in an unexpected predicament these days. Or you could call it a perfect storm. But however you want to label it, I’m stuck.

The new fall season has taken me by surprise with a number of additions to the old TiVo season pass list. That on top of my shows that made it past the grim reaper last season, times cable series that tend to be good more often than network offerings … as a result, there are a couple of series that are stacking up on my DVR. Fast.

I’m not surprised that my wife and I have yet to check out this season of Grey’s Anatomy (the wrong one lived over the hiatus!), but Castle? Still haven’t seen the premiere. Law & Order SVU? It was once one of my favorite “me” shows, but now what with having to record it on Saturday nights, plus not being able to watch it around my son … I’m two back with a third coming this weekend.

Criminal Minds? Haven’t seen it since the premiere. Psych? Stacked up. Now I can tell you right now that most of these are just a case of too little time, and nothing will tear me away from them — plus I’m living in a fantasy that says that the Winter Olympics will give me a break from new programming to allow me the time to catch up … because that happens.

But what of Grey’s and SVU, for example? I have reason to be shying away from them both — the former both bored and annoyed me last season, and the latter is a teeny bit too gruesome — so could it just be worth it to scrap them? Don’t we owe it to ourselves to just stick to top-shelf programs during our limited relaxation hours?

My wife is struggling with this very issue, too. Heroes has long been a series that she, like everyone, has complained about. So now we have three episodes — four hours! — of it clogging up our TiVo percent availability. She’s already said to me more than a dozen times: “I’m just going to forget about Heroes” … but it’s still there! Shouldn’t she just let go? What are we holding on to?

How about you? I’m sure there must be plenty of you with episodes backing up, nothing causing you to pause on a show’s grouped listing as you scroll through your DVR’s To Do list searching for something to watch — or for you old-timers, nothing pushing you to pop in that VHS tape full of episodes. Is it time to move on? Is there really something that we’re clinging to by saving them (unless you are consciously doing so)?

So, what do we do? Go with what our minds have clearly been telling us thus far, or with the sentimentality in our hearts? Hit delete, or have a Grey’s Anatomy marathon? Man … how appealing does that sound?

What have you been skipping? What are you doing about it?

Photo Credit: TiVo

Castle – Thai food is pleasing to the tongue

Brett Love — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:10:55 +0000

That line, which Castle used as the code to call in his “CIA guy”, is the perfect example of why “Fool Me Once” was such a great episode. Everything about the case was so random, and off the wall. But even those odd little throw away bits, like the call, were so funny. I had high expectations after seeing the previews last week, and the show lived up to all of them. Possibly even surpassed them. In addition, that great case tied in very nicely with the little drama between Castle and Alexis at home.

So, the case. Where do we start? It was all so confusing, and random. He’s a con man, or not. The father did it, or not. The teacher too? She’s in on it, or not. The CIA? Agent Gray! Castle got conned. He’s not dead? The lazy Susan, or angry beaver. You needed a score card to keep track of all the twists and turns. And every time another popped up and we saw a reaction from Castle (Best. Case. Ever.) or Beckett (I hate this case!), I loved it just a little more.

If I had to pick a favorite bit from the con section, it’s a tossup. The revelation from Elise (Kathleen Rose Perkins) about Fletcher being in the CIA was the moment that really sold the craziness of the case. But Agent Gray (Chet Grissom) was just so unexpected and bizarre. And, bonus TV Trivia, Chet Grissom has done spy work before, appearing in Dollhouse as FBI Guy. Also, Agent Gray could totally be a recurring character.

I did manage to mark Sue (Jennifer Riker) as the accomplice as soon as I saw her. Not from any clues on screen, but because it reminded me of a similar situation from an old NCIS episode. Even considering that though, it all came together to make for my favorite case yet.

Elsewhere, both of the side stories were very good. And both had excellent finishes. Clearly the con was messing with Castle’s head, and had more than a little to do with his freakout over Alexis’s new violin teacher. That also paid off with a very sweet moment at the end. With Beckett, and Heat Wave, you had to know when she headed home early it was to read the book, right? And how great was it seeing Castle appear over the top of the bathroom stall? The perfect way to cap off the story.

At this point, Castle might be the biggest surprise of the season for me. I liked the show in season one, and was always planning on watching it in season two. But it’s quickly become my #1 Monday show, and one of the shows I most look forward to. Things are rolling along very nicely.

[Side note: Did you catch the obscure Firefly reference that Fillion mentioned on Twitter last night? No? See if you can figure it out in the image below. It's definitely there. Hint: Check the image filename.]

Photo Credit: ABC

Ratings Clack – Favre and Baseball create havoc

Brett Love — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:00:43 +0000

It was a strange week for ratings. Brett Favre playing against Green Bay made for a huge Monday Night Football (21.84m/9) audience on ESPN. And then the baseball playoffs ran through the rest of the week, calling a lot of the seemingly odd drops in viewers into question. Despite that increased competition, there was some good news to be had. The Biggest Loser, Bones, The Office, Lie To Me, Castle, and The Simpsons all managed to make gains week-to-week. Dollhouse also got in the game, stopping a four episode streak of series lows. On the other side, it’s starting to look like ER took all of it’s viewers with it when it left. The premiere numbers for Three Rivers were not good, and NBC’s dueling medical dramas continue to struggle.

FOX - Animation Domination got the week off to a great start, with The Simpsons (9.38m/4.4), Cleveland (8.86m/4.4), Family Guy (9.86m/5.1), and American Dad (7.14m/3.6). Food for thought: In the demo, that makes Family Guy the #1 comedy of the week. On Monday, House (13.74m/5.4) looks to have taken a hit from football. The good news though, is that Lie To Me (8.06m/3.1) was up, despite the drop from House.

Tuesday and Wednesday were fairly steady with Hell’s Kitchen (7.43m/3.3), So You Think You Can Dance Tuesday (5.47m/2.5), SYTYCD Wednesday (6.22m/2.5), and Glee (7.28m/3.3). Thursday was another example of just how solid the Bones (10.29m/2.9) audience is. No matter the night, or the competition, it gets its numbers. And it is getting very close to passing up FlashForward in the demo as well. Unfortunately, Bones being up, and the appearance of Nimoy, didn’t help Fringe (5.83m/2.1). For now, let’s blame a special episode of The Office and see what happens next week.

Friday brought very similar results, with Brothers (2.35m/.8), Til Death (2.36m/.8), and Dollhouse (2.25m/1). If your glass is half full, those Dollhouse numbers are a win, because the streak of series lows that stretches back four episodes to last season was ended. If your glass is half empty … it was still the second lowest rated episode the series has had.

CBS - The Amazing Race (9.8m/2.8) was down to start the week, which didn’t offer much help to Three Rivers (8.97m/1.9). That’s really not good for the premiere. Cold Case (10.05m/2.2) was steady, if not impressive. Monday was down across the board with How I Met Your Mother (8.08m/3.4), Accidentally On Purpose (7.16m/2.8), 2 ½ Men (13.3m/4.4), Big Bang Theory (12.52m/4.7), and CSI: Miami (13.43m/3.9). I’m willing to chalk that up to football, but the AOP demo is something to keep an eye on.

Tuesday’s lineup, NCIS (20.7m/4.3), NCIS:LA (16.31m/3.6), and The Good Wife (13.69m/2.9) was also down every hour, but still far and away #1 for the night. There were gains on Wednesday as Old Christine (6.86m/1.9) and Gary Unmarried (6.84m/2.2) were both up. Criminal Minds (14.05m/3.6) and CSI:NY (12.43m/2.9) were both down slightly, but Criminal Minds did take back the number one spot in the demo from ABC.

Thursday was another night of decreases, with Survivor (11.69m/3.4), CSI (14.89m/3.5), and The Mentalist (14.7m/3.3) all down. On the plus side, all were the most watched programs in their slots. Friday was again a cake walk, with Ghost Whisperer (8.6m/2.1) and Medium 8.3m/1.9) up week-to-week. Numb3rs (7.13m/1.6) was slightly down in viewers, but did win the hour.

NBC – As always, Sunday Night Football (18.42m/7.4) is solid. The Biggest Loser (9.25m/3.7) also did well, gaining week-to-week and winning the 9PM hour in the demo. More good news came from the big wedding episode of The Office (9.42m/4.8). That is higher in viewers and demo than every episode from last season. Elsewhere, it was a very NBC week.

Heroes (5.46m/2.4) continues to explore new lows. And that isn’t helping Trauma (5.37m/2.7). Mercy (7.43m/1.8) is doing slightly better, but that’s still not what you would call a real success, given the weak Wednesday competition. Community (4.87m/1.9) made the big move to 8, and managed less viewers than SNL Thursday. It did, at least, provide a boost for Parks & Recreation (4.75m/2.1). Things were slightly brighter for L&O SVU (8.29m/2.6) and Law & Order (7.23m/1.5), but both are not even close to doing what they once did.

Leno? He had a tough week. The numbers continue to slowly grind down to a level, with this week finding two nights dropping below 5 million viewers. Tuesday remains his most successful night. The only nights where he isn’t last in both measures are Tuesday (2nd in demo) and Wednesday (2nd in viewers).

Monday (4.45m/1.5)
Tuesday (6.22m/2.1)
Wednesday (5.72m/1.7)
Thursday (4.84m/1.7)
Friday (5.33m/1.4)

ABC – Things got off to a nice start Sunday as Extreme Makeover (11.63m/3.4), Desperate Housewives (14.64m/5), and Brothers & Sisters (9.46m/3.2) were all up. A return to the 5s in the demo is very encouraging for Desperate Housewives. With Monday, the network started suffering many of the same drops the other networks saw. Dancing With The Stars (16.35m/3.5) was down, but still strong. On the plus side, despite that drop, Castle (9.23m/2.2) was up just a bit.

DWTS (12.42m/2.6) was down on Tuesday as well, while Shark Tank (5.15m/1.5) and The Forgotten (7.55m/1.9) both saw small viewer gains. Wednesday was one of those very curious nights, with Hank (6.45m/1.6), The Middle (6.79m/2.1), Modern Family (8.82m/3.4), Cougar Town (7.84m/3.2), and Eastwick (5.14m/1.8) all suffering large losses. We’ll have to wait for next week to see how much of that sticks. The best news there is probably for Castle, which is now well above The Forgotten and Eastwick.

Thursday remains a strong night for the network with FlashForward (9m/3), Grey’s Anatomy (14.13m/5.4), and Private Practice (9.5m/3.6). Those numbers still have FlashForward ahead of where Ugly Betty was last season, but it has now fallen to third in viewers and second in the demo. It will be interesting to see where it plateaus. Private Practice is notable because it remains ahead of The Mentalist in the demo, which is an unexpected win.

CW - One Tree Hill (2.13m/1.1), Gossip Girl (2.08m/1.1), and 90210 (2.09m/1.2) were all down in viewers this week, with 90210 gaining a tenth in demo. Melrose Place (1.6m/.9), on the other hand, was up in both measures. I believe the gains come from starting the episode with Katie Cassidy in her underthings, and look forward to the network taking that into account as they film new episodes.

With Next Top Model (3.15m/1.5), Wednesday was down just a touch in viewers, and up a whole bunch in WTF? Seriously, why is there a repeat of Melrose following the number two show on the network? The spot is open, and Smallville would obviously do better Wednesday at 9. Thursday, Vampire Diaries (3.52m/1.7) continues to lead the network, and Supernatural (2.47m/1.2) had a small drop in viewers. Friday, Smallville (2.3m/1) was down year to year, but still managed more viewers than OTH, GG, 90210, and MP.

Cable - Monday Night Football (21.84m/9) took full advantage of all of the Favre craziness, topping everything on the broadcast networks for the week in viewers and demo. Other highlights this week included the Entourage finale (2.49m/1.5), Sons Of Anarchy (3.67m/2), and Project Runway (3.22m/1.5). Also of note, the Seinfeld reunion was able to add an extra half million viewers to Curb Your Enthusiasm (1.56m/.7). In really crazy drop numbers, remember that Jon & Kate premiere with 10 million viewers? All of their shenanigans have resulted in the latest episode managing just 1.71 million. Some other cable numbers to peruse:

Army Wives (3.33m/1.1)
Drop Dead Diva (2.79m/.9)
Dexter (1.37m/.6)
Californication (.77m/.4)
South Park (2.67m/1.3)
Secret Girlfriend (1.55m/.8)
WWE RAW (4.71m/1.6)
The Ultimate Fighter (2.76m/1.6)
It’s Always Sunny (1.51m/.9)
Mad Men (1.91m/.7)
Bored To Death (1.08m/.5)
The Hills (2.3m/1.4)
The City (1.61m/.9)
Lincoln Heights (.75m/.2)
Greek (.72m/.3)
Top Chef (2.76m/1.5)
Mythbusters (1.89m/.9)
Ghost Hunters (2.74m/1.3)
Destination Truth (2.04m/1)
Sherri (.44m/.1)
Rita Rocks (.28m/.1)

Photo Credit: FOX

Durham County; House; How I Met Your Mother – In that order

Keith McDuffee — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:30:33 +0000

Here are my picks, once again, for what I felt were the three best shows of the night:

Durham County — ION is currently airing the final couple of episodes of season one, but I decided to go ahead and finish up season two last night. Wow. Simply WOW. Brutal and disturbing, yet filled with great performances from the entire cast. It also set things up for what promises to be a crazy ride of a third season. Once that’s airing again, you can bet I’ll be posting about it more regularly here.

In any case, every episode of season one of Durham County was awesome, so episode four of that season (which is what aired on ION last night) would certainly rank up there as number one here.

House — At first I wasn’t all that game with Monday night’s episode, but when Deb and I noted how the episode seemed to be giving a shout-out to Showtime’s Dexter, it kicked it up a few notches. The shared theme: is it morally OK to kill another human being if you believe you’re saving lives in the process? Is it OK to murder “bad people?” While that’s not a subject Dexter really struggles with in what he does (other than when following the code of Harry), the staff on House had to come to terms with it in a big way.

Then, of course, there was House injecting Sodium Penothal into the neck of his one-armed neighbor. That was probably the most shocking moment on the show in a long time, and I put that up there with the Kutner incident because most people knew someone was getting killed off, we just didn’t know who.

How I Met Your Mother — A rather distant third. Not the best I’ve seen come from the show, and I judge that on how many times I laughed out loud during the episode. Not much. Like with just about every episode of HIMYM, there aren’t necessarily a “bad” episodes of the show, just ones that I wish were funnier.

As for other shows Monday night, I watched some of Castle but it was putting me to sleep, so that’s when Durham County came in. Can’t say I made a bad choice there, but now I’m all out of Durham County episodes to watch!

Photo Credit: ION

Richard Castle: Author. Lover. Poker player. Crime fighter. Browncoat?

Keith McDuffee — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:00:08 +0000

Alright, so “crime fighter” is a stretch.

After I posted my quasi-theory on what the Firefly Easter egg might be on the Castle set, a commenter noted that there was a rumor going around that Castle would be dressing up as the one and only Captain Mal Reynolds of the Firefly class ship, Serenity. Some quick searching found the right-side image (click to embiggen), which looks as though it was taken with a cellphone camera, but it certainly looks quite legitimate. The Castle set is definitely in the background, and that’s sure as hell Nathan Fillion dressed as Mal from Firefly. But was it ’shopped? And, if not, is he wearing the get-up for an episode?

I have a super secret source of mine who, without stating definitively yes or no on the subject, seems to be hinting very much that this rumor is indeed true. While this is definitely very cool and fellow Browncoats will be giddy with joy upon seeing the episode, I’m not sure I’d call it an “Easter egg” to look out for. Maybe Fillion isn’t clear on what that means and, well, this is what we’re supposed to be looking out for.

I imagine we’ll see this play out in the October 26 episode of the show (close to Halloween, get it?), which apparently doesn’t have a title yet.

Photo Credit: castletv.net

Castle – It’s fashion week in New York….

Brett Love — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:03:16 +0000

…and the clothes are to die for.

“Inventing The Girl” is a perfect example of what I really like about Castle. There is certainly a formulaic aspect to the case of the week, but they manage to do it in an interesting way. This week, I was sure I had figured out whodunit three different times before it all became clear. That formula we’ve all seen a thousand times is so much more fun when it keeps you guessing. And, of course, it doesn’t hurt that the case is so neatly wrapped in all the various other goings on that come with Castle, the character. From the magazine coming out, to Martha’s audition, right on through to the Riina and Alexis reunion and Beckett’s begrudging request for a copy of the book. More than anything else, Castle is just fun.

A big part of the fun in these shows is figuring out the case. This week, that was a tricky bit of business. I immediately picked out Sierra when we met her, because that was some seriously solid motive. Then the stalker, Will, appeared, complete with the photographic evidence. Those hopes were soon dashed with the revelations about the photographer, Monroe. That quickly went away from us as well, leading to the great reveal scene where Beckett was going to show all of us who really did it. Did you guess the husband? Or Teddy?

It made for a great case. Then, as has become the norm for Castle, the real charm came from all those other little things that surround the case of the week. It’s as if Nathan Fillion was made for this role. He manages the various jumps from suave, to playing the cad, to doting father, so well. Two of those little side stories really stood out for me this week.

First, the Rina affair. Castle’s reaction to finally learning just how it is that he knew Rina was great. And it led to a much easier to solve mystery when we learned of his “date.” The real kicker, though, was his explanation to Martha, that he’s just trying to look out for her. Castle is such a softy. And second, the exchange between Castle and Beckett regarding the new book. It’s a nice call back to her fascination with his books that we learned about in the first season. The back and forth of it — “Why didn’t you ask?” – “Why didn’t it occur to you?” — was also very cute.

At the end of the day, things are moving along just fine for Castle. The show has really found its groove, with Castle and Beckett, as well as all the supporting players. The only negative I have for this week, is that the preview for next week’s “Fool Me Once” looked so good I almost wish we could have seen it tonight too.

Photo Credit: ABC

Ratings Clack – Is Dollhouse about to get pulled?

Brett Love — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:00:39 +0000

Week two of the full-tilt-boogie season brought with it some interesting things, including premieres for Animation Domination, The Amazing Race, Trauma, Hank, and The Middle. We also saw more huge numbers from House, NCIS, and Grey’s. But after all of that, the most interesting story again comes from the show with the worst ratings on all of the big four networks, Dollhouse. After season two premiered to a series low last week, things got even worse. Episode two just barely cleared the 2 million viewer bar, while falling below a 1 in the demo. Reached for comment, my BFF Jill said, “OMG! RLY!?”

Yes, really. The situation is dire. Even the hardcore Whedonites are now at DEFCON 1. Someone has got word that the show could be in danger of being pulled from the air. I don’t know anything more than they do about that, but I would expect it to get one more shot this Friday, before baseball takes over. If episode three doesn’t show some sort of improvement though, I wouldn’t be surprised if baseball makes way for a series of House and Bones repeats on Fridays at 9.

FOX - Since Dollhouse (2.09m/.8) led things off, let’s start there. That is absolutely terrible. To put it in perspective, 6 of the 7 new hours on the CW last week beat it in viewers and the demo. And the 7th, Melrose Place, still managed to tie it in the demo. It also again fell short of its Friday partners, Brothers (2.42m/.8) and ‘Til Death (2.29m/.8). Fortunately for FOX, while the end of the week was a disaster, the beginning was the complete opposite.

Things got off to a great start with the premiere of Animation Domination. The Simpsons (8.31m/4.3) was off just a touch from last season’s premiere, but The Cleveland Show (9.51m/4.9), Family Guy (10.11m/5.2), and American Dad (7.14m/3.6) all brought year-to-year increases to their spots. The good news continued Monday, with House (14.71m/5.8). That is more than 2 demo points above second place Dancing With The Stars. From there, things were more mixed.

Lie To Me (7.73m/2.9) was a solid third in viewers and demo, but those numbers are all too close to where it was while airing at 8 last season. I expected more of a boost, given the post-House slot. Wednesday and Thursday were a mixed bag, with Hell’s Kitchen (6.64m/3.1), So You Think You Can Dance (5.18m/2.4 – 6.81m/2.7), and Glee (7.4m/3.3). Hell’s Kitchen and Glee are solid, but SYTYCD could be doing better. I’m curious to see what happens when the all too-long audition episodes end. Finally, Thursday was a repeat of last week with Bones (9.43m/2.7) holding strong, and Fringe (6.03m/2.3) getting crushed by the heavyweight Thursday competition.

CBS - The Dollhouse kerfuffle trumped NCIS (21.37m/4.8) for my before-the-jump spot, but just barely. Surprising just about everyone, NCIS not only held on to all of the demo from the premiere, but also increased in viewers. That led to a great Tuesday. Combined with NCIS: LA (17.39m/4.1) and The Good Wife (13.69m/3.2), the network was up in viewers and demo in every hour year-to-year. Earlier in the week, The Amazing Race (10.4m/3.4) returned to solid numbers on Sunday, followed by Cold Case (9.19m/2.1).

Monday was also a big success, overall. How I Met Your Mother (8.71m/3.6), 2 ½ Men (13.86m/4.8), Big Bang Theory (13.27m/5.3), and CSI: Miami (13.96m/4.1) all did great. We’re getting very close to Big Bang taking over as the outright #1 comedy on television. The only real misstep was Accidentally On Purpose (8.03m/3.1). That’s not bad, but it does stand out compared to the rest of the night.

The rest of the week proceeded as expected. Old Christine (6.65m/1.9) and Gary Unmarried (6.65m/2.2) remain the weak spot in the lineup, while Criminal Minds (14.24m/3.8) and CSI: NY (13.16m/3.3) own the rest of Wednesday. CSI (15.94m/4.1) narrowly edged Grey’s in viewers, but is now getting hammered in the demo. The other two hours on Thursday have much more intriguing battles shaping up. Survivor (11.54m/3.7) and FlashForward are very close, and that one could go either way each week. And at 10, The Mentalist (15.75m/3.8) couldn’t match the Private Practice premiere demo, but the two should be very interesting to watch going forward. Finally, it was another easy win on Friday; despite everything being down, the perfect combination of Ghost Whisperer (7.63m/1.7), Medium (7.72m/1.8), and Numb3rs (7.73m/1.6) won every hour.

ABC - Things were a little less exciting on ABC. There was some good news. Grey’s Anatomy (15.69m/6.1) remains huge, and led to a great premiere for Private Practice (11.58m/4.6). Desperate Housewives (13.64m/4.7), while down, is still a legitimate hit. And Brothers & Sisters (9.38m/3) is solid following it. The network also has to be excited about the week two performances of Modern Family (9.99m/3.8), Cougar Town (9.25m/3.8), and FlashForward (10.73m/3.7). All three held up very well and look to have greatly improved their places on the schedule.

Things weren’t quite as good elsewhere. Dancing With The Stars (17.03m/3.7 – 13.02m/2.7) is still a viewer machine on performance night, but it was more than two full demo points behind House. The results show has now fallen to second in viewers and third in the demo. The show is still strong, but not nearly what it once was. Elsewhere, Castle (9.15m/2.2) remains rather soft, although comparisons with The Forgotten (7.45m/2), and Eastwick (6.57m/2.3) may help it. Finishing the week, Hank (8.33m/2.1) and The Middle (8.71m/2.6) had disappointing numbers, considering they were premieres in a fairly weak hour. They’ll have their hands full with Gary and Christine in coming weeks. And finally, Shark Tank (4.75m/1.5) has now fallen below Opportunity Knocks from this time last year. And we all know how that ended.

NBC – The good news, as usual, comes from Sunday Night Football (17.47m/6.8), The Biggest Loser (9.18m/3.7), and The Office (7.41m/3.9). The bad news starts with Heroes (5.72m/2.5), and continues to SNL Thursday (5.02m/1.8), Parks & Recreation (4.67m/2), and Law & Order (6.68m/1.2). Somewhere in the middle, we find the dueling medical dramas, Trauma (6.68m/2.2), and Mercy (7.39m/2.1). Those are iffy demos, especially considering Mercy’s competition, but the fact that they are both getting more viewers than Heroes, and three of the four Thursday comedies, is at least a small positive.

Community (5.86m/2.9) rebounded slightly after the Grey’s and CSI premieres last week, but those numbers don’t bode well for its debut at 8 next week. I’d be shocked to see it match Earl from this time last season (7.09m/2.7). Finally, the most curious result of all has to be Law & Order SVU (8.09m/2.5). The show has been a huge winner for the network for years, and I really expected a battle with Criminal Minds. Getting beaten by 6 million viewers and 1.3 demo points has to come as a surprise.

CW - Overall, you’d have to call it a positive week. One Tree Hill (2.51m/1.1) and Gossip Girl (2.36m/1.2) were both up after last week’s big House special delivered quite a blow. Likewise, 90210 (2.21m/1.1) and Next Top Model (3.28m/1.5) were both up as well. Vampire Diaries (3.53m/1.6) and Supernatural (2.6m/1.2) were both down slightly, but continue to be the strongest night in viewers and the adult demo for the network. Monday remains strongest among younger viewers. Smallville (2.39m/.9) even got in on the game; despite being obviously down from last season, it did manage to beat both hours on FOX on Friday. The real problem on the schedule is now Melrose Place (1.42m/.8), which has fallen behind where Privileged was at this time last season.

Cable – The shocking stat from the cable list this week is that I managed to turn up at least 13 shows with more viewers than Dollhouse. Really, those numbers are that bad. The real standout on cable though, was The Ultimate Fighter (5.31m/3.1) on Spike. Sons Of Anarchy (3.76m/1.9) also remains very strong for FX, especially considering it is airing during the regular network season. Some other cable numbers to ponder:

Stargate: Universe (2.35m)
Mad Men (1.73m/.6)
Entourage (1.87m/1.1)
It’s Always Sunny (2.02m/1.2)
Drop Dead Diva (2.52m/.8)
Project Runway (2.8m/1.3)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (1.05m/.6)
Bored To Death (.71m/.4)
Army Wives (3.38m/1.1)
WWE RAW (4.5m/1.6)
Monday Night Football (15.7m/6.6)
The Hills (2.36m/1.5)
The City (2.03m/1.3)
Ghost Hunters (2.89m/1.2)
America’s Best Dance Crew (2.25m/1.2)
Lincoln Heights (.86m/.3)
Greek (.74m/.4)
Kourtney & Khloe (2.23m/1.3)
Real Housewives of Atlanta (2.72m/1.5)
Destination Truth (2.33m/1)

Photo Credit: FOX

Quotation Marks – Van Halen, vampires, and vamps

Ivey West — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:52:41 +0000

Dollhouse

“The human mind is like Van Halen. If you just pull out one piece and keep replacing it, it just degenerates.” — Topher

Big Bang Theory

“I’m not crazy, my mother had me tested.” — Sheldon

“Just fine … ah dude, the fourth Harry Potter movie was just fine!” — Raj
–
“[fine is] a perfectly good word. You put in front of wine or dining and you’ve got something!” — Penny
“Let me ask you this: How was last night for you?” — Leonard
“It was … OK” — Penny
“OK?” — Leonard
“Its a perfectly good word … If you put in front of dokey and you’ve really got something!” — Penny

“Sex is never the way I dream it’s gonna be.” — Howard
“It’s because in your dreams you’re a horse from the waste down.” — Raj

Quotes from the Ether

“Yeeesh. Our numbers weren’t good last night… ” — @MoTancharoen

That’s the positive spin. The negative spin comes from TheHollywood Reporter’s James Hibberd.

“Dollhouse punches through rock bottom, finds Fox ratings netherworld” — @TheLiveFeed

“Take it slow,in the Dao. Easy skankin. good vibes into the ether. Tonight watch my balls burst into FLAMES SUNNY FX @ 10 PM est” — @Danny_Devito, with your weekly words of wisdom

Mercy

“OK, I’m just going to throw this out there … Do you think we might actually win sometimes if we didn’t drink during the game?” — Garcia [during a softball game]
“That is the dumbest thing you have ever said.” — Callahan

Cougar Toun

“You know, people can’t unhear the things you say.” – Grayson to Jules

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

“I like vampires I can be afraid of, not some douchebag with his hat on backwards.” — Craig Ferguson on the Twlight kids

Grey’s Anatomy

“Nice pin.” — Meredith
“His name is Mr. Bear. He eats children.” — Cristina

Vampire Diaries

“What’s so special about this Bella girl? …. I miss Anne Rice.” — Damon

Modern Family

“Am I attracted to her? Yes. Would I act on it? Absolutely not! As long as my wife was alive.” — Phil, on his feelings for a new neighbor

“My dad’s great with tools. He can get the wheels off a car in less than a minute.” – Manny

“In my culture, we take great pride in doing physical labor.” — Gloria
“I know, that’s why I hire people from your culture.” — Jay

“I know, tone down my natural gifts, dance like a straight guy.” — Cameron
“No slapping your own butt.” — Mitchell
“But that’s how I make my horsey go!” — Cameron

“We’re gonna drink some wine, eat some good food…. Y’know, we would do something like this a lot more often if it wasn’t for, y’know, Manny.” — Jay
“He’s good. He keep us grounded.” — Gloria
“Yeah … like fog at an airport.” — Jay

Glee

“You guys look like the world’s worst Benetton ad.” – April to Glee club

“I want you to be in the Glee club. We’ll get you sobered up … Buy you some underwear.” — Will

“Do I have to put my fingers in the holes? Couldn’t there be diseases in there or something?” — Rachel
“Aw, no, ball-sharing’s half the fun.” — Fin

“When I heard Sandy wanted to write himself into a scene as Queen Cleopatra I was aroused …And then furious.” — Coach Sylvester

Castle

“You know, if this one of those super sciency forensics shows, we’d stick some electrodes in this fish’s brains. Get a fish eye view of whatever they saw.” — Castle

How I Met Your Mother

“I once fantasized about that silhouette chick you see on a truck’s mudflaps. It took me less than a mile.” – Barney

Bones

“When did teenager’s start having sex?” — Cam, asking about her adopted daughter Michelle
“Hello!” — Angela
“If they could, they’d start in the morning and go ’till they dropped.” — Hodgins

Community

“Hey man. My name’s Jeff. I’m trying to lock down the rest of my schedule before the deadline. I heard this class was a cakewalk. Are you passing it?” — Jeff
“…” — Student
“Do you like Dane Cook?” — Jeff
“Yeah he’s awesome.” — Student
“So far so good.” — Jeff

“Choo!” — Troy
“Hey Troy sneezes like a girl!” — Jeff
“And how ’bout I pound you like a boy – that didn’t come out right.” — Troy

“I’ll have to make some adjustments to my film. Jeff, I think you should play the role of my father.” — Abed
“… I don’t want to be your father.” — Jeff
“That’s perfect, you already know your lines.” — Ahmed

The Mentalist

“Its not like we killed him, his neck was broken in the crash.” — Lisbon
“We got a confession.” — Jane
“Suppose you didn’t. Suppose you’d been wrong. Have you any idea of the vastness of the crapstorm that would follow?” — Minelli

Greek

“Old people having old people sex.” –Rebecca’s summation of Private Practice

“What’s with the pink bowtie?” — Rusty
“Oh, just feeling fancy today.” — Cappie

House

“Who’s the broad?” — House’s Asian cooking partner
“Missionary.” — House
“If she’s a missionary, why does she dress like a hooker?” — partner
“I meant the position.” — House

“Bed is for sissies. Unless you’re having sex, in which case… no, bed is still for sissies.” — House to Wilson, on staying up all night cooking obsessively

“How hard are you trying not to make a ball joke right now?” — Wilson
“They’re smoking.” — House
“…?” — Wilson
“Your balls.” — House
“Oh! No no no! They’re browning way too fast.” — Wilson
“Blue’s the color you have to watch out for.” — House
“Enough! They’re still raw inside. By the time they cook through the outside will be burnt.” — Wilson
“I think there’s a medicated powder for that.” — House

“House, you’ve got no reason to …” — Cuddy [with Wilson, accusing House of still using]
“Et tu, bootay?” — House

the Simpsons

“Sufferin Steve Ditko!” — Comic Book Guy

“So, do you want to see me naked” — Homer
“There’s no nudity in this movie” — Hollywood Executive
“What movie?” — Homer

Supernatural

“Hoard toilet paper. Hoard it like it’s made of gold.” — Future Chuck’s investment advice for Present Dean

“Rhonda Hurley. She made us try on her panties. They were pink … and satiny … and we kind of liked it.” — Present Dean convincing Future Dean that he’s from the past

Photo Credit: FOX

CliqueClack TV » Castle

Funny man J.B. Smoove guests on Castle

Related posts

Is sitcom quality limited by a finite amount of available humor?

Other posts

Ratings Clack – Should FOX switch Fringe and Lie To Me?

Related posts

Castle – That was so awesome

Related posts

Ratings Clack – V gets off to a great start

Related posts

Castle – Here Kitty Kitty

Other posts

Ratings Clack – The Mentalist knocks off CSI

Related posts

And the Firefly Easter egg on Castle is …

Related posts

Castle – There are no cows in space

Related posts

Ratings Clack – Smallville continues to defy the odds

Related posts

Castle – Hey, it’s Nikki Heat!

Related posts

Ratings Clack – Where is FlashForward headed?

Related posts

What happens when shows stop calling to you?

Related posts

Castle – Thai food is pleasing to the tongue

Related posts

Ratings Clack – Favre and Baseball create havoc

Related posts

Durham County; House; How I Met Your Mother – In that order

Related posts

Richard Castle: Author. Lover. Poker player. Crime fighter. Browncoat?

Related posts

Castle – It’s fashion week in New York….

Related posts

Ratings Clack – Is Dollhouse about to get pulled?

Related posts

Quotation Marks – Van Halen, vampires, and vamps

Related posts