After a summer of wondering what the result of NBC just giving up on the 10 PM hour would be, we now have our first look at the numbers. Jay Leno started with a bang (over 18 million viewers), and then quickly started the slow grind to reality. The week also saw the premieres of One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Biggest Loser, The Beautiful Life, SNL: News, Parks & Rec, The Office, Community, Bones, and Fringe. Some of those were more successful than others. Read the rest of this entry »

Every spring, my mother goes through a yearly ritual. She realizes she needs bathing suits, orders a bunch from Land’s End, and then goes to her room to try them on (usually with my sister and me in tow to voice opinions). Regardless of what she tries on, she will twist and turn to look at herself in the mirror, muttering a constant litany of “fat, fat, fat, fat, fat,” while she does so.

Of course, she never keeps the bathing suits (probably because she thinks they make her look fat), so she packs them up, sends them lovingly back to where they came from, and waits another year to start the cycle all over again. The same thing happens when she goes clothes shopping, when she gets dressed for a special occasion, and sometimes just because.

It doesn’t matter how many times I tell her she’s not that fat, how many times I point out that for a woman that’s nearing sixty, who’s always been curvier, who’s been through two pregnancies (one of which was with twins that were both over six pounds), and who has a bad leg that keeps her from serious exercise, she looks pretty damn good. It doesn’t matter that I like her exactly how she is, which is soft, and yes, a little squashy, and mom-shaped. When she looks in the mirror, she sees fat.

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We’re on the verge of it now. Over the next two weeks all of our favorite shows are going to be ending, and some of those tough decisions will have to be made by the networks. These final few ratings numbers will play heavily in those decisions. With that in mind, the week brought good news for a couple of bubble shows (Castle, Lie To Me), and bad news for others (Better Off Ted, Cupid, The Unusuals, Dollhouse, Reaper, My Name Is Earl). Read the rest of this entry »

And just like that, finale season is upon us. Over the next few weeks, all of our favorite shows will be pulling out all the stops and heading off into the summer break, with hopes of returning for another go in the fall. Some of them, no doubt, will be disappointed in that regard. Aside from the marriages, pregnancies, and lives left hanging in the balance, finales are interesting from a ratings perspective because they provide the possibilities of a numbers boost. One last data point to point to as you make the case that this show shouldn’t be canceled. NBC got the ball rolling last week as Chuck and Heroes both fired off their finale salvos. The results were something less than stellar. The news was better for Fringe, the NCIS spinoff, and the CW Thursday. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week was a bit of an odd one for programming as the networks went a bit experimental. Over at FOX, Bones tried its third night in a week. On ABC, The Unusuals took over for Cupid and someone gave the OK for another Lost clip show.  CBS continued the shuffling of their procedurals by bumping NCIS, The Mentalist, and Criminal Minds back an hour. The results, as you might have suspected, were varied. While a lot of that was strange, the biggest surprise of the week was Thursday, which found just about everything  taking a hit in the ratings. In other news, According To Jim still stinks out loud. Read the rest of this entry »

(3/22 – 3/38)

It was another screwy week of ratings. The combination of the Obama address and the NCAA tournament made for all kinds of scheduling nuttery. That doesn’t meant there weren’t some interesting numbers to look at. The ongoing dramas of the Heroes and Dollhouse ratings continued. Chopping Block managed to post a number so low that even NBC was forced to cancel it immediately. And the trio of Dancing With The Stars, Biggest Loser, and Idol continued to prove why reality TV isn’t going anywhere. Read the rest of this entry »

March Madness is wreaking havoc on CBS shows, in general, reality genre or not. I suppose the whole thing could be construed to be one huge reality show, brackets and all. But I won’t be covering it. Nothing against basketball, but I never understand why the college games are virtually ignored by major networks all during the season and then they air ‘em like nothing else exists come March on CBS.

Basketball didn’t keep American Idol away for its “country week” this past week. Nor did it trip up Dancing With the Stars. But it did cost us a week of Survivor (no show this past Thursday). This week’s Survivor will air on Wednesday night against American Idol. It’s going to be the clips show, so it surely will get ratings-stomped by AI. Oh, just a warning — the President is in the mix on Tuesday night further discombobulating the TV schedules.

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