RATINGS RAT RACE: NBC Comedies Get ‘Voice’ Boost; ‘Scandal’ & ’2.5 Men’ Hit Lows
HUT levels rebounded 10% last night from last Thursday’s depressed Halloween averages. (+14% from 8-10 PM). But it was stronger lead-ins that played the key role in the biggest week-to-week ratings gains. The one Thursday freshman series that is waiting to hear on back episodic order, NBC’s Sean Saves The World, got a much needed boost from an original Voice (2.7) at 8 PM. The 9 PM comedy was up double-digits from last week when it followed an SNL special (1.1). Exactly how much is hard to tell because of an NBC NFL pre-emption in Washington DC. Currently, Sean (1.7) is running 55% ahead of last Thursday. The bump will shrink, possibly to 36% in the finals, but that still provides good sampling for the show, which, along with the rest of NBC’s Thursday comedies, have been dying on the vine with no lead-in support and no breakout performances. The Michael J. Fox Show (1.3) at 9:30 PM didn’t get much of a boost, currently running .2 ahead of last week and will likely be up .1 in the finals. Parenthood (1.5) is up 25%, eyeing a .1 downward correction.
Also coming back to life were CBS’ freshman Thursday comedies, which plunged with a Big Bang Theory repeat on Halloween. With a fresh Big Bang (4.8, down a tenth from its most recent original 2 weeks ago), The Millers (2.7) was up 29% from last week, while The Crazy Ones (2.1) was up 11%. But compared to the last time the two shows had an original Big Bang lead-in, The Millers was down a tenth, Crazy Ones down two tenths. Two And A Half Men (2.0) was down 13% from its last original 2 weeks ago to a new series low. Elementary (1.7) was down a tenth from last week.
The wheels are coming off fast for Fox’s The X Factor following the post-season baseball hiatus. After hitting a series low for a regular competition episode on Wednesday (1.5), the singing competition sank even further last night to a new all time low of 1.2. The drop was somewhat expected as last night’s show was essentially a repeat, a do-over of Wednesday’s performances after a voting blunder. That didn’t help Glee (1.5), which tied a series low in its return from a three-week hiatus. Its last original, the Cory Monteith tribute, did a 2.9.
ABC’s Once Upon A Time In Wonderland (0.9) continues to fade, down 18% from its last original two weeks ago for a new low. The series has a limited order and is expected to end its run with it. Grey’s Anatomy (2.7) was up a tenth. There was no boost from Scandal star Kerry Washington’s stint on Saturday Night Live as the hot drama (2.7) shed two more tenths to a new season low.
The CW’s The Vampire Diaries (1.2) rebounded by the major Halloween drop caused largely by the off-pattern airing in New York City, up 33%. Reign (0.6) held steady for a third consecutive week.
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