FOX (Insert Baseball Analogy Here) to win Thursday Night

FOX scored again with Game Two of The World Series averaging a solid 18.95 million viewers on Thursday night (final ratings numbers on the telecast will post sometime today), the first official night of the November sweeps period. In adults 18-49, FOX dominated with a 5.7 rating. CBS returned to first run episodes of its lineup and attracted 14.11 million viewers, which was good enough for second place in total audience and third in 18-49 (3.5/9). ABC was third with 10.54 million viewers, yet ahead of CBS in the key demo with a 3.8/10 rating. NBC struggled in fourth with only 5.55 million viewers and a 2.4/6 in 18-49. The CW was fifth with an audience of roughly 3.53 million and a 1.7/4.

At 8pm, CBS’s Survivor: Samoa was the most watched non-baseball program with 12.5 million viewers (7.1/11). Flashforward, on ABC, occupied the third place position with 8.95 million (5.7/9), well ahead of the comedy duo of Community and Parks and Recreation which averaged 5.48 and 4.96 million viewers respectively (3.6/6 and 3.2/5 in households). On the CW, The Vampire Diaries continued to impress, this week boasting an audience of 4.2 million and a 2.6/4 household rating.

CSI claimed second for CBS at 9pm with 14.9 million viewers (9.0/14), slightly ahead of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy (13.4 million; 8.6/13). NBC’s comedy block was fourth, with The Office averaging 8.14 million (4.8/7) and 30 Rock – still off considerably in the ratings from last season’s first few episodes -- only posting about 6 million (3.7/6). The CW’s Supernatural was last with 2.9 million viewers and a 1.7/3 in households.

CBS continued a second place sweep with The Mentalist retaining its entire lead-in, averaging 14.9 million viewers and building on CSI’s household rating to post a 9.4/15. Private Practice on ABC was third (9.2 million; 6.2/10), and NBC’s The Jay Leno Show (4.4 million; 2.9/05) was fourth.

Updated Wednesday Ratings

Final ratings reports have game one of The World Series averaging an impressive 19.511 million viewers on Wednesday night (11.9/19 in households). FOX also scored in the important 18-49 demo with a 6.3/17.

FOX Hits a Home Run on Wednesday

FOX was the most watched network last night, thanks to Game One of The World Series which averaged a solid 17.8 million viewers (10.9/17). Since the telecast was a live event, the ratings may tick up or down slightly when all the markets are tallied, but right now it looks as if FOX scored the best Game One numbers in 5 years. CBS, still in repeats, ranked second for the night in terms of total viewers (8.49 million; 5.6/9) and tied for NBC third in adults 18-49 with a 2.1/5. ABC was third overall with 6.64 million viewers (4.7/7), yet second in adults 18-49 with a 2.5/6. The CW was dead last with 2.47 million viewers (1.6/3) and a 1.2/3 in the all important demo.

Reruns of The New Adventures of Old Christine (6.61 million viewers; 4.3/7) and Gary Unmarried (6.44 million; 4.2/7) combined to put CBS in second place after The World Series at 8pm. Perhaps a sign of the lack of confidence ABC has in Hank, the net opted for another airing of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown instead of the Kelsey Grammer sitcom which attracted 6.32 million viewers (3.7/6) – which was an improvement of about 500,000 viewers from Hank’s numbers last week. The Middle finished the hour for ABC, building to 6.63 million viewers (3.9/6). NBC’s special Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space came in a hair behind ABC with 6.3 million viewers (3.3/5). Over on The CW, Tyra and the gang on America’s Next Top Model averaged 3.5 million viewers (2.3/4).

At 9pm, a rerun of Criminal Minds (9.72 million viewers; 6.3/10) was the most watched non-baseball program of the night. On ABC, Modern Family and Cougar Town both posted gains versus last week in spite of being opposite The World Series, averaging 9.23 and 7.51 million viewers respectively (5.5/8 and 4.8/7). NBC’s Law and Order: SVU was close behind with 8 million viewers and a 5.1/8 household rating. The CW aired a rerun of its hit The Vampire Diaries, which failed to scare up much interest, only posting a 1.0/2 household rating and 1.4 million viewers.

At 10pm, CBS’s rerun of CSI: NY (9.22 million viewers; 6.2/10) easily captured second place ahead of ABC’s struggling Eastwick (5.06 million; 3.3/6 and NBC’s The Jay Leno Show (4.98 million; 3.3/6).

And lastly, being a huge Modern Family fan, I feel the need to point out that the new comedy was the most watched non-World Series show last night in adults 18-49. MF posted a strong 3.7/9 rating in the demo, which was its best performance in 4 weeks. In addition, the show hit series highs in adults 18-34, key men, teens, and kids. You can read all the details in this press release from ABC. So, apparently my grassroots campaign to get as many viewers as possible to watch Modern Family is working!

If You Haven't Seen It, It's New To You: CBS Wins Tuesday with All Repeats

CBS easily won Tuesday night in total viewers, averaging 12.13 million (7.8/12 in households) - an impressive feat considering the fact that the net’s lineup was entirely in reruns. However in adults 18-49, CBS (the old fogey of broadcast nets) actually came in fourth with a 2.4/6. ABC was second both in total viewers (10.72 million and a 6.6/11 in households) and in 18-49 (2.6/7). NBC averaged 8.446 million viewers over the course of the evening (5.2/8), yet placed first in 18-49 with a 3.1/8. FOX came in fourth in total viewers (6.5 million and 4.0/6) and third in adults 18-49 (2.5/6). The CW, also in repeats last night, barely registered a blip on the Nielsen radar. The netlet only averaged 1.13 million viewers and a 0.5/1 18-49 rating.

NCIS claimed first place for CBS – and solidified its position as the most watched show in America -- with a solid 16.1 million viewers and a 10.0/16 in households for the 8pm hour. NBC’s The Biggest Loser was way behind with 9.3 million viewers (5.7/9). ABC’s traditional October broadcast of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown scared up 8.9 million viewers (5.0/7), beating the 6.8 million for So You Think You Can Dance (4.3/7) over on FOX. A rerun of 90210 could only muster up 1.4 million viewers and a 1.0/1 household rating.

At 9pm, Dancing with the Stars helped ABC waltz into first place with a 14.7 million viewers and a 9.3/14 in households. CBS’s rerun of NCIS: Los Angeles dipped to 11.1 million viewers (7.2/11), and The Biggest Loser gained a few more sets of eyes to average 10.2 million (6.0/9) for the hour. So You Think You Can Dance slipped to 6.2 million viewers (3.8/6) and a repeat of Melrose Place didn’t even snag a million viewers (844,000; 0.6/1) for The CW.

CBS regained the lead at 10pm with a rerun of The Good Wife, which scored 9.3 million viewers (6.3/11). On ABC, The Forgotten continued to live up to its title. The new drama lost over 40% of its DWTS lead in to average only 8.6 million viewers (5.7/10). NBC’s The Jay Leno Show came in third with 5.9 million viewers and a 3.8/6 in households, which actually was a gain of over 28% in its total audience compared to Monday night.

ABC Dances to #1 on Monday

Monday night’s household ratings haven’t completely posted on a few of the sites I use as references, however the total viewership numbers and adult 18-49 ratings are available so I will use those for now and update the post when I get more info.

ABC dominated Monday night, partly due to an impressive performance from Dancing with the Stars and partly due to the fact that CBS’s entire lineup was in repeats. The Alphabet net averaged a strong 15.52 million viewers and a 3.4/9 adults 18-49 rating. This was miles ahead of second place CBS, which posted 9.57 million and a 3.0/8 18-49. FOX came in third with a special airing of So You Think You Can Dance, which averaged 6.03 million viewers and a 2.5/6 18-49 rating. NBC, as usual, was fourth with 5.42 million viewers and a weak 1.9/5 18-49 rating, and the CW actually came in sixth place (2.45 million viewers and a 1.2/3 in adults 18-49) – behind Spanish language channel Univision (3.41 million and 1.3/3).

At 8pm, Dancing with the Stars scored big numbers for ABC with roughly 17.03 million viewers. A rerun of How I Met Your Mother kept CBS in second with 7.09 million viewers, and Heroes on NBC was third with 5.86 million. FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance was fourth with 5.78 million viewers. One Tree Hill was fifth for the CW with 2.69 million.

DWTS jumped up to 18.44 million viewers during its 9pm hour, which was a noticeable gain of over a million people compared to last week. A rerun of Two and a Half Men on CBS was a very distant second with 11.25 million viewers. Lie to Me helped FOX overtake NBC for third with 6.28 million viewers as freshman procedural Trauma dragged The Peacock down to fourth with 5.77 million. The CW’s racy Gossip Girl lost a few hundred thousand viewers from its lead-in, and attracted 2.21 million viewers.

A repeat of CBS’s CSI: Miami managed to prevent ABC’s sweep of the night by averaging 11.22 million viewers to Castle’s 11.09 million. In more bad news for NBC, The Jay Leno Show only managed to snare 4.62 million viewers.

Dexter: Consider Me Hooked!

This weekend, I happened to come across a little show called Dexter on Showtime. Dexter has been airing since 2006 and is based on a series of novels written by Jeff Lindsay, yet due to the fact I was never fortunate enough to get Showtime, I was never able to watch it. Let’s just say, I’m incredibly thankful to get the pay channel now because I was thoroughly engrossed in the two episodes I watched and can’t wait to see where this crazy thing goes. There’s a spoiler at the end of this post so if you don’t want to know what happened in Sunday’s Dexter, consider yourself warned.

I realize I’m extraordinarily late in the game with the show, and there is a lot of catching up I’m going to have to do (Netflix here I come!). From what I gathered by watching the two most recent episodes (“Dex Takes a Holiday” and “Dirty Harry”), Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) is a Miami police investigator with a wife, children, and a dark secret – he kills people, lots of people. However, he channels his psychopathic tendencies towards socially responsible murder. Dexter is a serial killer of serial killers; that is, he offs people that deserve it.

This moral ambiguity creates one of TV’s most interesting and complex characters, and Hall’s performance is mesmerizing to watch. He plays Dexter with an uncomfortable, anxious confidence that is a true extension of how layered and psychologically messed up this guy really is. In addition, Dexter gets advice and guidance from visions of his deceased father (James Remar). Yeah, there’s plenty here to keep a psychoanalyst busy for decades.

Dexter’s recent developments have him on the tail of an elusive serial killer nicknamed “Trinity” (played by subdued John Lithgow) who, in last week’s episode, shot his sister and killed an FBI agent she was involved with.

“Dirty Harry”, which aired this past Sunday, continued this story line and dealt with the ramifications of his sister’s shooting and how his double life is affecting his marriage. The extraneous goings on, such as the interoffice romances and other drama seemed clunky and paled in comparison to the main plot. I just found myself eagerly waiting for Dexter to pop back on my screen again.

However, the show's final moments were superb. Dexter locates Trinity and frantically attempts to chase him through a high rise office building only to lose him in the stairwell. However, Dexter manages to follow him by car only to discover that Trinity -- this sadistic serial killer who has been murdering for over 30 years -- is a suburban husband and father just like him. Dun, Dun DUN!