Monday was the official start of the fall season with 12 shows premiering on the major networks. With all networks going head-to-head, the ratings can predict what shows will succeed and which will fail.
Tuesday Ratings: Glee Hits a High Note>>
Wednesday Ratings: Modern Family, The Defenders Score Big>>
Thursday Ratings: CBS Gets a Big Bang>>
Based on Monday, new shows are looking pretty strong, with one very noticeable exception. FOX’s Lone Star performed dismally poor while NBC’s The Event was, by any account, a huge hit.
Here are the quick ratings by network:
ABC
Dancing with the Stars (8pm): 21 million
Castle (10pm): 11.2 million
CBS
How I Met Your Mother (8pm): 8.8 million
Rules of Engagement (8:30pm): 8.3 million
Two and a Half Men (9pm): 14.5 million
Mike and Molly (9:30pm): 12.2 million
Hawaii Five-0 (10pm): 13.8 million
NBC
Chuck (8pm): 6.1 million
The Event (9pm): 11.2 million
Chase (10pm): 7.9 million
FOX
House (8pm): 10.5 million
Lone Star (9pm): 4.1 million
THE CW
90210 (8pm): 2.15 million
Gossip Girl (9pm): 1.9 million
While returning favorites DWTS and Two and Half Men won the day, many new shows did quite well.
Hawaii Five-0 and Mike and Molly had solid premieres, though not as strong as what they replaced, CSI: Miami and The Big Bang Theory. But since they’re still the two highest-rated new shows so far, it’s hard to argue with success.
The biggest surprise has to be NBC. The Event did much better than anyone thought and, as a fan, I’m relieved that audiences gave it a shot. I’m also happy that the ratings actually increased slightly from the first to the second half, a promising start. The huge ratings helped boost Chase to a decent number as well.
To put NBC into perspective, last year at this time, when the new season of Heroes premiered at 9pm, it only had 6 million viewers.
Finally the fall season has its first major disappointment in Lone Star. Despite raves from many critics, the show lost more than half its lead-in audience and moved FOX from second in the ratings at 8pm to fourth at 9pm. Despite star Jon Voigt promising that the show would be a hit, audiences obviously aren’t falling for the charming con artist drama.
The Final Judgment
If you were one of those people worried about dedicating yourself to a new mystery because you thought NBC would cancel it right away, your fears can go away. With huge ratings for the premiere of The Event, it’s unlikely the show will be going anywhere anytime soon, so catch on while you still can.
And if you watched and enjoyed Lone Star, don’t worry. James Wolk is so handsome and charming that I’m sure he’ll be on another show next season.
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
