It’s premiere week, and while several new shows have yet to premiere, going back to Thursday night’s sitcoms over on NBC (which performed desultory), we have a week’s worth of data to look at. We also have a fairly good idea of which shows are hits, which are likely to be canceled soon, and some that are already on the bubble. Here’s some brief thoughts on the ratings so far, focusing only on the shows that I think are of interest to the Warming Glow readers.
Winners
Vegas (CBS) — 14.7 million viewers; 2.5 in the demo. Best new debut of the season, and a certifiable hit. (It was a decent show, too).
Modern Family (ABC) — 14 million viewers; 5.5 in the demo. Getting even better ratings in its fourth season (and is it me, or was last night’s show actually very funny?).
How I Met Your Mother (CBS) — 8.6 million viewers; 3.4 in the demo. Holding strong even while it continues to tease us with Ted’s wife.
Bones (Fox) — 7.3 million viewers; 2.2 in the demo. Doing fairly well in its Monday timeslot.
2 Broke Girls (CBS) — 10 million viewers; 3.7 in the demo. Unbelievable. Really? Why?
Revolution (NBC) — 9.29 million viewers; 3.5 in the demo. In its second week out, still putting up great numbers for an NBC show, particularly one as bad as Revolution. Can it hold over the long term? I just don’t see it, but then again, I don’t understand why it wasn’t abandoned after the pilot.
Go On (NBC) — 7.27 million viewers; 2.7 in the demo. In its third episode, Matthew Perry’s sitcom fell from last week, but up against first-run competition for the first time, NBC has to be thrilled with a 2.7 in the demo. For the network, this has to be considered a big hit.
Sons of Anarchy(FX) — It’s not on the networks, but it’s worth noting that Sons of Anarchy’s 2.1 in the demo finished number two in its timeslot against network competition this week, behind only Vegas.
Losers
The Office (NBC) — 4.32 million viewers; 2.1 in the demo. That’s half of the audience The Office had in its debut just one season ago. That’s really bad. If it weren’t already the final season of The Office, it’d be the final season of The Office.
Up All Night (NBC) — 3.14 million viewers; 1.3 in the demo. A 1.3 is damn near CW numbers. I guess re-tooling the show didn’t help, although I like it much more now without The Ava Show.
Parks and Recreation (NBC) — 3.52 million viewers; 1.7 in the demo. Not only did it lose much of its audience from The Office, but 3.5 million viewers is anemic, especially for a show this amazing. Don’t expect another season (sorry), especially now that NBC has found it’s formula for success with Go On: Familiar face, bland comedy.
Partners (CBS) — 6.5 million viewers; 2.4 in the demo. Those are good numbers for an NBC sitcom, but this is CBS, and that’s a steep drop-off from How I Met Your Mother. Expect CBS to keep it on a short leash, although considering how bad the sitcom was, they should cancel it immediately.
Mob Doctors (Fox) — 3.96 million viewers; 1.3 in the demo. This show is dead on arrival and may be the first cancellation of the season.
Animal Practice (NBC) — 5.1 million viewers; 1.4 in the demo. Slightly better than the Thursday night sitcoms, but not a good premiere number, either. In the demo, it’s not much better than Free Agents debuted with last season, and that show was canceled after three episodes. Poor Justin Kirk.
Guys with Kids (NBC) — 4.7 million viewers; 1.6 in the demo. Jimmy Fallon failed to bring in an audience for this. Any other network, and it’d be canceled in a matter of weeks. It may stick around for a couple of months because this is NBC.
Somewhere in Between
New Girl (Fox) — 5.3 million viewers; 2.7 in the demo. Those numbers are significantly down from its premiere last season, but I have to think that the ratings will be much, much higher once time shifting is accounted for. The 2.7 is decent, but the 5.3 million viewers is much less than Go On. New Girl also received a 2.7 in the demo for its second episode of the night.
Ben and Kate (Fox) — 4.19 million viewers; 2.0 in the demo. A drop in viewers and in the demo following its New Girl lead-in. Will Fox let Ben and Kate find an audience? It’s probably on a short leash.
The New Normal (NBC) — 5.24 million viewers; 2.0 in the demo. Over on NBC, this would normally be a solid number, but it’s quite a bit down from its Go On lead in, so they’re probably fairly disappointed.
The Mindy Project (Fox) — 4.73 million viewers; 2.4 in the demo. I didn’t love the show, but I expected much more in the ratings department, but I also think this one will cultivate an audience, especially once the New Girl viewers return.
The Neighbors (ABC) — 9.2 million viewers; 3.3 in the demo. Those are huge numbers for any sitcom on the networks, EXCEPT the one following the Modern Family juggernaut. Down 5 million viewers from its lead-in, and I expect it will only get worse now that people have actually seen the show.
