ABC Hot...and NBC Not...On Monday

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERTuesday, March 31, 2009 Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:ABC Dances to Victory; NBC Continues to Struggle Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest Executive Shuffle TV Trivia Time: Kiss My Grits!______________________________________________________________________ Prime-Time Metered Market Monday Ratings:ABC Dances to Victory; NBC Continues to Struggle Monday 3/30/09 HH Rtg/Shr ABC 10.7/17CBS 7.4/12Fox 6.9/10NBC 3.9/ 6CW 1.6/ 2 ---------- -Percent Change From the Year-Ago Evening (Monday, March 31, 2008):CW: +60, Fox: +47, ABC: +14, CBS: - 9, NBC: -25 ---------- Note: The fast affiliate results for Monday will be posted at PIFeedback by 12 p.m. ET. Go to the website, click on Ratings Box (the first category), then Last Night’s Results, and Monday, March 30, 2009. ---------- -Yesterday’s Winners:Dancing With the Stars (ABC), Two and a Half Men (CBS), House (Fox), CSI: Miami (CBS) -Yesterday’s Losers (Excluding Repeats):Chuck (NBC), Heroes (NBC) ---------- -Ratings Breakdown: ABC opened the week on a typically winning note care of another two-hour edition of Dancing With the Stars, which averaged a rock-solid 12.7 rating/19 share in the overnights from 8-10 p.m., building by half-hour as follows: Dancing With the Stars (ABC)8:00 p.m.: 11.5/18 (#1)8:30 p.m.: 12.7/19 (#1)9:00 p.m.: 13.2/20 (#1)9:30 p.m.: 13.5/20 (#1) Effective next Monday, Dancing With the Stars will air for only 90-minutes, leading into the debut of new sitcom Surviving Suburbia (which was originally scheduled on the CW on Sundays last fall). Surviving Suburbia features Full House Dad Bob Saget and former Men in Trees co-star Cynthia Stevenson as a couple married for 20 years with two kids. As for the double elimination on Dancing With the Stars tonight, while I wish it was Steve-O and Steve Wozniak, the Apple co-founder and Playboy’s Holly Madison are likely to be going home tonight. There is just no way Steve Wozniak will survive another week. Dancing With the Stars led into week four of drama Castle, which matched its week-ago overnight performance at a 6.7/11 at 10 p.m. Take a look at the four-week metered market track: Castle (ABC)March 9: 7.4/12March 16: 7.5/13March 23: 6.7/11March 30: 6.7/11 Second-place CBS had a typically respectable Monday with its combination of The Big Bang Theory (#2: 5.8/ 9), How I Met Your Mother (#2: 5.3/ 8), Two and a Half Men (#2: 8.6/13), Rules of Engagement (#2: 6.9/10) and CSI: Miami (#1: 8.8/15). The next time someone tells you the sitcom is “dead,” remind them of The Big Bang Theory, the funniest show currently on the air. As for Two and a Half Men, the growth of 62 percent out of How I Met Your Mother was significant as usual. Third overall in the overnights was Fox care of House (#2: 7.3/12), which remains a force to reckon with, and 24 (##3: 6.4/10), which fits well out of it. But fourth-place NBC’s Monday line-up of Chuck (#4: 3.4/ 5), Heroes (#4: 3.6/ 5) and Medium (#3: 4.6/ 7) remained considerably marred by the collapse of Heroes. The only positive worth noting is the growth of 28 percent for Medium out of Heroes. The CW capped off this final Monday in March with the young-female driven Gossip Girl (#5: 1.6/ 2) and One Tree Hill (#5: 1.7/ 3), which never generate much interest in the overnights. Let’s wait and see what the female demos look like. Source: Nielsen Media Research data _______________________________________________________________________________________ Ratings Box:What’s Hot/What’s Not -Updated Ratings in Syndicated Magazine:What follows are the updated results for all syndicated magazine strips based on households and key women 25-54 and adults 25-54. Percent change from the comparable year-ago period appears in parentheses. Of the six, only Warner Bros.’ sophomore TMZ, which has been renewed for two more seasons, is on the plus side. Households:Entertainment Tonight (CBS): 4.4 rating (-10), Inside Edition (CBS): 3.0 (-14), TMZ (Warner Bros.): 2.2 (+ 5), Access Hollywood (NBC Universal): 2.1 (-16), The Insider (CBS): 1.9 (-21), Extra (Warner Bros.): 1.7 (-11) Women 25-54:Entertainment Tonight (CBS): 2.7 (-16), Inside Edition (CBS): 1.6 (-20), TMZ (Warner Bros.): 1.5 (+ 7), Access Hollywood (NBC Universal): 2.1 (-16), Extra (Warner Bros.): 1.1 (- 8), The Insider (CBS): 1.1 (-27) Adults 25-54:Entertainment Tonight (CBS): 2.1 (-13), TMZ (Warner Bros.): 1.4 (+ 8), Inside Edition (CBS): 1.4 (_13), Access Hollywood (NBC Universal): 1.1 (-21), Extra (Warner Bros.): 0.9 (-10), The Insider (CBS): 0.9 (-25) Source: Nielsen Media Research data_______________________________________________________________________________ On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Tuesday 3/31/09 ABC: 8:00 p.m. Better Off Ted (R) 8:30 p.m. Better Off Ted (R) 9:00 p.m. Dancing With the Stars Results Show 10:00 p.m. Cupid (premiere) CBS: 8:00 p.m. NCIS 9:00 p.m. The Mentalist 10:00 p.m. Without a Trace NBC: 8:00 p.m. The Biggest Loser: Couples (two hours)10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU Fox: 8:00 p.m. American Idol (80-minutes) 9:20 p.m. Osbournes: Reloaded (premiere, 40-minutes) CW: 8:00 p.m. Reaper 9:00 p.m. 90210 MTNV 8:00 p.m. Street Patrol 8:30 p.m. Street Patrol 9:00 p.m. Jail 9:30 p.m. Jail (R) Of Note on Cable:-My Boys (TBS): 10:30 p.m. ER (season premiere) ----------New Program Descriptions Cupid (ABC) The Scoop:A larger than life individual (Bobby Cannavale), who may or may not be the Roman God of Love, is sent to earth to bring 100 couples to together in this romantic dramedy remake. The Reality:If the original version in 1998-99 with Jeremy Piven as Cupid did not work, why try again? If first you don’t’ succeed, let it go! ---------- The Osbournes Reloaded (Fox) From the current Mr. TV column, “Ozzy and ER” The Osbourne foursome—Ozzy, Sharon, Jack and Kelly—are back in prime time, albeit temporarily, in a series of variety specials on Fox called The Osbournes: Reloaded, which launches out of American Idol this Tuesday. If you have watched Fox recently, I’m sure you have seen the inane promos of clan Osbourne headlining their own variety show. That’s right, six years after they rocketed to fame via their self-titled MTV docu-reality series, they are back in a new format featuring skits, impersonations, audience interaction and candid camera style pranks.Just when you thought they were gone forever, or at least on the D-list, the Osbournes are back at their craft, spitting out obscenities and creating mayhem as they take part in groundbreaking TV like working undercover in a fast food restaurant. And who could resist the “Littlest Osbourne” segment in which young tykes imitate Ozzy and Sharon as they carpet bomb viewers with four-letter words Isn’t that just adorable?As a special “treat,” you’ll even see spoiled brat Kelly belt out a song or two. Stock up on earplugs and barf bags for this sonic abuse. “The Osbournes are back, and television will never be the same again,” according to the promo. That’s putting it mildly, I think. Fox’s decision to air only one episode of The Osbournes: Reloaded now (trimmed to 40 minutes, following an 80-minute edition of American Idol) and schedule the remaining installments sporadically means that this show is just plain garbage. I have not seen variety look this bad since The Brady Bunch Hour in 1977 (remember the “fake” Jan?), The Chuck Barris Rah Rah Show in 1978 (no, I am not kidding) and the bizarre Pink Lady in 1980. What worked in reality will certainly not work in variety and I imagine most curiosity seekers will scramble for the remote midway through Tuesday’s telecast. For the complete column, click here:________________________________________________________________________ TV Tidbits:Notes of Interest -More Friday Night Lights:That’s right, the rumors are true. Despite the ongoing anemic ratings, critically acclaimed NBC drama Friday Night Lights has been renewed for two additional 13-episode seasons. NBC’s partnership with DirecTV will remain intact, with the episodes bowing on DirecTV in the fall and airing on NBC in midseason. -Being Erica Marathon on SOAPnet:Recently introduced original series Being Erica will be repeated in marathon format on SOAPnet, with episodes 6-11 telecast from 3-9 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 2. The final two original installments will air on Thursday, May 7 and Thursday, May 14, respectively. -True Blood, Season Two:Mark your calendars: HBO has announced that the second season of drama True Blood will kick-off on Sunday, June 14. -Yeah, Right!:There is a rumor circulating that Simon Cowell is “burnt out from work” and may be leaving Fox’s American Idol after this season. Come on now…haven’t we heard this before? And since the show is only on the air for five months out of the year, what is the big deal? ________________________________________________________________________ Executive Shuffle Lifetime Networks has named Lindsay Drewel as Vice President of Publicity and Talent Relations and Les Eisner as Vice President of Corporate Communications. Drewel, who comes from her own public relations firm in Washington, D.C., will oversee the publicity efforts for all of Lifetime Networks’ programming, including movies, series, awards campaigns and events. Eisner, most recently Executive Vice President at The Lippin Group, will manage the corporate communications operations, including handling programming, distribution, ad sales, digital, marketing, research and advocacy activities within the trade and business media. _________________________________________________________________________ TV Trivia Time:Kiss My Grits! What was the name of the town where Florence Jean Castleberry was from on sitcom Alice and spin-off Flo? a) Cowtownb) Grovervillec) Intercoursed) Lawrencevillee) Sassyfrass The answer to yesterday’s question… What was Lou Grant’s favorite alcoholic drink on The Mary Tyler Moore Show? bourbonginrunscotchvodka Is: d) scotch. Good ol’ Mr. Grant was known to tie one over every now and then. All together now… Who can turn the world on with her smile? Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? Well it's you girl, and you should know it With each glance and every little movement you show it Love is all around, no need to waste it You can have a town, why don't you take it You're gonna make it after all You're gonna make it after all -Current kudos goes to:Becky Beaty, Paul Certo, Larry Collins, Tom Condosta, Mark Cosenza, Arleen Fong, Jan Frazier, Adam Giagni, Maureen Goldman, Geoffrey Gordon, Barb Hemberger, Kerry Hughes, Bob Ingersoll, Marie Lefevre Karp, Gordon Purcell, Colleen Roth, Ron Salmon, Elaine Stevens, Joe Swaney, Ronnie Tallant, Abyna Zimmerman

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ABC Hot...and NBC Not...On Monday

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