Oscilloscope Takes U.S. Rights To ‘Reality’ 
‘Mud’: Did Cannes Save One Of The Best For … 
Will Smith’s ‘MIB3′ Beats … 
Cannes Podcast: Pete Hammond On ‘Lawless’, … 
Over-Achievers Of This Year’s Upfront 
Aussie Pay-TV Shakeup Impacts Hollywood 
USA: ‘Rebounding’ & ‘Modern … 
Interview: Philip Kaufman At Cannes With ‘Hemingway … 
R.I.P. Television Mogul Lee Rich 
Cannes Biz Shines Despite Wind & Rain 
Full 2011-2012 TV Season Series Rankings 
2011-12 Season Network Rankings: Fox Still On Top But Down, … 
HLN Set To Air Daytime Emmy Awards 
Grant Bowler Cast As Richard Burton Opposite Lindsay Lohan … 
UPDATE: Dish Network And Broadcasters Ask Courts To Decide … 
Cannes Surprise Screening: Change Of Plans On Juan Antonio … 
Kevin Hart In Talks To Join Kevin James In ‘Valet … 
Anthony Hopkins Up For ‘Red 2′ Villain; Can … 
Cannes Conflicted Over ‘The Paperboy’ As … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘American Idol’ Posts … 
Ghost Of 2004 Hovers Over L.A. Screenings As Int’l … 
In the battle of the crime drama spinoffs at 10 PM, it was a draw between veteran Law & Order: SVU and newcomer Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, which finished tied for first place in the 18-49 demo with a 2.5/7. (Suspect Behavior was tops in viewers, 9.9 million vs. 8 million) But it was good news for SVU, up 14% from last week, and bad news for Suspect Behavior, down 24% from its premiere last week. And that despite its lead-in, the mothership Criminal Minds series (3.4/9, 13.4 million), being up 6% in the demo. Also slightly up, by a tenth, was CBS’ veteran reality series Survivor (3.3/9, 11.2 million), which posted its lowest-rated premiere/telecast last week facing Fox’s American Idol for the first time.
An already overcrowded reality field at 8 PM became even more crowded last night with the season premiere of CW’s America’s Next Top Model (2.3 million, 1.3/4 in 18-34), which faced Idol, Survivor and NBC’s Minute to Win It. Model did OK under the circumstances, down 7% in 18-34 from its fall premiere and 21% in total viewers. And in 18-49 (1.1/3), it actually tied NBC’s Minute to Win It (1.2/3 from 8-10 PM, up 20% from last week.) But new CW reality series Shedding for the Wedding (1.2 million, 0.5/1) was off to a rough start. It still improved on the DOA debut performance of High Society (up 17% in 18-34) and Fly Girls (up 40% in 18-34) last March.
ABC’s two midseason Wednesday series took ratings swings in opposite directions. In its third week, comedy Mr. Sunshine (2.4/6) was down 11%, following a 30% drop last Wednesday. On the bright side, Off the Map (1.7/5) up 13% from last week despite its lead-in’s dropoff. The medical drama still finished distant third in the 10 PM hour. The other 3 ABC series stayed close to their numbers from last week: The Middle (2.4/7) was up 4%, Better with You (1.8/5) was flat, while Modern Family (4.1/11) was down 5% for a season low.
Fox’s American Idol (7.9/21, 22.6 million) once again towered over the competition. It was down 4% from last Wednesday in 18-49 and 9% from the comparable episode last season.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
Loading ...
Last nights Mr Sunshine was one of the worst things I have ever seen. The first 2 were funny but last nights was just awful. I didnt laugh once. I cant believe this is what is keeping Cougar Town off the air…
Please put all the FRIENDS’ alumni on ABC out of their misery and cancel their shows. They’re NOT funny. They had their day in the sun. Make room for new less jowly faces.
Matt Le Blanc was fantastic on Episodes and looks more handsome than ever.
Matt Perry is limited as a performer and his snarky delivery comes off as soulless.
I thought the first Mr. Sunshine was pretty good. The 2nd episode was so bad that I didn’t even bother to come back for # 3.
Suspect Behavior was awful. Totally not worth watching.
Cougartown took a while to heat up. I think Mr Sunshine can get there. But it needs fuller characters and more f*cking Puma.
Actually enjoyed last nights episode. Thought the back and forth between Forrest and the guy in jail was great.
As long as the show settles around that number it should be fine. Still won the hour.
For me to get involved in a show, there has to be at least one person that I really like, that really stands out. For NCIS, it’s Tony and Gibbs, with Criminal Minds its Reid. The CM spinoff is terrible. Not one character is anyone I want to watch. The concept is ok, they just hired the wrong people. I also stopped watching CSI when William Peterson left.
Criminal Minds SB lacks one key ingredient: characters. They got great actors (love Garofalo and Whitaker), but to what end if their chars are cookie cutter bland? Whatever happened to establishing character? In a sea of procedurals, something has to stand out… Last episode was superlame, it didn’t have any energy. Save the quotes and churches and come up with something halfway original ferchrissakes.
The backdoor pilot was lots of fun, b/c Coops did what they claim Red Cell would do: disregard bureaucracy, work in nontraditional ways, take risks. They don’t wear suits and Coops rides a motorcycle – whoa, is that it? That can’t be it.
Are they afraid that if they dare to give the characters distinct personalities, a shitstorm ensues each time they fire one of the actors? That’s not how it works.
Suspect Behavior sucks. Bad cast. None are likeable. Bad writing. It will keep dropping. And I cannot stand Garofalo.
Who gave Garofolo this role? She has NO dramatic acting CHOPS. I’ve never seen Forrest act as if he has no clue what he’s doing on screen. He is a phenomenal powerful Oscar winning actor surrounded by awful actors. Take this show out of its misery, please.
Suspect Behavior needs better writing. Garafalo needs an acting refresh course. she peeked on Seinfeld.
Mr.Sunshine – Why bother. Matthew Perry looks tired and bored as does the show after three episodes.
I never thought I’d be writing this, but Idol has become must see TV for me. The level of singing talent is great and these folks have a brain too. Lopez and Tyler have brought a fresh energy to the proceedings and their sincerity comes through. No comparison to last seasons dullards of Degeneres and what’s her name.
Okay who is in charge of unscripted at The CW and how do they still have a job?
Fly Girls, High Society, Plain Jane and now Shedding For The Wedding… all terrible ideas, badly executed and the sort of show even cable wouldn’t do.
You can’t keep riding the Top Model coattails forever!
I hated CM SB. Who casted that show? What were they thinking? No wonder it lost a quarter of it’s audience.
Y is Mary hart still on ent 2nite????
Thought she retired ???????
Nancys not making it????????
What???????
Are you people kidding me??? You trash a show after two or three episodes? If it were up to most of you on this thread, “Cheers” and “Hill Street Blues” would have been cancelled by the second episode!!! Character development takes time and this need for instant gratification is exactly what is wrong with T.V. programming today! A reality series has to be reduced to the worst of “Jerry Springer” if there isn’t a freak within two minutes of the credits…boring, not going to watch. I’m just going to keep reading so I don’t become invested and disappointed when the shows aren’t renewed.
I had high hopes for CM Suspect Behavior. Forest Whitaker is fantastic as always, but the rest of the cast is wooden and boring.
Janeane Garofalo was – at one time – charming, funny, and appeared to be relatively intelligent. Alas, time has revealed her to be nothing more than a bitter and angry person, suffering from the all too common disease of ‘Hollywooditis’, convinced of her own brilliance and moral superiority. She is one of three actors I can not watch. Sorry to say it, but even Whitaker can’t save this show. Sad.
I hate ABC for NOT putting Better Off Ted in this time slot. Instead, we get Mr. Sunshine. One-tenth of the humor of BOT, one-fifth the quirkiness, and none of the brilliance. But, hey, it’s got that dude from Friends! So that’s something.
My husband and I are thoroughly enjoying Mr. Sunshine!!! Idol is great, but The Middle, Modern Family, and/or Mr. Sunshine get top billing in our house…and we’re both singers, so any show which beats out Idol must be worth watching!!