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ABC’s fairytale drama Once Upon A Time made a solid return last night with a 3.8/10 in adults 18-49, a tenth below the fast national for its big series debut last fall. It was the highest-rated scripted series of the night despite Fox’s lineup getting an NFL boost. Soap Revenge posted a 3.2/7 in its second-season premiere in the new Sunday 9 PM slot. It was a respectable showing — a tenth below its series premiere last fall in the Wednesday 10 PM slot with a huge Modern Family lead-in and up 7% from the final season opener of Desperate Housewives in the Sunday 9 PM berth last September. It also dominated CBS’ The Good Wife (1.8/4) in the time period. But ABC’s new spooky drama 666 Park Avenue (2.2/5) was off to a slow start at 10 PM, down 29% from last fall’s debut of the now-defunct Pan Am.
NBC won Premiere Sunday with football. In the metered markets, the New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles game drew a 15.6 rating/25 share, up 23% from last year’s week-four game (Jets-Ravens). It was the best Week 4 Sunday Night Football telecast ever and NFL’s best Week 4 primetime game in 16 years. It was also the highest-rated primetime NFL game airing during broadcast’s premiere week since 1996.
CBS’ Sunday lineup was down double-digits year-to-year across the board. 60 Minutes, featuring an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger, did a 1.8/5 in 18-49, down 22% from last year’s season premiere. The Amazing Race (2.5/6), which just earned another best reality competition series Emmy, was down 17% for its lowest-rated premiere ever. Also logging their lowest-rated openers ever were The Good Wife (1.8/4, down 18% from last September) and The Mentalist (2.1/5, down 25% from its premiere on Thursday last fall) in its new Sunday time slot.
For a second straight Premiere Sunday, Fox had a football overrun, buoying ratings and making year-to-year comparisons fair. The Simpsons launched its 25th season with a 3.7/10, down 5% from last year. Family Guy (3.3/8) was down 20%; American Dad (2.5/6) down 17%. The only show bucking the down trend was Bob’s Burgers (2.5/6) at 8:30 PM, which was up 32% from its last year’s debut in March with a much smaller lead-in.
Last night also marked the season premieres of Showtime’s Dexter and Homeland. Their ratings will be released later this morning.
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Isn’t part of the reason for ABC’s 10pm falloff the HBO and Showtime competition? Sunday nights are getting overcrowded. Wonder if people will catch up on DVR or just give up.
Hellish beginning for 666 Park Avenue.
Park Ave wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. We sampled it but probably won’t be signing a long-term lease.
Yeaay, Bob’s Burgers is back
’666 Park Avenue’ might have worked as a movie but as a series it will get old very fast. It was hard to keep up with all of the tortured guests and weird, unanswered possibilities – nope, once is enough for me.
666 may have premiered low but it won the hour on broadcast…
No it did not, football did.
666 Park was really good. I wasn’t sure what to expect with the concept and the characters and the sustainability, but I will def. check back in next week. between Revenge and 666 theya re a good fit and ABC has a good night on its hands. Once doesn’t really fit with them, but oh well maybe they will swap that out someday.
Anyway, Revenge was a little slow at the start with the flashbacks and the mom stuff, but started to pick up once Emily got her “mission” to help Charlotte at the party. Not liking the new direction for Daniel Grayson though… it’s like he has been sidelined into a villian who pops up every so often. He’s too talented for that.
Anyway, will def be back for 666. Between that and Last Resort ABC easily has the 2 best pilots on TV this year.
Yeah, Sunday night is becoming way too ridiculous, as far as good programming goes, and good shows will suffer for it. The same audience watching Revenge watches The Good Wife…so watch Wife’s numbers grow more in DVR usage. As for the 10pm, everyone’s watching America’s new darling Homeland. 666 Park Avenue doesn’t stand a chance…because of that, and because, let’s face it, horror shows don’t do well on network television…and that pilot left a lot to be desired. All set up with mostly no real character dynamics/development. And we can’t blame the “too many characters” ideology, because Revenge and Lost had huge casts, and their pilots were perfect.
I think it’s time the networks start flushing out their Sunday night shows and dispersing them throughout the week where they may have a better chance and not against so much steep comptetion. (I’m looking at you, CBS…never should have moved The Good Wife from Tuesdays!)
Wow, I’m surprised 666 Park Ave didn’t do better with those lead-ins but Dexter/Homeland are killer competition with the way Dexter ended last season and Homeland’s Emmy wins, and the audience overlaps significantly.
When you look at the quality of dramas on pay and even basic cable, how many more years do scripted dramas have on broadcast television? So long as the FCC continues to tightly restrain what can be said and shown on broadcast TV, particularly in the 10:00 hour, broadcast TV is going to struggle. The concept of 666 isn’t horrible, but the practical application of 666, in on-screen content, is unfulfilling.
I also think that the frequency and duration of commercial breaks really needs to be examined. It’s tough to sit through 22-minutes of commercials for 38-minutes of entertainment.
……not everybody can afford HBO or SHOWTIME….grown up and see the reality (not from the TV)
ABC should have kept GCB!
666 to me has major casting misfires. I’d read it and when I heard O’Quinn and Williams I knew it was all wrong. Terry does his thing well but it’s not this, you needed a devilish charm, charisma, that glint in the eye. He’s dull as paint drying in this and totally miscast. Vanessa? A personality not an actress. This is one of those concepts where the casting needed to elevate it, not the opposite. .
I’m wondering, did you watch the show? Terry O’Quinn was anything but dull. Vanessa Williams did not have many scenes in the pilot but she was very touching in the scene where her character talks about the loss of her daughter. Vanessa Williams performance is great because it humanizes her character makes you realize that she is not all evil and may actually have a heart.
..ARE YOU KIDDING???????????? terry o’ quinn is perfect for this role. he can be as evil as needed….
Looks like folks are finally getting tired of The Good Wife. Interesting premise, but they stretched it out into just one more unrealistic preachy legal drama, because lord knows we don’t have plenty of those already.
Swap 666 with Scandal, swap the Tuesday 9 p.m. comedies with The Last Resort. Done.
666 looks horrible. Revenge was really good.
666 Park ave was really good actually. I was surprised. I liked the writing and the cast. I think it needs to dig a little deeper and felt that the pilot missed some dramatic moments. But overall good job. I also think it needs more humor, doorguy was the only funny thing in it.
I haven’t seen 666 Park Avenue but I bet ABC would have done big numbers if they would have revived the Touched By An Angel show to close the night. If they’re looking to keep in the spiritual realm of lead-off hit, Once Upon A Time, Touched By An Angel would be a perfect closer. Look into it, ABC.
Say goodbye soon to 666 and the CBS shows are starting to suffer as Sundays have always been a weak night for them. Surprised at the ratings for Amazing Race though, one of the better reality shows on TV. Maybe doubling the prize money to two mil might be watering the show down a bit.
Revenge is so badly written! I couldn’t believe the dialogue. No subtext anywhere. Just flat out text. It was horrible as if the audience were hyperactive 2nd graders. Was this script noted to death by the network? It sure felt like it. LOve the actors and the premise. I hope ABC doesn’t ruin it with their bad ideas.
666 Park is a great script. Terry O’Quinn and Vanessa Williams are inspired but the rest of the regulars have no spark. They’re like flawless blow up dolls who can’t act. This comes from the top at WBTV and their poor casting choices. They believe in beauty over talent. PR would never allow Claire Danes or Bryan Cranston on a WB show in a lead role. Gilmore Girls, West Wing, ER all had talented and unique actors not based on beauty but talent. WBTV has truly moved away from that at their own price.
Revenge is well written script which i hope will run without being cut like most tv shows midseason these days. Once upon a Time is a new concept which doesn’t really fit in with ABC’s shows but is wonderful, but for maybe a younger teen audience. Still ABC should keep both Revenge and Once upon a time for a couple more seasons. 666 Park Avenue has potential, but needs a less dry of a script. The plot and is new and could be expanded on for at least another couple of seasons. Adding some humor or more character would have benefited this show.