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UPDATE: In the finals, The Following climbed to a 3.2 Live+same day rating among adults 18-49, edging Elementary for second place among all drama premieres this season.
PREVIOUS: Following a massive marketing campaign, Fox’s dark new drama The Following starring Kevin Bacon drew a 3.1/7 among adults 18-49 and 10.4 million total viewers (Live+Same Day) in its debut last night. It tied CBS’ Elementary as the second-highest-rated drama series premiere this season behind NBC’s Revolution. The Following more than doubled the premiere numbers of its predecessor in the slot, fall drama The Mob Doctor (1.5, 5.1 million), but its demo delivery was shy of the debut of Fox’s midseason drama in the hour last year, Alcatraz (3.3, 10 million). The Following built significantly on its Bones lead-in (2.3/6, 8.5 million), by 35% in 18-49 and 22% in total viewers. Bones also got a lift, climbing 10% from last week in 18-49 and posting a season high in total viewers. Fox had its highest-rated Monday night performance with scripted programming in a year.
Related: Promo Campaign For ‘The Following’ Embraces DVR Viewing
ABC’s The Bachelor (2.5/6) inched up for a second consecutive week, up 4% to a season high. Castle (2.0/5) was also up a tenth (5%) from last week.
CBS’ comedies dipped after their hot winter premieres last week which posted a slew of season highs. How I Met Your Mother (3.7/10, 10.1 million) was down 5% in 18-49. Following a Big Bang Theory rerun (3.2/8, 10.5 million), 2 Broke Girls (3.7/9, 11.5 million) was down 10%. Veteran HIMYM and sophomore 2 Broke Girls tied as the highest-rated programs of the night in 18-49, while 2 Broke Girls was the most watched. Mike & Molly (3.3/8, 10.9 million) was down 6% from last week but CBS’ 9-10 PM comedies still topped the premiere of Fox’s Following. At 10 PM, Hawaii Five-0 (2.2/6) didn’t get a boost from its special airing after the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, down 8% from last week. CBS won the night in 18-49 (3.0/8) and total viewers (10.3 million).
NBC’s The Biggest Loser maintained its ratings weight, tipping the scales at a 2.4/6 for a third consecutive week. But at 10 PM, new drama Deception (1.3/3) continued its freefall, down another 19% from last week after a 20% drop between its premiere and second airing.
On The CW, The Carrie Diaries (0.5/1 in 18-49) dropped a tenth (17%) from its disappointing debut last week. In its return to originals after more than a month, 90210 (0.4/1) was down 33%.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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Let me say that at 8:59 pm exactly I changed the channel from The Following to the Channel 9 news simply because I refuse to watch Kevin Bacon or contribute to any positive ratings of the show. Did I mention I can’t stand Kevin Bacon?
How old are you? 12?
Yet you feel you needed to waste your own time to tell us that? “The Following” is the greatest hour of drama television.
“Greatest” ??? I watched. It was… Okay-ish.
Although seems like the editing boiled down to — “this scene is dragging and boring — quick cut to something gory. Yeah, that’s better.”
Bones got a lift on it’s own merit, not because of The Following. Last night’s Bones was an exciting and intense epi.
I have no interest in the Carries Diaries. I never had any interest in “Sex (sluts) in the City”.
The Following was such a great pilot. Good for them
I like Kevin Bacon and watched–but I did not like this show, so count me out. Just did not live up to the hype.
The show was fantastic!!!
The Following. Possibly THE most unpleasant way to spend hour, though having your eyes gouged out by an actual serial killer would come close.
Well it’s your loss. Because the show was actually pretty damn amazing. It’s like the film ‘Seven,’ same tone, same gore. FOX got something right with this one. Networks need to give more attention to these types of shows (i.e. well made ones) so that they can TRY to compete with cable, quality wise.
Here’s the thing, as another reviewer pointed out:
“Here’s the thing, though: On FX or AMC or HBO, these characters would be more than ciphers. They would mean something, have something at their core beyond Williamson’s desire to push them around his elaborate game board as cruelly as possible. There are attempts to fill in Ryan’s back-story—and God knows Bacon does everything he can to make them play—but they’re often ludicrous and completely disconnected from everything else. The show develops character in terms of externalities, instead of internalities. Ryan has a sister. He once had a lover. This means that he is a Good Man. There’s no real attempt to engage with the character beyond the level of the action figure; everyone remains frustratingly opaque.”
The broadcast networks think to compete with basic cable is just show the gore. And yes, The Walking Dead offers tons of that, but it also offers the human condition -which is what is sadly lacking in their attempts at emulating shows like American Horror Story and The Walking Dead. There has to be some substance to the gory darkness, because if not, it just becomes a parade of violent scenes connected by a predictable template of good versus bad.
The reviewer adds that “the one storyline that works is mostly about sex and not about violence, and it’s also the one that gave Fox censors heart attacks. Violence becomes a kind of cheap conflict drug, and the show’s writers keep trying to get hit after hit. The effect wears thin, particularly for those familiar with horror movies, who will see every single twist coming.”
David, that’s an excellent review. However, I enjoyed it for what it was. Network RARELY lives up to the expectations of cable. I prefer not to dupe myself into setting the bar that high. Bacon did what he could with what he had. I was a dedicated L&O SVU fan for many, many years until it took a horrible turn. I think The Following has the same type of appeal – sick, twisted, psychopath antagonists and a team of good guys who often save the day. I thought the casting was excellent. Although the female cop worked my very last nerve that was more about her character than her casting. Overall, it was edible. Not like raw radish edible, but more like steamed edamame with a sprinkle of sodium.
The story was a somewhat a new twist on the same old “killer I put away is on the loose” procedural. Also, the directing was strong, the pacing good.
Were the characters lacking some depth? Yes. Agreed.
Was there a lot of stereotypical nonsense? Absolutely.
But there were a lot of surprising twists that were fun (Bacon’s FBI agent slept w/the killer’s wife years earlier, the hero *SPOILER* does save the day, etc.)
Overall, it showed great promise. I’m already a bit annoyed that there are obvious cast changes between the pilot and first episode (looks like Bacon’s FBI partner and other characters may not be returning), but that happens, and I’m going to hope the show will explore the characters more now that we’re beyond the setup, and that it won’t devolve into a Killer of the Week type of thing.
I can’t see THE FOLLOWING lasting very long. Production value is good, but who really wants to watch this type of show now? Frankly, I got bored 20 minutes into it.
Probably the same millions who watch Criminal Minds and CSI. Idiot.
Thats a pity you switched at 8:59. Bones had a 3 minute overrun so you don’t know how it ended.
I didn’t miss anything. What wrong coast are you on?
In Philadelphia the show froze 25 minutes in during a commercial and stayed that way until the 10 o’clock news. Maybe I’ll try watching again if it’s On Demand.
I’m going to continue watching The Following-for now. I guess with the premiere numbers Kevin continues to bring home the uh, Bacon-couldn’t resist. Nbc’s new show title basically reveals all you need to know. Nbc is the one with the “Deception” on its’ viewers-the deception being pretending this is a good show. Lots of Nbc’s shows unfortunately fall into that same category.
So CBS waste AFC slot. Let’s see super bowl slot. Its shame because CBS has best scripted and acted crime drama – Person of interest. And POI is hot and growing almsot hit 20 000 000 viewers.
19 767 000 with DVR and 4.5 in demo. SHAMEFUL. AT least SBC to advertise POI proper on super bowl and Grammys. Its next NCIS beast.
I thought The Following was quite good and captivating. Not boring at all. Perhaps some people just didn’t understand it.
I wonder if some series would do better if their presentations were not spread out over so much time. With audiences’ shorter attention spans, I think a concentrated run of 13-15 episodes in fall or winter or spring or summer is a better way to go that fits and starts. If the show does not have me, I lose interest. The CW is bad about this, but all the webs are at fault.
We’ve stopped watching tv because there is little worth watching and also because of the schizo scheduling and excessive commercials. Not only that, but these abbreviated 8-13 episode “seasons” are ridic. We just wait until a show accumulates a couple of “seasons” and perhaps belatedly watch it down the road.
Carries Diaries is adorable and enjoyable. It’s not over sexualized or edgy which is why it won’t last – but it’s a shame. It’s well written and the cast is adorable. And it actually has some heart, which programming in general, especially teen program, has been missing lately.
Yes. Watched by accident and it was surprisingly good.
Hey Lisa,I changed my tv at 7:59 because I refuse to watch David & Emily! Did I mention the two of them make me sick? Oh,and by the way Lisa-”Tag you’re it!”
The Following is a great show. Congrats to FOX and Kevin Bacon !
LMAO, Hawaii 50 dropped again. CBS really wasted the slot after the game on Sunday, Hawaii 50 has no fixing, the show is just horrible, the best sleeping pill in the market. They should had used that slot for another drama, a real hit, no the lame remake no one cares about,
Alcatraz is the greatest tv show in human history! Bring back the Traz, FOX!!!
CBS should have put “2 Broke Girls” in the Post-AFC Championship Game spot. If the show can bring in 11 million with no real lead in, I’m sure it could gain new viewers if given a chance to air after a high rated event.
CBS tried to breathe life into Hawaii 5-0 and it failed. That show has been on for a while and everyone has had a chance to sample it already.
The CW is a mess right now and Carrie Diaries is really hurting the network right now…either they see an uptick in ratings next week or this show could be 3-4 episodes and out and that would not look too good for Pedowitz, after hyping the damn thing to the moon. 90210 is about toast as well. Deception will probably be moved to Saturdays by the month’s end for its official walking papers.