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EMMYS: David E. Kelley On ‘Harry’s Law’s Nominations And Cancellation

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday July 19, 2012 @ 3:11pm PDTTags: David E. Kelley, Emmys, Harry's law, Kathy Bates
Nellie Andreeva

Series cancelled before their time rarely fare well at the Emmys in their last go-around. But NBC’s Harry’s Law defied the odds, landing two noms for its second and final season — the same as last year. Star Kathy Bates earned her second nom in the best actress in a drama series category, and Jean Smart was nominated in the guest actress field for her recurring role as D.A. Roseanna Remmick. David E. Kelley’s legal dramedy was nominated in the same categories last year, winning for guest actor (Paul McCrane). Emmy winner Kelley said he didn’t have any expectations going into Emmy season. “Once you out of sight, you tend to go out of mind,” he said. Nevertheless, “we knew we had first-class actress in Kathy Bates, and Jean Smart had a terrific turn. We just adore Kathy and still feel that she deserved better with the show.”

Related: NBC Cancels ‘Harry’s Law’ After 2 Seasons

Bates proved her chops with two Emmy noms today, including a guest-starring nod for her her turn as Charlie Harper’s ghost on Two And A Half Men. “I’m thrilled and honored most particularly about Harry’s Law which has been near and dear to my heart and I miss so much already,” said the actress, who shared her sadness over the cancellation of the series back in May.

Harry’s Law was a TV rarity — a series with a sixtysomething woman as the lead. It faced an uphill battle from the get-go, launching in midseason 2011 with no promotion, Kelley said. “They didn’t think the show had any chance but surprisingly, we did catch on in our first year and over the two-year run, we were (NBC’s) No. 1-No. 2 scripted series (in total viewers),” he said. While very soft in the 18-49 demo, Harry’s Law drew audiences. This past season that led to the cancellation, it was NBC’s second most-watched drama series with 8.8 million viewers, just a smidgen behind Smash, which had a Super Bowl-boosted launch and NBC’s biggest series, The Voice, as a lead-in. With those numbers, “we did hold out some hope that, on a network that does not have a whole lot of success, we may have a chance, but it didn’t work out at the end,” Kelley said. “They loved the show but said they couldn’t monetize it because the viewers were too old. The fact that they would say that was scary, the idea that they can’t monetize 8-9 million viewers gave me a pause.” Because he loved the experience working on the show, Kelley wanted to keep going and pondered starting a “fight to change the nature of the business.” But being a storyteller at heart, Kelley ultimately chose to move on and is now working on his new series, TNT’s medical drama Monday Mornings, which was picked up to series the same week Harry’s Law was cancelled. The cancellation struck a chord with fans who still mourn the loss of their show. Even this morning I received a “Please help bring back Harry’s Law!” email from a fan, one of hundreds I’ve gotten since May. My item about the cancellation of Harry’s Law has become one of Deadline’s top stories ever, gathering some 900 comments to date and counting, virtually all lamenting the show’s demise.

Kelley said that the fans’ reaction to the cancellation has been gratifying. “If you you go out, it’s better to go out loved,” he said. And despite NBC’s axing of his show, Kelley says he doesn’t hold a grudge and respects new NBC topper Bob Greenblatt. Kelley’s move to TNT for Monday Mornings, hiss first cable series, does not mean a move away from broadcast, he said. “I still love broadcast TV; I started off on LA Law, so I have strong feelings for NBC and want to be part of its resurrection if that happens.”

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NBC Brass On Amping Up Comedy, Axing ‘Harry’s Law’ & Keeping ‘Whitney’, ‘Center’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday May 13, 2012 @ 11:34am PDTTags: Harry's law, NBC, Smash, Whitney
Nellie Andreeva

NBC is bringing back 13 comedy series — seven new and six returning — vs. 9 dramas — five new and four returning, so it was clear its schedule was going to be comedy-heavy. But the network is making … Read More »

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NBC Cancels ‘Harry’s Law’ After 2 Seasons

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday May 11, 2012 @ 2:44pm PDTTags: Harry's law, NBC
Nellie Andreeva

Harry's Law CancelledNBC has pulled the plug on one of its most watched series, David E. Kelley‘s Harry’s Law starring Kathy Bates. The Oscar winner posted the news on Twitter. “Sad news today. Harry’s Law will not … Read More »

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Where Are NBC’s ‘The Office’, ‘Parks & Recreation’ And ‘Up All Night’ Renewals?

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday May 10, 2012 @ 7:53pm PDTTags: Big Deals TV, Harry's law, Parks & Recreation, The Office, Up All Night, Whitney
Nellie Andreeva

While Fox wrapped its new series pickups and existing series renewals within a couple of hours yesterday, for NBC, whose upfront presentation is on the same day as Fox, it has become a week-long ordeal. After early series pickup of comedy Go On and renewals of Grimm and Smash last month, the network began its orders/renewals in earnest on Monday morning. Four days later, it’s still nowhere near done.

NBC’s highest-rated comedy series, The Office, is yet to get a renewal. (With stars Ed Helms, John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer poised to return that now appears imminent.) The fate of NBC’s second most watched drama series, Harry’s Law (8.8 million viewers, only a fraction behind the Voice-boosted Smash with 9.0 million), is hanging in the balance. There’s no word on Parks & Recreation, Up All Night and Whitney. The Office, Parks & Recreation and Up All Night are all fully expected to return, and I hear their renewals may be done in one fell swoop. Buzz is also encouraging on Harry’s Law, which I hear is eyed for a potential 13-episode midseason order. The multi-camera Whitney is on the fence but not dead as the sole multi-camera comedy series picked up for next season so far, newbie Guys With Kids, is still looking for a companion.

Which brings us to the NBC pilots. Word is the network has not officially released those that haven’t been picked up despite speculation that it is pretty much done with its orders. That includes two of NBC’s highest-testing and well-received pilots, the multi-camera comedies Daddy’s Girls and Lady Friends, which had been in limbo but presumed dead. (Will ABC or CBS make a play for them?) On the drama side, none of the pilots that have not been picked up already seem to be in contention anymore. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Harry’s Law’ Hits Low, ‘GCB’ Rises

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday March 26, 2012 @ 8:46am PDTTags: GCB, Harry's law, Once Upon a Time, Ratings
Nellie Andreeva

Harry's Law TV RatingsCBS appears poised to win Sunday night in adults 18-49 and total viewers with an NCAA basketball overrun that scrambled its fast-national averages. ABC’s Once Upon A Time (2.8/8) was down a tenth from last week … Read More »

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Seven Set For TV Academy Honors

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday March 13, 2012 @ 1:17pm PDTTags: Dr. Oz, Harry's law, Rescue Me

Television Academy Honors North Hollywood, CA, March 13, 2012 – The seven programs being honored at the Fifth Annual Television Academy Honors were announced today by multiple Emmy® Award-winning actress Dana Delany (Body of Proof), who will once again host the Honors presentation in May. The 2012 honorees are Dr. Oz, Five, Harry’s Law “Head Games,” Hot Coffee, Men of a Certain Age “Let the Sunshine In,” Rescue Me “344” and Women, War & Peace.

All of this year’s honorees use the power of television to create positive social change by focusing attention on such important issues as personal health, breast cancer, sports-related head injuries, the civil justice system, 9/11 first responders and the role women play as peace builders and creators of international law in global hotspots.

All of the recognized programs aired in 2011 on a diverse group of outlets: FX, HBO, LIFETIME, NBC, PBS, TNT and in syndication. The always-inspiring evening will take place at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Wednesday, May 2nd.

Recipients of the Fifth Annual Television Academy Honors are:

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NBC Delaying ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Premiere

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday January 13, 2012 @ 12:15pm PSTTags: Harry's law, NBC, The Celebrity Apprentice

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – January 13, 2012 – NBC will move the season premiere of “The Celebrity Apprentice” back one week to Sunday, February 19 (9-11 p.m. ET) from its previously announced debut of Sunday, February 12 (9-11 p.m.

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Ratings Rat Race: ‘Survivor’ Up, Everyone Else Down As CBS Tops Night In 18-49

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday December 8, 2011 @ 9:40am PSTTags: America's Next Top Model, Criminal Minds, CSI, Happy Endings, Harry's law, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Law & Order: SVU, Modern Family, Ratings Rat Race, Revenge, Suburgatory, Survivor: South Pacific, The Middle, The X Factor, TV Ratings, Up All Night
Nellie Andreeva

Fox and ABC, which have alternated at the top of the Wednesday 18-49 rankings this season, finished tied last night — but for second place, not first . Paced by Survivor, CBS (3.1/8) posted its first Wednesday demo win this season, edging Fox and ABC (3.0/8). Heading toward its season finale, Survivor: South Pacific (3.3/9) was up 6% from last week. Criminal Minds (3.4/8) was down 8% from its last original two weeks ago and CSI (2.5/7) was down 4%, with both series tying their season lows.

ABC’s series were up from the depressed ratings levels for their Thanksgiving Eve episodes, though those segments were labeled as specials and won’t count towards the shows’ season averages. Versus the most recent regular episodes on November 16, The Middle (2.8/8) was down a tenth fast national-to-fast national and Suburgatory (2.8/8) was flat (down a tenth from the final). Modern Family (5.0/13) was down 9% (11% from the final) to log its lowest-rated regular telecast to date, Happy Endings (2.9/7) was also down 9% and Revenge (2.4/6) was down 8%. Read More »

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Ratings Rat Race: So-So Debut For ‘I Hate My Teen Daughter’, ‘Harry’s Law’ Hits High

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday December 1, 2011 @ 9:33am PSTTags: America's Next Top Model, Grammy nominations, Harry's law, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Law & Order: SVU, Ratings Rat Race, Survivor: South Pacific, TV Ratings
Nellie Andreeva

Fox hasn’t been able to successfully launch a comedy series behind American Idol. Can The X Factor do the trick? Results from last night’s debut of new multicamera comedy I Hate My Teenage Daughter after the singing competition are inconclusive. The sitcom drew a 2.8/7 in adults 18-49. That was down 20% from the last comedy to launch behind Idol, last spring’s Breaking In. (That series ended up being canceled by the network before getting miraculously resurrected over the summer.) Of course, Breaking In had a stronger lead-in from Idol (6.8 demo rating) than IHMTD had from X Factor (3.7/10), which was even with its last Wednesday edition two weeks ago and up 16% from the Tuesday outing last week. With ABC’s lineup led by megahit Modern Family (2.6/7) in repeats and CBS off-pattern, Fox (3.4/9, 9.9 million) won the night in 18-49 and total viewers. Meanwhile, ABC’s Happy Endings (2.1/5) scored its best repeat numbers. Read More »

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NBC To Give ‘Harry’s Law’ Full-Season Order; ‘Prime Suspect’ Gone?

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday November 14, 2011 @ 2:54pm PSTTags: Grimm, Harry's law, NBC, Prime Suspect, TV Schedule
Nellie Andreeva

Harry’s Law is featured on NBC’s just-released midseason schedule, so this seams like a foregone conclusion, but word is that NBC is giving a full-season to David E. Kelley’s sophomore series. Also looking good to get a back order … Read More »

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NBC’s Midseason Schedule: ‘Up All Night’, ‘Whitney’, ‘Rock Center’, ‘Harry’s Law’ Move; ‘Community’ Benched; ‘Suspect’ Pulled

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday November 14, 2011 @ 2:44pm PSTTags: Are You There Chelsea, Awake, Harry's law, Midseason, NBC, Prime Suspect, Rock Center With Brian Williams, Smash, The Firm, TV Schedule, Up All Night, Whitney
Nellie Andreeva

NBC To Give ‘Harry’s Law’ Full-Season Order; ‘Prime Suspect’ Gone?

After a pretty dismal fall, NBC is shaking things up in midseason with several scheduling changes. Gone from the lineup is struggling freshman Prime Suspect (NBC says it hasn’t made a final decision on its cancellation), while four series — Whitney, Up All Night, Harry’s Law and Rock Center With Brian Williams — are on the move. NBC is creating a multi-camera comedy block in the 8-9 PM Wednesday hour with Whitney and midseason comedy Are You There, Chelsea (formerly Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea; No alcohol-flavored title in the family hour.) The block, which will debut January 11, brings together two female comedians with similar sensibility in Whitney Cummings and Chelsea Handler, on whose books Chelsea is based. A month later, the two comedies will be followed by low-rated newsmagazine Rock Center With Brian Williams. It will take over the Wednesday 9 PM slot from Harry’s Law, which is moving to Sundays. Rock Center had to move out of the Monday 10 PM slot to make room for NBC’s highest-profile new series this season, Broadway drama Smash, which will premiere on February 6 and run in the post-The Voice slot as originally scheduled. NBC’s other changes for midseason include new comedy Up All Night moving to Whitney‘s Thursday 9:30 PM slot; 30 Rock replacing Community on Thursdays at 8 PM; and the John Grisham adaptation The Firm, originally slated for a Sunday midseason run, sliding into Prime Suspect‘s Thursday 10 PM slot. The order for Community has not been reduced, so it’s unclear what NBC will do with the remaining episodes of the college-set comedy. Missing from the midseason lineup is NBC’s ambitious new drama series Awake, which recently took an unplanned break to work on scripts. Here is NBC’s midseason schedule (with premiere dates) that also includes new reality series Fashion Star on Tuesdays at 10 PM and the return of Celebrity Apprentice on Sundays: Read More »

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NBC Poised To Make Scheduling Changes

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday November 14, 2011 @ 1:26pm PSTTags: Grimm, Harry's law, NBC, NBC Scheduling, Rock Center With Brian Williams, TV Schedule, Up All Night, Whitney
Nellie Andreeva

NBC Unveils Midseason Schedule, Moves ‘Whitney’, ‘Up All Night’, ‘Rock Center’ & ‘Harry’s Law’

I hear that NBC is about to make some scheduling moves. The network is keeping mum, but there is speculation that rookie comedies Up All Night and Whitney, both with full-season orders, may be swapping places. Up All Night is getting murdered in the Wednesday 8 PM slot, so it will probably benefit from a protected run behind The Office. It also is single-camera and has a workplace element like the rest of NBC’s Thursday’s lineup. Up All Night will likely move to the Thursday 9:30 PM spot, but Whitney may be a bit too racy for the Wednesday family hour. Also possibly on the move is NBC’s new fairytale drama Grimm, which started off strong in the Friday 9 PM slot but has been slipping since. While the series’ long-term potential is still unclear, given the dearth of strong prospects at NBC this fall — especially on the drama side — the network probably should give the newbie a shot. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: CMA Awards On Par, Top ‘X Factor’; ‘Harry’s Law’ Rises

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday November 10, 2011 @ 9:09am PSTTags: CMA Awards, Criminal Minds, Harry's law, Law & Order: SVU, Ratings Rat Race, Survivor: South Pacific, The X Factor, TV Ratings, Up All Night
Nellie Andreeva

ABC’s CMA Awards (4.8/12 in adults 18-49, 16.3 million viewers) was unshaped last night by going head-to-head with another music performance program, Fox’s The X Factor. The CMA Awards were actually up a tenth (2%) in 18-49 from last year … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: World Series Opens Lower, ‘Happy Endings’ & ‘Revenge’ Slip

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday October 20, 2011 @ 9:32am PDTTags: Criminal Minds, CSI, Happy Endings, Harry's law, Law & Order: SVU, Modern Family, Ratings Rat Race, Revenge, Suburgatory, Survivor: South Pacific, The Middle, TV Ratings, Up All Night, World Series
Nellie Andreeva

The lackluster baseball postseason on Fox continued last night with Game 1 of the World Series. Time-adjusted ratings for the game won’t be available until later today, but in the fast nationals the face-off between the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals is tracking lower than the comparable numbers for last year’s Game 1 between the Rangers and the San Francisco Giants. Still, Fox is projected to win Wednesday night in both adults 18-49 and total viewers.

It was a case of ratings gods giveth and taketh away for ABC’s Happy Endings (3.0/7, 6.9 million) and Revenge (2.5/7, 7.9 million). After posting demo-rating increases of 14% and 8%, respectively, last week, both series gave back most of the gains, down 9% and 7%, respectively, from their fast nationals last Wednesday. (Happy Endings was adjusted down last week.) The rest of the ABC lineup was mostly status quo: The Middle (2.9/9, 9 million) and Suburgatory (3.1/8) were each up a tenth from their fast nationals last week, and Modern Family (5.6/14, 12.9 million) was down a tenth but still ranked as the top program of the night in 18-49. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Happy Endings’ & ‘Revenge’ Rise, ‘Up All Night’ & ‘CSI’ Slip

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday October 13, 2011 @ 9:13am PDTTags: America's Next Top Model, Criminal Minds, CSI, Happy Endings, Harry's law, Law & Order: SVU, Modern Family, Ratings Rat Race, Revenge, Ringer, Suburgatory, Survivor: South Pacific, The Middle, TV Ratings, Up All Night, Whitney
Nellie Andreeva

With baseball games on Fox and TBS, the other broadcast networks faced rather atypical competition but survived mostly unscathed. Most series were flat or very close to their levels from last week, with four exceptions. On the plus side, ABC’s sophomore Happy Endings (3.3/8 in adults 18-49), which featured Megan Mullally as a guest star, grew 14% from its fast national number last week, while its lead-in, Modern Family, was virtually unchanged. ABC’s gains carried over to the 10 PM hour where Revenge (2.7/7, 7.9 million viewers) was up 8% from its 18-49 fast national last week. (Both series were adjusted in the finals.) In the negative column, NBC’s rookie Up All Night (2.0/6) was down 9% from last week’s fast national, while CBS’ veteran CSI (2.6/7, 10.8 million) was down 10% to a season low and slipped to second place in the 10 PM hour among 18-49 behind ABC’s Revenge. CSI still topped the time period in total viewers.

Also noteworthy last night — both repeats of freshman series slated in the wake of last week’s cancellations did better than the shows they replaced: NBC’s Whitney (1.3 vs. 1.0 for Free Agents last week) and Ringer (0.4 in 18-34 and 18-49, up 33% in 18-34 and flat in 18-49; 1.2 million viewers, up 9%). Here are the numbers for the rest of the rest of the series. Read More »

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‘Harry’s Law’ Gets Order For 6 More Scripts

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 3:32pm PDTTags: David E. Kelley, Harry's law, NBC, TV Script Order
Nellie Andreeva

NBC has given struggling sophomore dramedy Harry’s Law an order for six additional scripts. Because the series was a midseason replacement last year, its original second-season order was for 13 episodes. While short of a back episodic order, the script … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: No Boot Camp Bump For ‘X Factor’ But Fox Still Wins Night

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday October 6, 2011 @ 9:33am PDTTags: America's Next Top Model, Criminal Minds, Free Agents, H8R, Happy Endings, Harry's law, Law & Order: SVU, Modern Family, Raising Hope, Ratings Rat Race, Revenge, Suburgatory, Survivor: South Pacific, The Middle, The X Factor, TV Ratings, Univision, Up All Night
Nellie Andreeva

We’ve yet to see the ratings growth on The X Factor that Simon Cowell keeps promising, but at least the show is maintaining its ratings levels. The first 90-minute edition of the singing series, which entered the boot camp phase … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Suburgatory’ Opens Well To Seal Comedy Genre’s Comeback

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday September 29, 2011 @ 9:15am PDTTags: America's Next Top Model, Criminal Minds, CSI, Free Agents, H8R, Happy Endings, Harry's law, Law & Order: SVU, Modern Family, Ratings Rat Race, Revenge, Suburgatory, Survivor: South Pacific, The X Factor, TV Ratings, Up All Night
Nellie Andreeva

Comedy’s hot streak this fall continues with another solid opening for a new half-hour show, ABC’s Suburgatory. The comedy starring Jane Levy and Jeremy Sisto drew a 3.3/9 among adults 18-49 at 8:30 PM, up 27% from the premiere of Better With You in the slot last fall for ABC’s biggest comedy debut in the half-hour in eight years. It also grew significantly from its lead-in, The Middle (2.6/8), which was down 16% from its season premiere last week. Suburgatory joins Fox’s New Girl, CBS’ 2 Broke Girls and NBC’s Up All Night and Whitney as the latest new comedy this season to open well. That gives every major broadcast network at least one promising new comedy in a single season — something we haven’t seen in ages — sealing the comedy genre’s comeback after a long drought. And comedy is not done for the season, with at least two more buzzworthy new half-hour entries — ABC’s Tim Allen-starrer Last Man Standing and Apartment 23 – showing potential to break out.

In its third week, Up All Night (2.1/6) shed two tenths vs. its time-slot premiere last week. It still performed better than all other NBC series on the night: doomed freshman Free Agents (1.0/3, down 23%), equally endangered sophomore Harry’s Law (1.2/3, flat with its season premiere last week) and Law & Order: SVU (2.0/5, down 17%). Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘X Factor’ Premiere Falls Short, ‘Revenge’ Off To Strong Start

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday September 22, 2011 @ 9:03am PDTTags: Criminal Minds, CSI, Free Agents, Harry's law, Law & Order: SVU, Modern Family, Ratings Rat Race, Revenge, Survivor: South Pacific, The Middle, The X Factor, TV Ratings, Up All Night
Nellie Andreeva

UPDATE: The premiere of Simon Cowell’s The X Factor drew a modest (by mega talent competition series standards) 4.2 rating/12 share in adults 18-49 and 12.1 million viewers. That fell short not only of the January season premiere of American Idol (9.7/26, 21.6 million viewers in the fast nationals) but also the April debut of NBC’s The Voice (5.1/13, 11.8 million) in the demo. It also fell well short of Cowell’s publicly stated expectations of beating Idol and attracting 20 million viewers. In the 9 PM hour, X Factor was beaten by ABC’s Modern Family in both 18-49 and total viewers and CBS’ Criminal Minds in viewers. Still, by virtue of Fox’s long history of low fall ratings, X Factor delivered Fox its first premiere week Wednesday win in 18-49 in 18 years and its highest-rated Wednesday in 13 years.

ABC (4.1/11, 11.4 million) had a great night against X Factor, with its returning series The Middle and Modern Family both growing from last fall and hitting demo series highs, and new drama Revenge launching well at 10 PM. The hourlong season premiere of The Middle (3.0/9) at 8 PM was up 11% from last September when the show’s season opener was a half-hour. At 9 PM, off its sweep at the Emmys, Modern Family (6.0/15, 14.3 million) opened its third season up 18% from the Season 2 premiere and ranked as the highest-rated program of the night in both the demo (by a wide margin) and total viewers. It also provided a strong lead-in for new soap Revenge (3.4/9, 10.1 million), which gave ABC its best debut in the Wednesday 10 PM time period in four years, outpacing last fall’s debut of The Whole Truth in the hour by 127% and topping the hour in 18-49. Read More »

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