Image Credit: Liane Hentscher/FOXHuman Target returned to Fox on Wednesday but it wasn’t the best homecoming: The drama earned a 1.8 rating/5 share in adults 18-49 and 6.6 million viewers. Still, it was up against some pretty hefty competition from Survivor so may take a while for folks to remember that Mark Valley is still very easy on the eyes. (Either that or folks just don’t care about this comic book-inspired drama). We’ll see how it goes.
With Hell’s Kitchen remaining flat versus last week’s two-hour airing (2.6/7, 5.8 million), Fox finished the night in third place in the key adult demo (2.2/6). Each 18-49 ratings point equals 1.3 million viewers. CBS was first with a 3.0/9, with Survivor winning its timeslot with a 3.5/10 and 11.9 million viewers. Gee, that move from Thursdays to Wednesdays has sure worked out well for Jeff Probst and Co.! Criminal Minds earned a 3.7/10 and 14.2 million (it never fails to shock us at EW that so many of you like the nasty and gritty violence on this drama) while The Defenders earned a 1.9/6 and 9.3 million.
ABC finished second in the demo for the night with a 2.6/8, with The Middle earning a 2.8/9 and 9.1 million, followed by Better With You (2.3/7, 7.0 million; Modern Family (4.7/13, 11.9 million); Cougar Town (3.0/8, 7.1 million), and the People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive special (1.5/5, 4.1 million).
NBC was fourth in 18-49 (1.9/5), with Dateline: A Royal Love Story only earning a 1.6/5 and 6.6 million. Law & Order: SVU earned a 2.1/6, up 5 percent from last week’s season low (it averaged 7.6 million). Law & Order: LA earned a 1.9/6, up 12 percent from last week’s season low, and 7.7 million.
CW was fifth for the night in 18-49 (1.0/3) but won the night among female teens.
I still don’t understand why FOX chose to move it to Wednesday at 8. I’m sure they have much friendlier time slots filled with a terrible show Human Target could replace
They moved it back to Wednesdays at 8. It’s the same time slot the show had last season. They were probably hoping for some continuity.
Fox better do all they can to make sure Human Target stays on air. Move Hell’s Kitchen to 8 and Human Target to 7. Watching Hell’s Kitchen is like watching a repeat anyway. It’s the same thing happening in every single freakin episode!
while you are right about hell’s kitchen, you are wrong about human target. that show is absolutely dreadful.
I love Human target. I put it righ up with Burn Notice and Leverage but i love shows that stick it to bad guys with unconventional means and isn’t a procedural drama.
You obviously care enough to read the article and leave a comment.
They can’t have it at 7. That’s local syndication for Fox affliates.
I just got into this show and its great! Would love to see a lineup of Fringe, HUman Target and Bones….Would be a great thursday night of action!
It amazes me the stupidity of TV Network executives and their time and day placement of shows. Do they want them to under perform?? This show on a Tuesday is a hit or even a different time. Wow.
Folks they can’t put this show on Tuesday. Fox already has a rock solid line up with Glee and it’s 2 other comedies. Originally they were going to put it on Friday evenings this season. be grateful it’s on wednesday. Sadly there aren’t any shows to properly pair it up with that are available. HT would be a perfect match for Bones but thursdays are set. Fox is not about to switch out Fringe.
Tuesday on Fox isn’t rock solid. Only Glee does well; the show after Raising Hope is faltering and RH is only moderately successful, but it loses a lot of the Glee audience. Besides, come January AI will be starting and Fox is moving Glee back to Wednesdays. Good luck with HT finding a decent time slot!
I thought the ep was great – Indira Varma is a great addition. Hopefully people will find the show.
I agree, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Definitely filled the adventure/action slot that Undercovers never could (which I tried watching). I missed the Autumn Reeser character though.
Human Target’s premiere really showed what a difference the soundtrack of a show can make. Bear McCreary’s score for the first season was something I really enjoyed. The show runners somehow f**ked it up and instead, we get some really cheesy cliche music.
As well, this show needs to be gritty. Flashing it up by setting up Chance and his crew in some metrosexual pad just doesn’t feel right. The dude’s playing a man’s man, so put him back in his dark office and let him be an action star. We don’t need him to be mopey and to incessantly blab about his lady feelings. We already have that on Chuck, and while it works to hilarious effect there, it just doesn’t suit Human Target. Jackie Earle Haley is still a pleasure to watch though. And the two new ladies are actually welcome. Sausagefest dealt with.
I agree about the soundtrack! I would consider myself a score fan, but I was never considering it anything vital until I heard the difference between Season 1 and Season 2. I have so much more respect for orchestral score now thanks to McCreary’s work. At least he released it on CD.
I agree the new soundtrack is bad and I hate the new opening theme. A show like this needs the sweeping orchestral score for it’s larger than life characters. I loved the old theme and the individual theme music for the different characters. Hearing this new opening theme almost made me want to turn off the show at the beginning, and I’m a fan! This is another example of FOX messing up a show by trying to go cheap in the second season by cutting the music budget when they had a winner already.
Modern Family is a beast!
I really don’t get why people aren’t watching Cougar Town.
Yay Modern Family and glad The Middle is getting some love!
Hey EW, it continues to amaze me that your magazine gives zero props to Criminal Minds when it is easily one of the top shows on tv even after 7 seasons! The writing is top notch and it has one of the best ensemble casts there is. Yes it’s gritty but it’s still awesome! Last night’s episode was creepy beyond words but I still loved it!
Loved the addition of Indira Varma as benefactor, plus their new Scrappy Doo team member isn’t as grating as I thought she’d be. A fun ep of Human Target, I’m liking it much more than I did last season.
That still isn’t to bad at 6.6 at that time. The show is great. The only thing at 8 that I watch.
Criminal Minds is one of the best written crime dramas on television. And the actors really work well together I DVR the ABC comedies and watch Criminal Minds and LOLA, which is improving every week. Terrence Howard is just terrific as the assistant DA and the writing is getting a lot better. I think it will do a lot better on Monday nights..Wednesday is tough competition and it really doesn’t have a good lead in show. SVU is getting long in the tooth. I stopped watching last year with that Christine Lahti arc whch was awful.
Having 6.6 million fans should be enough. I’m not a fan and even I think that should keep a show alive. Seriously, these ‘demographics’ are such nonsense.