Don’t panic, Human Target fans. Just because Fox moved a couple episodes to Friday, doesn’t mean the adventure series is permanently going into the network’s so-called Death Slot.
The episodes were originally planned for Wednesday, but were preempted by the president’s speech, so Fox aired them last night. Still, the results are interesting, especially since Target made our list of endangered shows.
Target dropped 24% at 8 p.m. compared to its most recent Wednesday performance, and then down a little further for a second episode at 9 p.m. (despite the episode being titled “Cool Hand Guerrero”). Across two hours, Target averaged 4.7 million viewers and a 1.2 preliminary adults 18-49 rating. Each rating point equals 1.3 million viewers.
The thing is, for Fox on a Friday, these numbers aren’t that bad.
Friday nights have baffled Fox, yet Target’s performance is firmly stronger than the cancelled The Good Guys (which the network ran far longer than anybody expected) or Dollhouse (ditto).
Next week we can compare these numbers to Fringe, which is taking the Friday plunge (here’s Fox executives telling fans “don’t write the eulogy” for Fringe this week).
Otherwise, CBS won the night with CSI: NY (9.5 million, 1.7) ranking as the night’s highest-rated show, with Medium (6.6 million, 1.3) for a lead-in. NBC was second with a two-hour Dateline (5.4 million, 1.5). ABC aired Supernanny (4.6 million, 1.2), Primetime (5.0 million, 1.5) and 20/20 (5.5 million, 1.4).
I had no idea they’d moved it to Friday so I missed it. Way to go Fox.
Didn’t you notice the president on TV? How dare Fox not phone you directly to tell you to watch on Friday.
While a direct phone call may not be necessary, a little promotion or at least a ticker at the bottom of the screen during the president’s address couldn’t have hurt. Lighten up, Francis!
It’s not Fox’s job to phone people directly. It IS their FREAKING JOB to update listings on the Program Guides for Cable, Satellite and Tivos so that their FREAKING shows can be FREAKING seen!! But instead all their Jr. Execs spent the day texting and playing Farmville instead of doing the FREAKING JOBS!!! HEADS SHOULD ROLL!!!
Actually, I didn’t notice the President on Wednesday (and thank goodness – who needs to be even more depressed about things). And I certainly would not have guessed that FOX would randomly decide to air the episodes on Friday. So, am I surprised that HT was down 25%? Yes. I’m surprised they they weren’t down triple that – since no one knew to tune in. I caught the Canadian feed anyway. The episodes were terrific fun!
Well, first off, Michelle Obama should have been calling everyone in the country to tell them that “Target”would air Friday. Second, FOX shouldn’t have been airing commercials ON WEDNESDAY about an all new 2 hour “Target” that night.
Its sad that good tv shows keep getting watched less than watching fat people exercise.
You can see it on Hulu.
You’re right, but HULU spits it out onto my 12 inch laptop weeks later, whereas Fox and TW Cable should have let me know it was available on my 65 inch TV, thru the service that I pay $100 a godd@mn a month for!!!
no kidding had no idea that they moved to friday this week so i guess that will help kill the show low ratings because fox told no one that it was going to be on on friday good job fox you just SUCK
Well, that shouuld tell them something. The show had better rating than The Good Guys and Dollhouse and no one even knew it was one. How much better would the ratings have been had more people known?
Most of the time when this happens, the station will air the show the following week. I really think they did this to see how it would do on Friday night. Fringe moved to Friday, and the show might not get cancelled now. If Human Target stays on Wednesday, the network will have to cancel it due to poor ratings. The show did okay considering. This is a positive sign.
It was listed on fox website in a few different places & on the message boards. Also it was on the Human Target facebook page & my PVR/dvr recorded it on Friday automatically. The tv listings showed kitchen nightmares but that was changed to human target on Thursday night. Still a lot of people would miss it. The episodes were great & the EW article on the ratings for it last night said that even though it was down from Wednesday ratings it was considerably good for a Friday night beating out the cancelled Good Guys & Dollhouse which used to be in the same timeslot on Fridays as human target just was
I missed the Friday show, too. I saw the president’s speech on Wednesday and I didn’t see any ticker saying the eps would air on Friday. Maybe it’s on Hulu.
I caught it, but I got lucky because I was trawling the guide before 7 (when primetime in AZ starts) to see if there was anything on. Lucky for me I was home sick and bored out of my mind, or I would have missed one of my faves.
We love HUMAN TARGET, but bouncing it from one night to another (now it won’t be on again until MONDAY, 31st) makes it very hard to find it!
Fox has done this over and over again: anyone remember what happened to Arrested Development? Fox moves shows around with very little or no notice, and that only hurts a show that’s already having problems. I found details about the rescheduling, the Monday 1/31 and the move to 9:00 on 2/1 from Googling non-Fox sources, even though I was continually looking on the Fox site, too.
Have you ever noticed that shows with good ratings never get moved around?
replace human target with fringe…just sayin’….
Genius!
Human Target & Fringe for FOX FRIDAYS!!!!! It’s better than either of them getting cancelled. Just sayin’
That would be an awesome lineup for Friday nights!! I love both show and it would be great to have them both on Friday night.
This makes sense!! FOX????
Human Target, one of my favorite shows. Just finished watching the 1/31 show. Friday would be better than getting cancelled. I hate it when a network takes off the shows I and my family like. Promote it more and leave it in a good spot.
Dude! Fringe is already on the schedule. I’m guessing you mean Good Guys or Dollhouse. They might as well bring back John Doe. I have been watching it on Hulu and the show was great. I didn’t know it was on when it first aired on tv…lol.
No advertisement about the move. We missed it because we didn’t know. I’m hoping to catch both episodes on Fox online.
I did not even know Human Target was on last night and was surprised when I turned on the TV and found it on. I missed the 8pm episode, but did catch the 9pm. It was really good. I do not understand why this show does not get better ratings.
Because more people like to watch other people lose weight.
My TiVo didn’t record the moved eps on Friday. Quite frankly, I’m surprised the drop in ratings wasn’t more like 84%.
Why Tivo when you can Hulu? I adore Human Target, the show has really gelled this season.
Well if you TiVo it I believe it gets included in the Dvr ratings. When you hulu it doesn’t & those viewers don’t get counted…. I believe correct me if I’m wrong
Jane – I’m pretty sure they can count the number of Hulu views as well as the DVR numbers.
I know they CAN but do they the people at Fox take that into consideration? I mean they need advertisers for the show so if you watch it on hulu the advertisers are pointless & if the advertisers are pointless they wont support the show & then the show gets canceled because they don’t have sponsors
Ditto. Crap!! I hope they replay them
Thankfully my WOW cable DVR did recognize it was new so it recorded it. I’m usually a few days behind on my tv shows so I wouldn’t have known for a while that the Wednesday episodes were preempted.
I agree! Luckily I was able to see it on Friday since it was preempted.
I trolled the Internet to find the make-up showing (terrific). I know “Idol” is an all-consuming beast. But please FOX, we need our weekly “Target” dose!
Human Target is absolutely marvelous. My husband and I rarely enjoy the same shows but this is one we both look forward to. The chemistry between The actors works. The action keeps you entertained and excited. Adding Ilsa was a wonderful touch along with the secretive Guerro who is tough but committed to his friends. Chance is Awesome and along with Ilsa adds even more excitement. We hope this series runs for a long time. Please don’t leave the fans hanging.
My wife & I both enjoy this show(a rarity) it is a fun show that you can just enjoy watching and not have to over think it. The characters are all likeable and it is fun to watch them interact. We hope it stays around for a long time!
I love Human Target. Glad it did ok. What happened to Blue Bloods on Fridays? I miss it.
Jenn, Blue Bloods will be shown on Wednesdays for a few weeks, presumably to see if the ratings hold up/improve on that day.
It moved to Wednesdays at 9 EST, I think.
CBS has not aired a new Blue Bloods since 12/3. That’s way too long! Looking forward to Wednesday.
I agree. I missed the move as well. I have to see them cancel it. My husband and I watch it and its just a fun, hold on and enjoy the ride show with laugh out loud humor.
Add me to the list of those that missed it. Hopefully they will rerun them soon.
Blame it on the cable companies. I tried to DVR it, but Time Warner Cable’s program guide was all messed up for the week and did not have it listed. Will have to watch it online.
I had to go searching for an explanation when they weren’t on Wednesday. I wish Fox would have decided a bit more ahead of time so they could have done some type of announcement. I watched them online yesterday.
My DVR didn’t pick up on the shows airing on Friday. Curious.