Image Credit: ABC
Premiere explosion Thursday unveiled 10 season debuts, plus several crucial second episodes of the fall. Some initial first-glance key results: ABC’s Charlie’s Angels opened modestly with 8.7 million viewers and a 2.1 adults 18-49 rating, the second night of Fox’s The X Factor held nearly steady with 12.5 million viewers and a 4.3 rating, and NBC’s Prime Suspect disappointed with 6 million and 1.8.
Let’s go network by network and break this down. Fox won the night with X Factor (the first time its won a premiere week Thursday in the network’s history, in fact), off by only a tenth of a point from Wednesday night rating. Showing this strong retention for the second episode is definitely good news for Fox and Simon Cowell.
On CBS, a one-hour Big Bang Theory (14.4 million, 4.9) was stable with last fall’s premiere and also won the night. The premiere of J.J. Abrams’ new thriller Person of Interest (13.2 million, 3.1) had a solid number, but was down 9 percent from the debut of CSI in the time period last year. At 10 p.m., the return of The Mentalist (13.3 million, 2.8) was off 18 percent from last fall, despite its Red John finale cliffhanger.
ABC’s Charlie’s Angels has a borderline, but still workable, number. The reinvention of the 1970s classic was up 31 percent from the premiere of short-lived My Generation in the slot last fall. The two-hour return of Grey’s Anatomy (10.3 million, 4.1) was down 24 percent from last year, yet still tied X Factor for second place for the night after Big Bang.
If there’s been a trend so far this premiere week, it’s that comedy is breaking out with surprisingly high numbers. Sadly, NBC just busted that streak: Community (4 million, 1.7) was down 23 percent and Parks and Recreation (4.1 million, 2.0) dropped 38 percent. The Office (7.6 million, 3.9), premiering for the first time without Steve Carell, fell only 11 percent. New comedy Whitney (6.7 million, 3.2) was down 11 percent from Outsourced last year. More surprising was the performance of Maria Bello’s Prime Suspect (6 million, 1.8), which many pegged as having a strong chance of becoming a contender this fall. Suspect was NBC’s lowest rated Thursday fall series premiere ever.
And how did The CW hold up during this bombardment? Vampire Diaries (2 million, 1.2) was down 20 percent from last week and Secret Circle (2.5 million, 0.9) fell a sharper-than-expected 31 percent.
More premiere week ratings:
MONDAY: ‘Two and a Half Men’ ratings huge! Ashton Kutcher debut delivers series high
TUESDAY: Zooey Deschanel’s ‘New Girl’ opens big; ‘Glee’ dips
WEDNESDAY: ‘X Factor’ opens solid, but ‘Modern Family’ steals the show
I`m not feeling X Factor at all, it`s just like America`s Got Talent.
Yep, people are comparing it to Idol but it’s AGT
Totally sick of Brits judging American shows. Cowell, Morgan, Osborne, etc. Especially Cowell, who hates country and doesn’t even consider it to be music. Deport that pr**k.
Um Tess McGill – facist much? You want to deport someone for not liking country music?
My best friend has just announced her wedding with a great man who is a cele+brity!
They met-via { himillionaires*c”o’M }
It is nice club for rich men or pretty girls mate.
You do not need to be wealthy or famous, but you can meet your true love, it’s worthy a try.
@Pete You take things far too seriously. Can’t you recognize a hissy fit when you read one? LOL
@Tess McGill: For what its worth… Country music is really horrible. I give Cowell props for calling it like it is
Charlie’s angels is crap! Can’t believe they got rid of Detroit 187 for this show. That Rachel chick …..so annoying!
heh, sorry, the above post from me ^ is if you want to start watching Fringe.
How in the world can you explain the low numbers for Community and Parks and Recreation? America must love crap after all. What a shame.
I know, I don’t get it either. Community is the cleverest (sp?) show I watch.
I agree. I love Community and Parks and Rec, but…. I love the Big Bang Theory more and it was during both of those shows this week. I’ll be watching Big Bang then Parks and Rec and The Office this week.
i’m not feeling it either. just done with it all. not interested.
sad to hear nbc took such a hit with community, parks and prime suspect (whitney did nothing for me int he previews).
So a decent remake of a superb show (Prime Suspect)flops, and an absolutely horrid remake of a mediocre show(Charlie’s Angels) opens with strong ratings. America does indeed love crap.
Totally agree with you. I watched Charlie’s Angels and Prime Suspect last night. Minka Kelly was the best actor on the show, and even she was not so good. Prome Suspect, however, was fantastic. However, both shows are definitely eclipsed by Person of Interest. That show was simply awesome!
I think ABC made a mistake airing a buzz show like Angel’s on such a competitive night. They should’ve tried Sunday before DH. X-Factor is definitely NOT going to be Idol. The judging panel with Cheryl Cole doesn’t hold any X themselves and they highlighted bad auditions are more annoying than funny. Ratings will go down unless we see TALENT…or they bring back Cheryl.
Thought Prime Suspect rocked.
I liked it too, unfortunately I had to record it and watch it later. This week has been a dizzying round of trying to watch as many premiers as possible. I’m going to have to catch some of them on my cable’s Primetime channel this weekend.
I thought Prime Suspect was good for a pilot. I want to see how it holds up over the season and avoids becoming just another procedural. Person of Interest was better than I thought it would be. It is so disappointing that Community and Parks & Rec were so low. BBT is just boring drivel and I wish people would give the NBC shows a chance (except Whitney, that show was awful and predictable). I am glad NBC is in such dire straights so Community and Parks & Rec will not be targets for cancellation. All their new shows did so badly, NBC has other issues.
In the end though, the issue is with the viewing public. People would rather be lazy and watch reality TV than have to expend any brain cells on a scripted show. FOX has recognized this and puts out more reality per scheduled hour than any other network and their rating are going up all the time. Once people realize reality tv is ruining good, scripted tv on the major networks, maybe somehting will happen. For the time being I will stick with the handful of good shows I watch and spend the rest of the time on the truly great shows that live on HBO, FX, and AMC.
Rachael Taylor is lovely, gorgeous, sexy and beautiful. I love her. She’s amazing. That woman is incredible. She’s a very talented actress. It’s an exquisite performance by her, just wonderful.
That is a bad comparison. ABC could have run a test signal from 8 to 9 and it still would have higher ratings than My Generation.
I know “whitney” is taped in front of a live studio audience, and I like whitney cummings, but the laughing was very annoying and felt like a 90s sitcom. I won’t tune in again unless they change the format.
Instead of including three randomly chosen actresses whose names that they picked out of a hat, they should have cast three of the below young actresses who would have been better and guaranteed success for the new television series:
Mischa Barton, Rachel Bilson, Sophia Bush, Miley Cyrus, Kat Dennings, Hilary Duff, Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Ellen Page, Taylor Momsen, Emma Roberts, Jessica Szohr, Evan Rachel Wood
They made poor choices with the actors cast as Bosley and Charlie as well. Two of the following actors would have been better:
Ben Stiller, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Ricky Gervais, Simon Pegg, Eddie Izzard, Rowan Atkinson, Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Rob Schneider, Jeremy Piven, Mike Myers, Jim Carrey, William Shatner, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Tim Allen, Chevy Chase, John Goodman, Billy Connolly, Danny DeVito, Robin Williams, Steve Coogan.
I stopped taking you seriously when you said they should hire Taylor momsen.
You basically just listed every actor who’s ever lived
You’re just plain ridiculous. Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler? Like they don’t have better projects to work on? Ditto on Jim Carrey, Billy Connolly, Robin Willams, et al. Danny DeVito does Sunny in Philadelphia, and that’s a much better show.
This show is going to bomb, anyway.
I stopped reading at Taylor Momsen…
Beat you… Mischa Barton (guaranteed success)
The show is not GOING to bomb, it already has, I stopped watching after I seen Bosley. Bosley was like a father figure not a young stud. Did the producer ever watch the original show.
Couldn’t agree more. This is one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen. I like trashy action shows (Burn Notice, Xena, etc.). The acting isn’t always great, but the shows are usually pretty fun. This wasn’t even bad enough to be good.
I can’t see “action-Fez” as Bosley, either. Why not just have one male angel and still have an old guy?
Victor Garber lucks out by never being seen, so people won’t associate him with this. The playback of his voice is so stilted that it actually sounds like a computer generated response system. Not quite a robot, but his inflection and stilted response times are robitic (like he read the lines one by one over the phone with no idea what other dialog was included in the scene (then cashed his check).
I especially liked how they broke into their friend’s apartment by crawling up a wall because cops were watching it from the street. Without closing the curtains, they flashed three high-powered flashlights all over the place without being seen. Also, the entire place was wrecked except for the box holding kitty litter. If you were searching a place and tearing up stuffed animals and furniture, wouldn’t you upturn the litter box thinking it was a good hiding place? Or, wouldn’t it at least get spilled in the rampage?
The 70′s show was cheesy. So far, this is just awful.
My gf and I were really confused by Bosley. There were plenty of things to make this show suck, but Bosley was a glaring mistake. However, I am sure that will get a second season.
Don’t think those names would h have made it better.
Start with new writers and you got a deal.
You are so right. The dialogue was cr-p!!! New writer
Please.
Ditto!!
Movie actresses are not going to do a TV show.
The X Factor can be salvaged. I hope they still bring Cheryl Cole in as a guest judge one day as well as Dannii Minogue, Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa Contostavlos from the UK X Factor who can replicate their success in the UK in the US version.
Sadly I only recognized one name that you listed — I suspect that many in the US are equally clueless as to your judges.
No more Brit judges for American talent!
Only Cheryl Cole and Gary Barlow are British.
Dannii Minogue is Australian.
Louis Walsh is Irish.
Kelly Rowland is African American.
Tulisa Contostavlos is English but of Greek and Irish descent.
Is Kelly Rowland from Africa or America?
@Berly
Kelly Rowland is American, of African descent. Do you ask that question of Irish Americans and Italian Americans?
Berly, was joking. But I hate how with blacks, Americans tend to make a distinction, they are “African-Americans,” while whites are simply Americans. Blacks are as American as any white person, enough with the ridiculous AA moniker. Why is Meryl Streep “the actress,” but Angela Bassett is “the African-American actress”?
“Kelly Rowland is American, of African descent. Do you ask that question of Irish Americans and Italian Americans?”
No, because no one calls someone an Irish- or Italian-American. That’s the point. Every American is simply that, American. Hyphens are dumb.
All I saw from the part of X-Factor I watched was AI 2009 with new staging (not as blue and pink)—right down to the Paula and Simon and the Randy and Kara substitutes. The promise of a “huge” recording contract hasn’t seemed to improve the quality of the contestants. There were some okay singers, but no one compelling at this point.
I’m not particularly fond of watching the audition shows, so won’t be paying attention to the show for at least the next few weeks.
What I did find out while watching is that I am TIRED of (and bored with) these kinds of shows. I wasn’t that interested in the last few American Idol and America’s Got Talent seasons. I didn’t tune in for Dancing with the Stars or The Sing-off. X-Factor could not hold my attention for extended viewing. I wound up flipping to it during commercials of it’s competition. Unless there’s a “Kelly-like” (or even “Boyle-like”) breakout contestant, I can’t see this being compelling enough to hold my attention.
You had already made up your mind years ago from your comments. So, if you are so fed-up, why did you bother watching?
I think that that is a good number for Prime Suspect. The comedy lead in’s (however good) don’t get high ratings.
Good numbers for Prime Suspect? Hardly. With a 1.8 in the prime demo and lower overall viewing number — NBC is probably looking at what to do with it — it will be lucky to survive. (I think Chase even did better then that last season).
I think Prime Suspect will do better next week when it’s not up against Grey’s Anatomy. G.A.’s two hour premier spilled over into Prime’s time slot.
Person of Interest rocked. Solid acting, solid writing, great pacing, good story. I think it’ll get better, too.
I agree, it was really a set-up episode, I think the show will get much better as it delves into the characters’ backstories.
Agree completely. I was really impressed with it (and its awesome ratings)!
Whitney and Charlie’s Angels should be the first to get canned.
Actually i think it might be “The Playboy Club”, which is sad ’cause i liked it
X Factor was steady because it was a two hour episode which inflated their ratings. FOX has to be happy; but they HAD to have expected so much more.
Shows Simon Cowell wasn’t the reason for the success of American Idol!
That is not how ratings work. They are averaged 15 minute increments. Length of a program has no correlation to total viewers. FYI.
Prime Suspect looked so cheesy to me in the promos. Okay, she’s tough and wears a hat. Yawn. I didn’t watch it, and I normally like Maria Bello very much.
I absolutely thought the same thing, but gave it a shot and loved it. I wasn’t a fan of Maria Bello, but she won me over with a great character.
I LOVED the original BBC/PBS series. I wish they hadn’t set this up as an American version of that show because all I did from the time I saw the first promo until last night’s show was compare the two, and the “remake” paled in comparison. I was prepared not to watch it because the promos angered me from the action scenes to the character of Jane. The original was more character and plot than action. It was intelligent and compelling. From what I saw last night, it is NOTHING like the original. The basic plot (woman in “man’s” world) is the same, but the leads are totally different. Maybe it’s British reserve versus American bravado.
However, I have to say that I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would. The cast is solid. The story wasn’t bad. It’s not Prime Suspect, but I’ll continue watching. It’s basically The Closer season 1 with Brenda’s NY tomboy doppleganger in the lead.
The promos were dreadful for Prime Suspect. Surely that had to hurt interest no matter how promising the show might be.
there was NO promotion for the return of NBC comedies. alot of people i know who love parks had no idea it was back. nbc fail. shocker.
agreed. And by the way, when was the last time NBC had anything succeed at 8:30 on Thursday. Talk about setting something about to fail!
agreed. I looked down at my dvr and wondered waht was recording, only to find out it was Parks and Rec
Same! I did end up watching Community and Parks last night, but only because I checked NBC’s website an hour before to figure out when they premiered.