Image Credit: ABC

Good potential news for Cougar Town fans: ABC’s quasi-controversial cross-dressing comedy Work It took a tumble in the ratings Tuesday night.

The show delivered 5.1 million viewers and a 1.6 rating in the adult demo — down 20 percent this week and down 27 percent from its lead in, Last Man Standing (7.9 million, 2.2). If/when ABC axes the show, it will open up another slot on the schedule, which might result in Cougar Town returning earlier than it otherwise would have (either on Tuesdays or another night).

Also on Tuesday: ABC’s other new show Celebrity Wife Swap (2.1) managed to hold steady. But Body Of Proof (1.6) rose 7 percent. CBS’ steady NCIS (4.1) and NCIS: LA (3.4) ruled. Unforgettable (2.2) at 10 p.m., however, matched its low. NBC’s Biggest Loser (2.4) matched last week’s premiere. Parenthood (1.8) rose 6 percent. Fox and The CW had repeats.

Image Credit: ABC

Bachelor Ben just can’t keep it up.

Flajnik’s reality show’s ratings, that is. ABC’s veteran The Bachelor sunk to its lowest numbers ever Monday night, with 7.2 million viewers and a 2.2 rating in the adult demo. That’s down 8 percent from last week’s premiere. It’s pretty early in the show’s spring cycle to sink to a low and last night should have been stronger since rival CBS aired nothing but repeats.

The return of Castle (9.8 million, 2.3) wasn’t impacted, and, in fact, rose 15 percent from its last original five weeks ago. Also last night: week 4 of NBC’s Fear Factor (5.5 million, 2.2) dropped 8 percent to a low. Check out Kristen Baldwin’s Bachelor recap here.

Image Credit: NBC

Yikes! It was a painful start for The Firm, NBC’s reboot of the John Grisham movie that starred Tom Cruise. The two-hour bow of the series that features Josh Lucas and Juliette Lewis only posted a 1.4 rating/3 share in adults 18-49, down 46 percent from last season’s debut of The Cape (2.6/7), which didn’t last long.

The Firm only averaged 6.2 million viewers.

A lead-in from Dateline didn’t do the lawyer series any favors. It only averaged a 1.2/3 in the demo and 6.2 million viewers.

Competition from CBS was pretty fierce. Buoyed by an overrun of the AFC Wildcard Game (which averaged a whopping 14.8/36), the combination of football and 60 Minutes earned a 7.9/18 in the demo and gave CBS a huge win on Sunday. Ratings dropped after the big game, but The Good Wife still had a decent showing (3.0/7, though it shared its timeslot with the newsmagazine). At 10, CSI: Miami and part of Wife earned a 2.7/7.

The Firm will move to its regular Thursday time period premiere on Jan. 12.

Image Credit: Colleen Hayes/ABC

ABC triumphed on the first Wednesday of the new year, thanks in part to a painful bunch of reruns on the other nets (darn, no fresh shots of Darren Criss on Glee!).

Originals from all of ABC’s series were up versus the last time they aired, with Modern Family scoring the night’s best adults 18-49 showing (5.6 rating/14 share) — a 10 percent improvement from the series low it posted on Dec. 7. At 13.9 million, it was also the most watched show on Wednesday.

The Middle earned a 3.0/9 and 9.9 million, followed by Suburgatory (2.9/8, 8.7 million) and Happy Endings (3.3/8, 7.7 million). Revenge returned with a bang, too — is Tyler really gone from our lives? — and earned a 2.5/7, up 4 percent from Dec. 7 — and averaged 7.9 million viewers.

CBS came in second for the night in the demo, with its return special I Get That A Lot earning a 2.3/6, up a whopping 130 percent from its last telecast in 2010. More than 8 million watched it. Those were reruns of Criminal Minds and CSI.

Fox aired a repeat of Glee and an original installment of Mobbed, which only posted a 1.2/3 and averaged 3 million eyeballs.

NBC and CW aired repeats, too.

Image Credit: ABC

It’s going to take more than a skirt and lipstick to make these numbers look pretty.

The ABC’s cross-dressing comedy Work It opened weakly in the ratings on Tuesday night. About 6.1 million viewers tuned in for the sitcom at 8:30 p.m., with a 2.0 rating in the adult demo. That’s down from lead-in Last Man Standing, which had 7.9 million viewers and a 2.4 rating. The modest debut is despite the show’s biggest comedy competitor, Fox’s Glee, airing a repeat. Work It was also down 17 percent from the premiere of the now-defunct Man Up in the slot. Critics have not been kind (“So bad,” wrote Ken Tucker, “you felt a little sorry for it”), and organizations like GLAAD have accused the comedy of offending the transgender community.

The second episode of ABC’s new reality spin-off Celebrity Wife Swap (6 million, 2.2) fared slightly better at 9 p.m., and Body of Proof (7 million, 1.5) was flat. READ FULL STORY »

The battle for the NFC East division title gave NBC its highest overnight rating in the six-year history of Sunday Night Football on NBC, according to very early results.

The match between the Cowboys and the Giants posted a 17.1 rating/27 share in overnights, a 36% increase over last year’s week 17 game between the Rams and the Seahawks. It was also the best overnight performance for any NFL primetime game on Sunday or Monday in 13 years and the best overnight ratings for a regular season final game in 17 years.

Final results will come later for the otherwise rerun-heavy night. But hey, The Bachelor is back tonight, baby!