Jury still out on 'Canterbury's Law'
'Truth' returns a ratings winner after break
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Last week, “Truth” won out as it returned to its Wednesday slot after a two-week break, taking advantage of its “American Idol” lead-in to dominate its hour and rank fourth for the week in key demos.
Big test for “Truth” starts tonight as the season’s top-rated new program is asked to kick off the night for Fox, with “American Idol” moving to the more highly watched 9 o’clock slot.
Fox is hoping “Truth” can become another “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader,” a nonscripted skein that launched similarly behind “Idol” last spring and went on to become a solid performer this season.
As for other shows that bowed this quarter, ABC’s “Oprah’s Big Give” and its Sunday skedmate “Here Come the Newlyweds” look the best despite a dropoff in their second outings.
On the other hand, Thursday dramas “Eli Stone” on ABC and “Lipstick Jungle” on NBC have settled into ho-hum numbers on Thursday, and Fox got off to a slow start of its own on Monday of this week with “Canterbury’s Law” and “New Amsterdam.” Also, CBS laffer “Welcome to the Captain” struck out in its Monday run, NBC’s “My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad” and “Amnesia” are modest performers, and Fox’s “Unhitched” has underwhelmed in its two Sunday airings.
Overall for the week of March 3-9, Fox won for a ninth straight week in the key adults 18-49 demo -- and for the third straight time, it did so by 2 ratings points, according to Nielsen estimates. Its 4.5 rating/12 share easily topped the closely bunched NBC (2.4/6), ABC (2.3/6) and CBS (2.2/6), while the net also cruised to victory in total viewers (12.1 million to 8.1 million for runner-up CBS).
Three nights of “American Idol” led the way, with performance shows on Tuesday (10.6/26 in 18-49, 28.44m) and Wednesday (10.4/27, 28.32m) followed by Thursday’s special results show (9.4/24, 26.50m) and Wednesday’s “Moment of Truth” (6.1/15, 14.72m).
Overall, seven of the week’s top nine programs in 18-49 were competition series, interrupted only by ABC’s “Lost” (5.4/13 in 18-49, 13.01m) and Fox’s special post-”Idol” preview of drama “New Amsterdam” on Tuesday (4.5/11, 13.47m).
NBC got good production out of nonscripted series “The Biggest Loser” on Tuesday (3.5/9 in 18-49, 8.62m) and “Celebrity Apprentice” on Thursday (3.5/8, 8.84m), and firstrun drama “Medium” led its Monday hour (3.0/8, 9.08m).
At ABC, “Oprah’s Big Give” (4.0/10 in 18-49, 11.88m) gave back 25% of its premiere-week 18-49 aud, due in part to a similar dropoff for lead-in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (4.1/11, 12.41m) -- as both shows were sacked in part by the start of daylight-saving time but still led their timeslots. Holding up better week to week, and looking like a solid player itself, is 10 o’clock’s “Here Come the Newlyweds” (first-place 3.5/9 in 18-49, 8.76m).
The Alphabet also started last week off well with its spec “20/20: The Royal Family” (3.7/9, 14.14m).
CBS continues to look sluggish, led once again by “Survivor” (4.0/10, 12.64m) but not getting a lot of production out of “Big Brother” (average 2.2/5 in 18-49, 6.04m fox its three segs) or Tuesday’s firstrun drama “Jericho” (1.7/5, 5.65m).
Top performers for CW were “America’s Next Top Model” (1.8/5 in 18-49, 3.52m), “Friday Night Smackdown” (1.4/4, 4.82m) and “One Tree Hill” (1.4/3, 2.93m), while leading the way for MyNetworkTV were Tuesday’s “Jail” (0.9/2, 2.16m) and Thursday’s “Sister Act 2” (0.7/2, 2.47m) -- the most-watched movie to date on the net.
“WWE Raw” and Sunday’s airing of “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” carried USA to another weekly victory among the cable nets in both 18-49 (1.0/2) and total viewers (2.62 million).
Frame’s big story in cable, though, was the season finale of “Project Runway” on Bravo, which set some network records (2.9/8 in 18-49, 5.18m). It tied NBC’s “Law & Order” in its Wednesday timeslot and ranked No. 23 among all programs for the week in 18-49, and No. 10 in adults 18-34 (3.2/10).
ESPN dominated cable Saturday with the college hoops showdown between No. 1 North Carolina and No. 6 Duke (2.4/7 in 18-49, 5.61m), topping the net’s Memphis-Tennessee matchup of two weeks earlier, which drew 5.28 million.
TBS remained on top in cable among adults 18-34, as newcomer “My Name Is Earl” fit in nicely alongside the net’s other winning laffers, such as “Family Guy” and “The Office.”
Also of note: A&E won Thursday night among adults 18-49 with its combo of “The First 48” (1.1/3 in 18-49, 2.43m) and the premiere of “Crime 360” (1.0/3, 2.25m). And Sunday saw a good start for History Channel lumberjack series “Ax Men” (1.2/3 in 18-49, 2.95m).
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The early verdict wasn’t very good for Fox’s “Canterbury’s Law” on Monday of this week, as the Julianna Margulies-led legal drama settled for a 1.7/5 in 18-49 and 7.72 million viewers overall. While the total-viewer number was solid (winning the hour, in fact), the demo score lagged programming on the other major nets.
Net did a bit better at 9 o’clock with the first regular-slot airing of “New Amsterdam” (third-place 2.5/6 in 18-49, 8.83m). Show had averaged a 4.0/10 in 18-49 with its two post-”American Idol” previews last week.
CBS’ comedy lineup seemed to perk up one week away from its return of all-new segs. At 9:30 p.m., “Old Christine” (3.4/8 in 18-49, 9.62m) held onto nearly 90% of its repeat lead-in from “Two and a Half Men” (3.8/10, 11.82m).
ABC did respectably with its “The Bachelor: Where Are They Now?” spec (2.6/8, 7.57m) in advance of the show’s new season bowing next week.
