Last night saw ABC get a bump from Shrek The Third to tie for 1st among A18-49 with CBS, who slightly edged out the alphabet in viewers.

CBS went with the usual Ghost Whisperer/ Medium/ Numbers combination to win the night amongst viewers and tie for #1 with A18-49.

A Shrek The Third movie presentation gave ABC a boost for the night, tying with CBS amongst A18-49 and coming second in viewers.

NBC was third in A18-49 and viewers with Law & Order, Dateline and Leno pulling an average 1.4 rating and 6.6 million viewers.

Smallville again beat House at 9 for the CW with a 1.1 rating (vs. 1.0), slightly down vs. last week. A Bones rerun beat out an encore presentation of the ANTM finale (1.0 vs. 0.4).

8:00 – CBS – Ghost Whisperer – 2.0 A18-49 rating – 8.5 million viewers

ABC – Shrek the Third – 1.7 – 5.8 million

NBC – Law & Order – 1.5 - 7.5 million

CW – Smallville – 1.1 – 2.5 million

FOX – House (R) – 1.0 - 3.3 million

 
9:00 – ABC – Shrek the Third – 2.2 A18-49 rating - 6.8 million viewers

CBS - Medium – 1.9 - 7.8 million

NBC – Dateline – NBC – 1.5 - 7.6 million

FOX – Bones (R) - 1.0 - 3.7 million

CW America’s Next Top Model (R) 0.4/1 0.99

 
10:00 – ABC – 20/20 – 1.8 A18-49 rating - 7.9 million viewers

CBS – Numb3rs – 1.7 - 7.8 million

NBC – The Jay Leno Show – 1.3 - 4.8 million

We’ve met his forgetful mother and his uber-religious father, now it’s time to meet the final link in the Foreman family.

Orlando Jones has been cast in an episode of House scheduled to air in February. It will be centred around their relationship as Jones’ character Marcus is due to have a parole hearing. He’s only been mentioned in passing before when Foreman was talking about his troubled childhood, so this should be interesting…

Jones was last seen as Alexander Ribs in the movie flop: The Vampires Assistant but is well known for his roles on Rules of Engagement and Everybody Hates Chris.

Good Shout….

On another quiet Friday night it was CBS and The Ghost Whisperer which won the night as Smallville hit season highs in viewers.

At 8pm, Ghost Whisperer took the nights top honours in A18-49 with a 2.0 rating and just over 8 million viewers. Law & Order took second with a 1.7 rating and 7.5 million viewers, just down from last week. Supernanny was up slightly vs. last weeks 1.3 taking third. House was fourth on FOX, pulling a tick vs. last week (1.1 - 1.2). Smallville hit season highs in viewers with 2.7 million and a 1.2 rating. 

Medium kept CBS in the lead, pulling a 1.9 rating and 8.2 million viewers. That beat out Dateline which was level with last week (1.7, 7.32 million). Ugly Betty was third for ABC, pulling a 1.3 rating and just under 4.5 million viewers, slightly up vs. last week. A Bones rerun was fourth for FOX, but still outdrew Dollhouse by 50%. An America’s Next Top Model encore pulled just a 0.6 and 1.4 million viewers.

20/20 took over for ABC at 10, pulling a 1.9 rating and 6.8 milion viewers, down from the 2.7 the Rhianna episode posted last week. Numb3rs was level with last week, drawing 8.2 million viewers and a 1.8 rating beating out Leno (1.2, 4.69 million).

I’ve been hearing all over the place that Fringe is really on its game this season. I can tell you now if FOX does nothing about its timeslot, you won’t be talking about the show at all - it WILL be canceled.

Easier said than done. FOX has the problem that its schedule is working for them right now (with the exception of Fringe).

On Mondays, House and Lie To Me are doing well, House with a 5.2 rating and Lie To Me with a 3.0. That’s solid stuff, it wins the night 90% of the time.

Tuesdays are OK, So You Think You Can Dance is averaging a 2.5 rating which could be better but FOX are committed to showing it until Christmas. So that’s Monday and Tuesday ruled out.

Wednesdays are going fine also, with SYTYCD averaging a 2.3 rating and Glee averaging a 3.2. It’s a combination you don’t want to mess with.

Thursdays – Bones seems to do well wherever it puts it so that isn’t an issue. It’s Fringe that needs the move.

Fridays – They don’t really count as any show put there is destined to die a horrible death.

Sunday – Fox’s animation is averaging around a 3.5 rating between 8-10, not something to be messed with.

However, SYTYCD will be finished by Christmas and American Idol will be back, which is killing any chance of moving to Tuesdays or Wednesdays. I think that Fringe is doomed.

It really is a pickle. The only timeslot I can see it doing a 3.0/3.5 is after House on Monday nights, but Lie To Me isn’t going anywhere. Problems Problems.

If this were next season already it wouldn’t be a problem. I can’t see SYTYCD being picked up for the fall season (will still air in summer) and Fringe could have one of the Tuesday slots (until late January anyway).

FOX is doing so well at the moment that maybe they need to extend their programming hours til 11, and then all shows could fit in. Until then however, I can’t see Fringe succeeding.  

We were all expecting it and it’s finally happened: FOX has cancelled dollhouse.

The show has performed poorly for FOX, averaging just a 0.9 rating around 2.3 million viewers. Over the past 2 weeks, A rerun of Bones and a rerun of House have replaced the show, each out-rating it by 50%.

A FOX spokesperson has said that Dollhouse will still air in its 9pm Friday timeslot when it returns on December 4.

To view the latest What’s Next To Be Cancelled #6, Click Here

So, it’s Tuesday again and time to look at what’s transpired in the world of television renewals and cancellations.

In an update from last week, Eastwick has been canceled, The Forgotten has been extended by 5 episodes (?) and ABC show Let’s Dance has been pulled from the schedule before it was even aired. There was also some news on CBS where  #1 (A18-49) network comedy The Big Bang Theory and #1 scripted show (in viewers) NCIS have been extended to 24 eps, as has How I Met Your Mother, NCIS: LA, CSI: Miami and Two and a Half Men with Criminal Minds, CSI: NY, The Good Wife, CSI, and The Mentalist, all having 1 extra ep ordered and Numb3rs has had its episode order reduced to 16.

This week I’m going to start with Fringe - Ruh-roh, a 1.7 rating and under 5 million viewers? Indeed. Fringe has its worst week of its relatively short life last Thursday which is a problem for them and for FOX. Last year the show was doing so well (even before Idol started airing) averaging and solid late 2’s/early 3’s and since then the show has gotten better. Now this is one of the rare incidences where I believe that most of this is caused by the timeslot and not the show itself. FOX needs to find a slot where this works or it will be gone by the end of the year. The problem is that FOX’s schedule is full of solid shows this year (both creatively and in the ratings). I think the 1.7 rating though can be attributed to not many people knowing it was on due to the World Series being cut short.

Ugly Betty – Ugly Betty posted series lows again last Friday and unless something drastic happens this show might not even make it until the end of the season. The dramedy, now in its 4th season posted just a 1.2 rating in the finals and just over 4 million viewers. Oops….spoke too soon. Apparently ABC are moving it to Wednesday nights. This could be in place of either Eastwick, which was canceled earlier today or a replacement for Hank/ The Middle. My bet – it replaces Eastwick.
My Prediction: Still gone by the end of the season. Renewed (geddit?) interest will lead to better ratings though.

Three Rivers – I really don’t know what’s going on over at CBS. The only reason that I can see as to why this is still on the air is because the shows advertising was pre-sold at a nice rate. Either that or it’s Julie Chen’s favorite new show and Les Moonves, the CBS president, doesn’t want to piss off his new wife! The show averaged just a 1.8 rating last week which was up but is still not good enough (even for NBC!) but it lived to see another day.
My Prediction: As soon as the prepaid ad money runs out, so does its luck.

Cold Case – Just a short one today on this. What I can’t understand is why Numb3rs’ episode order was cut short but not this show? The former is a better performer and is on Friday to boot. It pulled a 1.6 rating this week, up slightly from last week but still nothing to write home about and is still CBS’ worst performing scripted show. Yes, worse than Three Rivers even.
My Prediction: I can’t see how but it’ll make it to 22 and finish

The Others -

- Smallville – Posted series highs last week and isn’t going anywhere, even if Zod gains the powers of the yellow sun. Will be picked up for next year.

- The Forgotten - Will end its 18 episode run and be gone.

- Hank - Fell to a series low 1.2 rating this week. Hasn’t got a chance of a back 9 pickup & lucky to finish its limited run.

- The Middle – I don’t know. If paired with Modern Family it would probably do much better. Wait and See…..

- Trauma - 13 Episodes. NBC has pulled the plug.

- Dollhouse – Replaced by a Bones rerun which outrated it by 50%. 13 and out.

- Brothers - Didn’t air due to a House rerun which also outrated it by 50%. Possibly run until the end of the season.

- Law and Order – Posted its season best numbers on Friday (1.7/1.8) Was I wrong to count it out so early? Nope. 18 and Out.

- Gary Unmarried/ New Adventures of Old Christine – A 2.0 rating last week. Nothing special. Similar to last season. Possible 2010 pickup.

- Heroes - Now that House is back on FOX, Heroes dropped to a 2.3 rating last night which definitely isn’t enough to save this expensive show. Gone after 18.

House won the night for FOX in the 8pm timeslot bringing in a 5.1 A18-49 Rating, up vs. its last new airing when there was a baseball overrun. At 9, Lie To Me also grew to a 3.0 rating.

HIMYM and Accidentally on Purpose were third for the 8pm hour, down vs last week to a 3.3 rating and 8.6 million viewers. Two and a Half Men on CBS led in viewers vs. The Big Bang Theory (14.12 million vs. 12.41 million), while Big Bang continued to reign over the veteran with adults 18-49 (4.5 vs. 4.4). CSI: Miami was steady with last weeks 4.0/ 13.8 million.

Over on NBC, Heroes and Trauma were both down a couple of ticks vs. last week with Trauma bringing in a 1.8 A18-49 rating and Heroes producing a 2.4 rating. Leno fell to its lowest Monday viewership with just under 4 million and a 1.2 rating.

Over on ABC it was the same old story. Big viewership numbers for Dancing With The Stars (16.46 million) but an average 18-49 rating (3.5). There was a couple of minutes of overrun which means that the numbers for Castle are subject to change (2.5 A18-49, 10.72 million). 

Over on the CW, One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl both bounced back this week – a 1.2/1.1 A-18-49 rating and an average of 2.25million viewers.

A 20 minute NFL overrun on CBS messed with the hourly numbers, but we still know that NBC and Sunday Night Football won the night in the key demographics.

At 7 pm, The 20 minute NFL overrun/60 Minutes won the hour for CBS drawing 15.6 million viewers and a 5.0 rating. Second was NBC’s Football Night In America with a 3.3 rating and 9 million viewers. A combination of Brothers (2.3) and an American Dad (2.1) rerun took third for FOX. ABC’s coverage of the NASCAR: Dickies 500 race and a half hour America’s Funniest Home Videos drew 6.5 million viewers and a 1.9 rating.

At 8, Football Night in America/ Sunday Night Football took the lead for NBC, with 18.2 million viewers and a 6.2 rating.  A Family Guy rerun replaced The Simpsons this week and combined with Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show drew a 3.6 rating and 7 million viewers. The end of 60 Minutes and beginning of The Amazing Race brought in 13 million viewers and a 3.5 rating – good enough for 3rd. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition took last place for ABC with a 3.0 rating and just under 10.5 million viewers.

At 9, Sunday Night Football continued to grow, bringing in 20.8 million viewers and a 7.5 rating – the highest of the night. Desperate Housewives took over the #2 spot for ABC with a 4.3 rating and 13.2 million viewers, down slightly vs. last week. A new Family Guy/ Cleveland Show combo took 3rd for FOX with a 3.6 rating and 7 million viewers, also down vs. last week. The end of The Amazing Race and Beginning of Three Rivers placed CBS in last for the hour, with a 2.2 rating and 8.6 million viewers.

The end of the Cowboys/Eagles game on NBC brought in a 7.4 rating and 18.4 million viewers, rounding off a good night for the peacock. Brothers and Sisters fell to season lows with a 2.9 rating and 9 million viewers for the alphabet. The end of Three Rivers/beginning of Cold Case brought in 8.2 million viewer and a 1.8 rating to end the night for CBS.

Dr. Who star David Tennant is crossing the pond to star as the title character in NBC Universal’s hourlong pilot “Rex Is Not Your Lawyer.”

The Scottish Actor, 38, will play a top Chicago litigator who suffers from panic attacks and starts coaching his clients to represent themselves in court. The pilot will be directed by David Semel, who also directed the ‘Heroes’ and ‘Life’ pilots.

Tennant, a major TV actor in the UK, rose to fame playing The Doctor in “Doctor Who” for the past five years, following Christopher Ecclestone (Heroes, Gone in 60 Seconds). This will make him the third British Actor in U.S. primetime, following House’s Hugh Laurie and Lie To Me’s Tim Roth.

Last night the Yankees again beat the Phillies to take a 3-1 World Series lead. FOX, on the other hand, is 4-0 for the series.

FOX again took the nights honors between 8-11p, drawing a 7.7 rating and 22 million viewers with a nice lead in from the close Packers- Vikings game.

ABC’s lineup performed better than last week up against the Baseball coverage with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition pulling a 3.4 18-49 rating, Desperate Housewives rising to a 4.9 rating and Brothers & Sisters steady with a 3.3 rating.

CBS was downvs. last week with The Amazing Race pulling a 3.2 adults 18-49 rating, Three Rivers steady (but low) with a  1.7 rating, and Cold Case dropping to a series low 1.6 rating.

There wasn’t an NFL game on NBC last night so it went with Football Nght in America at 7, which averaged an anemic 0.6 rating and 2.6 million viewers. At 8, NBC went with the movie “National Treasure” which averaged a  1.6 rating and 4.8 million viewers between 8-11 pm.