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"Studio 60" on the Blink
2006-10-04
A late-night sketch comedy show is sinking--and, this time, Horatio Sanz, Chris Parnell and Finesse Mitchell can't take the fall. On Monday night, the Saturday Night Live-inspired Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip fell to a series-low 8.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. CBS' CSI: Miami dominated the 10 p.m. slot with 17.9 million; NBC's Studio 60 made do with topping the final hour of the season premiere of ABC's The Bachelor: Rome (7.9 million). (Overall, the not-as-smooth-as-it-used-to-be Bachelor averaged 7.5 million from 9-11 p.m.) Studio 60, NBC's most hyped fall show without football pads, had a decent enough Sept. 19 premiere, when the Aaron Sorkin-hatched, Matthew Perry-led series was sampled by 13.4 million. But the show has been down every week since then, shedding 4.5 million viewers along the way. NBC's struggles with its fake SNL come as its real SNL is dealing with its own troubles. Last month, veteran SNL performers Sanz, Parnell and Mitchell were sacked amid network-mandated budget cuts. The downsized SNL began its 32nd season last weekend. Far from giving up on the SNL concept, NBC will roll out yet another SNL-inspired series, the sitcom 30 Rock, on Oct. 11. Other ratings high- and lowlights, per Nielsen Media Research stats: Fox's 'Til Death (73nd place, 5.7 million) "showed impressive gains" in the TV week ended Sunday, but failed to show much to star Brad Garrett who, according to the Hollywood Reporter, forced the sitcom into an unscheduled weeklong break because of reservations about a script. 'Til Death and Studio 60 aren't the only not so hot freshmen. Last week, ABC's Ugly Betty (ninth place, 16.3 million) was the only new show to crack the Top 10; in all, only four new shows made the Top 25. The others: CBS' Shark (15th place, 14.6 million), NBC's Heroes (22nd place, 14.1 million) and ABC's Brothers & Sisters (24th place, 13.5 million). It wasn't a surprise that ABC's Brothers & Sisters was down 2.2 million viewers from its premiere week; it was a surprise that its chief Sunday competition, CBS' Without a Trace (17th place, 14.5 million), was down 3.1 million. On a diversity drive or no, CBS' Survivor: Cook Islands (seventh place, 16.8 million) didn't rate with African-American or Hispanic viewers, who failed to elevate the reality show into their respective Top 10s. Last week's number-one show among African-American and Hispanic viewers? ABC's Grey's Anatomy (second place, 23.5 million). ABC got an okay premiere out of the new Ted Danson comedy Help Me Help You (30th place, 11.5 million). The CW got an awful premiere out of the new Donnie Wahlberg thriller Runaway (124th place, 2.2 million). The CW's new Sunday comedy block was a disaster for a trio of old UPN comedies, Girlfriends (112th place, 2.7 million), Everybody Hates Chris (118th place, 2.4 million) and All of Us (121st place, 2.3 million). It didn't do any favors, either, for the debuting sitcom The Game (114th place, 2.6 million). All was not lost for the new network as "viewers remain[ed] engaged during the CW's first network content wrap." Translation: America's Next Top Model (87th place, 4.7 million) successfully duped its young female fans into sitting through commercials by airing commercials cleverly disguised as fashion features. Press release praise update: Shark received a gold star for brushing past NBC's elderly ER (20th place, 14.4 million); Fox's Justice (60th place, 7 million) earned an adverb for being "up substantially" when compared to the prior week's lousy performance. Meanwhile, mum was still the bad word for CBS' Smith (42nd place, 9.7 million), CBS' The Class (48th place, 8.5 million) and NBC's Kidnapped (67th place, 6.3 million). In case you were wondering, ABC's Men in Trees (64th place, 6.9 million) was "very competitive," albeit on the largely noncompetitive Friday night. Nearly 13.5 million 20/20 viewers (23rd place) witnessed Barbara Walters coax a career-best volume of tears from an interview subject, Crocodile Hunter widow Terri Irwin. If Alfonso Ribeiro wins Celebrity Duets (95th place) and only 4.1 million tune in, does he make a sound? Two weeks into the season, Thursday is looking more key than ever. CBS scored the night's most watched show, CSI (first place, 23.8 million) and emerged as the week's most watched network. ABC notched the night's most demographically desirable show, Grey's Anatomy, and finished as the week's big demo winner. Overall, CBS averaged 12.8 million viewers, topping ABC (11.5 million), NBC (10.4 million) and Fox (6.5 million). ABC was trailed in the 18-to-49 demo by CBS, NBC and Fox. So far, NBC is having the best fall when compared to last fall. Thanks to Sunday Night Football (sixth place, 16.9 million), it's up 13 percent in viewers. ABC, meanwhile, is having the best fall when judged against its risky moves last spring. It punted on Monday Night Football. It bounced Grey's Anatomy to Thursdays. It's up 2 percent in viewers. As for the CW (3.5 million viewers), it's down 18 percent when compared to UPN's numbers at this point last fall, and 7 percent when compared to WB's. Sometimes, every night's a Friday Night Smackdown. Here's a look at the 10 most watched prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research: 1. CSI, CBS, 23.8 million viewers 2. Grey's Anatomy, ABC, 23.5 million viewers 3. Desperate Housewives, ABC, 21.4 million viewers 4. Dancing with the Stars (Tuesday), ABC, 17.9 million viewers 5. CSI: Miami, CBS, 17.8 million viewers 6. Sunday Night Football, NBC, 16.9 million viewers 7. Survivor: Cook Islands, CBS, 16.8 million viewers 8. Criminal Minds, CBS, 16.5 million viewers 9. Ugly Betty, CBS, 16.3 million viewers 10. CSI: NY, CBS, 16.2 million viewers Muzi.com News
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