Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The New Fall Season Ratings: Week One (what can we learn?)

Sitcoms are making a bigger comeback than Tony Bennett.

In the first week of the new season, the top six highest-rated non-sports shows among the only-thing-that-counts 18-34 group was comedies. And that includes two newcomers (2 BROKE GIRLS and NEW GIRL). By comparison, there appears to be no new breakout dramas. And THE PLAYBOY CLUB’S second week numbers were lower than the attendance in our rainout make-up game in Cleveland.

Comedy is back, y’all!! Any Tony’s new CD is pretty great.

21 comments :

Little Miss Smoke and Mirrors said...

Not surprised about Playboy Club's bad sophomore week numbers, I couldn't make it past the third act in the pilot.

I'm probably about to get a visit from the Dept of Homeland Security for saying this, but I don't find Zooey Deschanel compelling at all. Sorry, America.

jbryant said...

Remember when summer TV was a wasteland of reruns and burned-off pilots? Now there are excellent and/or fun shows like BREAKING BAD, LOUIE, SUITS, THE HOUR, ALPHAS for summer viewing, making the prospect of a new Fall season rather dim.

I'll be keeping up with THE OFFICE and BOARDWALK EMPIRE. I checked out the season premiere of CSI to see how Ted Danson fits in. Looks like it could be fun. Of the new shows, I tried TWO BROKE GIRLS (not great, but Kat Dennings could bring me back), NEW GIRL (better; will watch again), REVENGE (I could see getting pulled into it, but not sure if I want to), PRIME SUSPECT (I liked it, but ratings suggest I shouldn't get attached).

jcs said...

I found "2 Broke Girls" and "Whitney" underwhelming. Both shows have a less than original premise and feature heavy-handed jokes.

The new US version of "Free Agents" doesn't really provide us with a shower of sparks. It is ironic that the original UK cast member Stephen Mangan was very recently ridiculing the adaptation of UK shows in "Episodes".
And what about Paul Reiser's failed attempt to channel Larry David?

So far I'm a bit disappointed.

HogsAteMySister said...

I am not an 18-34 year old girl so I do not seem to matter. But if I did matter, my comments would be "Yay comedies." And I might turn off the intertubes and watch TV again.

Mac said...

This is a good thing. For a while there it seemed like Reality TV was about to swamp the world. Turns out that people like watching stuff that's been made with lovin' care.

Go Tony Bennet! He's still got it.

Wendy M. Grossman said...

I'm willing to give New Girl a second chance; 2 Broke Girls did not wear better in its second ep, though - quite apart from the unlikelihood that anyone can afford to keep a horse, even in a backyard, I keep wondering why Kat Denning's character hasn't been fired yet. The revised 2 1/2 Men might have some potential (Judy Greer is a nice addition). HIMYM is kicking off this season better than last, I think. Big Bang Theory, which with HIMYM has been my favorite for the last four years, however, seems to me to be becoming more like 2 1/2 Men - fart jokes and dick jokes and less of the genius scientists. Not a good change, IMO. But it's early yet.

As for The Playboy Club, I couldn't make it into scene 3.

wg

Chris said...

Here's one for Friday:

I know most sitcoms are room-written nowdays, why is it that only Chuck Lorre's shows get 4-6 people on the credits list every week (teleplay/story or just written by) and most other shows have only one name under the "written by" credit?

Do they still have assignments?

Anonymous said...

The Company in Maine is CK - BA and that was established months ago!
And BEN may have been the NET -Netherlands, like DEPP and PENN were the DEN -Nevada.
But old is " OLD"!
And now, all you THOSENCOS shall pay for mall those FOCK WORMS!
And while we are here, tell RYAN SEACREST that REGIS gave him up..

TOTALLY.

Anonymous said...

One of the great British sitcome creators has passed away:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/8792016/Dads-Army-co-creator-David-Croft-dies-at-home-aged-89.html

purplejilly said...

I have an 8 year old daughter, and while the sitcoms of my past were kid-friendly (Happy Days, anyone?), I find the modern ones have too much adult content. I'm trying to keep my girl from growing up any faster than she has to. So we watched Terra Nova, which had a bit too much scary dinosaur trying to eat teenagers for her at one point, but other than that, was a really good family show, (in my opinion). I mean, the mom looks like she is about 15 years too young to have these two teenagers. I wish they would cast a realistic age/look of a mom, but on the other hand I'm glad she is brown and so are some of the kids, so at least I am getting some racial diversity.
I love sci-fi and adventure, and I am also very happy they have made the teenage girl smart. I'm so tired of 'iCarly snarking' and 'Alex Russo dorking'. And Stephen Lang has some really awesome, very well styled short grey hair! Go old people!

Brian Phillips said...

As bad as "Playboy Club" was, "Charlie's Angels"' pilot was worse.

Prime Suspect will get better when the men she works with are not cast as knuckle-draggging cavemen (unlike the well-adjusted ones in the groundbreaking show of a few seasons back :) )

"Free Agents" latest episode was rather funny, actually, but if you take "The Office" out of the equation, how often does redoing a UK scripted show work?

One trend I am disheartened by is the "horny un-PC best friend". "Free Agents", "New Girl" and last year, "Mad Love" all fall into this category. "Friends" had Joey Tribbiani, but at least his character evolved. It's almost as if to say, "OK, we're enlightened. We don't feel that women are brainless sex objects. This woman character is smart and attractive.

NOW can we make some boob references?"

Rays profile said...

"how often does redoing a UK scripted show work?"

If you're Norman Lear, it only needs to happen once.

WV: copri - Stretchy pants for police.

Mike said...

Little Miss Smoke and Mirrors, despite what Fox's marketing department might have you believe, if there was a governmental department coming after all the people who don't find of Zooey Deschanel compelling, I think you'd be safe; like jaywalking or going a couple of miles over the speed limit on the interstate, it's a crime that most people would be committing without much thought.

I'm not necessarily one of them -- I think in real life, I'd probably react like the dudes on the show (with bemusement and the urge to protect) -- but you're certainly not alone in not getting her charms. It's a cute show though, with a twee bit of heart that makes it a perfect time slot companion for "Raising Hope" (if people still even bother matching shows like that in the DVR age) and if they can keep finding that sweet spot in her character where I find her just quite not annoying enough to throttle, I'll keep watching it.

kjb said...

Person of Interest may be the stupid idea for a show I've ever seen. Every inch of pipe they laid got progressively more inane. I'm astounded that garbage made the air.

Roger Owen Green said...

I wonder if Tony Bennett will get commercial payback for his 9/11 remarks. I hope not.

LAprGuy said...

Weighing in to second @purplejilly's comments. I might even post again to third them.

Breadbaker said...

I've seen three of the pilots, all on On Demand: New Girl (couldn't make it to the end; the reactions of the guys didn't seem earned to me); Playboy Club (the premise that a mob boss could have his body readily disposed of by two people who'd never met in 1960's Chicago without being seen is completely unbelievable; have they never heard of bodyguards?); and Pan Am (decent but not great; the best line plot piece was the one with the French stewardess, which was also the only one that seemed natural instead of forced--everything else had Spies! Cuba! Sisters! stuck in your face).

Little Miss Smoke and Mirrors said...

Mike - I appreciate what you are saying, but I thought Pushing Daisies did twee a lot better.

But what do I know? Fox just made New Girl the first full pick-up of the new season.

Paul Duca said...

Ray Barringtron...Norman Lear did it twice--both ALL IN THE FAMILY and SANFORD & SON were reboots of British shows (and people who worked for him did the same on their own with THREE'S COMPANY).

emily said...

The second episode of "2 1/2 Men" was enough for me to finally give it up.

I tried Chuck, honest I did...

cadavra said...

NEW GIRL strikes me as ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE minus the pregnancy angle: smart, attractive, funny girl surrounded by guys who behave like nine-year-olds. Zooey alone may not be enough to keep me watching.