Week 17 First Four Day Ratings; How the Sitcoms Did

After taking weeks 14, 15 and 16 off, we are back!

Week 17 numbers (first four nights, Mon-Thu):
Households: CBS: 8.9/13.8; ABC: 7.5/11.6; NBC: 6.8/10.5; FOX 4.6/7.0; The WB: 2.6/4.0; UPN 1.7/2.5.
Total Viewers: CBS: 13.65 million; ABC: 11.51 million; NBC: 10.39 million; FOX 7.16 million; The WB: 3.99 million; UPN: 2.29 million.
Adults 18-49: CBS: 4.3/10.8; ABC: 4.0/10.0; NBC: 4.0/10.2; FOX 2.9/7.4; The WB: 1.7/4.3; UPN: 0.9/2.4.

Analysis: It was a good week for sitcoms. CBS Monday sitcoms which always do well, were again unstoppable. ABC's Crumbs premiere did very well on Thursday. And with CSI having a repeat NBC's My Name is Earl and The Office were up from last week. The Office especially was up. CBS' Still Standing and Yes, Dear even did well actually. It was not so good for Stacked, WB Friday, and the premieres of Emily's Reasons Why Not and Jake in Progress.
Breaking out by each night--Monday saw ABC's Wife Swap impress to start off the night with 11.01 million viewers, but it was CBS's comedies on top by a nose-hair with 12.11 and 11.49 for King of Queens and How I Met Your Mother. Both comedies trailed Wife Swap in 18-49 though. CSI: Miami like usual was the best for the night. Tuesday saw The People's Choice Awards on a new night, but still didn't do much. Dramas Navy NCIS, Law & Order: SVU and House ruled Tuesday. Sitcom icon Michael J. Fox boosted ABC's Boston Legal with 11.21 million viewers. Wednesday was all Lost for ABC. A new episode attracted 20.56 million and a clip show before that attracted 13.52 million. CBS's Criminal Minds hung tough against Lost with 15.92 million. Wednesday at 10 p.m. is highly competitive. Look at this: Law & Order (NBC) 12.83 million--4.0/10 A18-49; CSI: NY (CBS) 13.17 million--4.3/10 A18-49; Invasion (ABC) 9.65 million--3.9/10 A18-49. Please note CSI: NY was a repeat and it still won the hour. Thursday saw CBS in repeats and still won in total viewers ABC's Dancing with the Stars 2 impressed again with 17.36 million viewers, followed by the series premiere of Crumbs with 11.81 million viewers. Will & Grace started off NBC's block well with 9.69 million, much higher than what the soon to be doomed Joey did. Friday was a battle between CBS and ABC. CBS's dramas did well and ABC did well with Dancing with the Stars: The Results. Saturday was NFL driven for CBS. Look for ABC to win Sunday with Home Edition, Housewives and Grey. It'll be interesting who wins in total viewers for the week since CSI was a repeat, ABC or CBS? ABC will win in adults 18-49.


Monday Sitcoms

• The King of Queens (CBS) - 12.11 million. Now it is the winter, expect even more viewers.
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) -A little drop from the lead-in, but still decent with 11.49 million, but built on A18-49 nicely from a 4.1/11 to a 4.2/11 rating.
• Emily's Reasons Why Not (ABC) - Series premiere did not do what ABC would have liked, only 6.26 million. A18-49 was not as badat a 2.8/7, but still not what they would have liked.
• Jake in Progress (ABC) - Season premiere did similar to what it did last season in a tough Thursday slot. Only 5.58 million and a 2.5/6 A18-49 rating. Both Jake and Emily will be pre-empted tomorrow, catch them again Jan. 23.
• Two and a Half Men (CBS) - 17.2 million makes this the sitcom to beat.
• Out of Practice (CBS) - Quietly does well with 13.74 million.
• One on One (UPN), All of Us (UPN), Girlfriends (UPN), Half and Half (UPN) - All were in repeats, so can't judge them too much.

Tuesday Sitcoms

• According to Jim (ABC) - Only 7.5 million tuned in to the hilarious Sex Ed episode. Guest star Barry Williams was a hoot!
• Rodney (ABC) - Lost viewers from lead-in, only 7.23 million. Did build on A18-49 from a 2.5 to a 2.6 though.
• Scrubs (NBC) 2 episodes - 2 new episodes struggled with 6.87 million, but did decent in A18-49 with a 3.3/8 and a 3.5/8.

Wednesday Sitcoms

• Still Standing (CBS) - George Lopez was pre-empted tonight, so Standing ruled with 8.44 million and a decent 2.7 A18-49 rating.
• Yes, Dear (CBS) - No Freddie on ABC, so Yes, Dear was the comedy to beat in the half hour with 8.44 million and a good 3.0 A18-49 rating.
• That '70s Show (FOX) - 5.15 million tuned in for a repeat.
• Stacked (FOX) - 4.31 million only tuned in.

Thursday Sitcoms

• Will & Grace (NBC) - Joey who? 9.69 million is much better than what that sitcom started off the night with.
• Four Kings (NBC) - Lost a bit from lead-in, but 9.12 million is good, and it built on its lead-in in A18-49 from a 4.4 to a 4.5.
• That's 70s Show (FOX) 2 episodes - An original episode did only 5.05 million, a repeat followed with a better 5.54 million.
• My Name is Earl (NBC) - 12.49 million tuned in and did an impressive 5.9 A18-49 rating, tying Two and a Half Men for the sitcom lead for the week. 7.7/11 household rating makes it second for the night among sitcoms behind ABC's Crumbs.
• The Office (NBC) - People tuned in! CSI was a repeat so people watched this sitcom score 10.27 million and an impressive 5.1 A18-49 rating. Question is what will happen next week?
• Crumbs (ABC) - Series debut was excellent with 11.81 million viewers and 8.1/12 household rating. Watch this sitcom, it is laugh out loud funny!
• Everybody Hates Chris (UPN) - Repeat did decent in A18-49 with a 1.5 rating.
• Love, Inc. (UPN), Eve (UPN), Cuts (UPN) - Repeats of all these were well under a 1.0 A18-49 rating--ouch.

Friday Sitcoms

Hope & Faith was pre-empted on ABC, so there is nothing else that is even close to decent on Fridays for sitcoms. The WB Friday was dead last in each half hour. And Bernie and Malcolm are like ghosts on Fox.

Summing it up. A lot of good sitcom numbers this week. CBS Monday, Still Standing, Yes Dear, NBC Thursday, and Crumbs were impressive for the week. Everything else was OK (such as According to Jim, Scrubs) or just plain old terrible (such as WB Friday, Bernie Mac, Malcolm in the Middle).