Articles

April 6, 2013
 

THE SKED’S FRIDAY NETWORK SCORECARD – 4/5/13

 

Vegas doesn’t travel well.

CBS:  It’s probably time for VEGAS to cash in its chips after a weak 0.9 Friday debut.  The number was particularly ugly because the shows that surrounded it, UNDERCOVER BOSS and BLUE BLOODS, were so much stronger, with Boss at 1.5 (up 0.1) and Bloods even at 1.4.  That means a third of the people who were perfectly content with the rest of the network’s line-up just couldn’t bear watching Vegas between them..

ABC:  The mild increases for HAPPY ENDINGS (up a respective 0.2/0.3 to 1.1/1.0) probably aren’t enough to save it at ABC, but they could help the show’s chances of being picked up by USA if the rumors are true and the cable network is considering a Cougar Town-like adoption.  SHARK TANK, up 0.3 to 2.1, was the highest rated show of the night on any network, and 20/20 was up a strong 0.4 to 1.8.

NBC:  Not much movement on the night, with 0.1 shifts for everything in the line-up:  FASHION STAR (down at 0.6), GRIMM (up at 1.5) and ROCK CENTER (down at 0.7).

FOX:  After 0.7 for a KITCHEN NIGHTMARES rerun, a new episode of TOUCH continued to play out the string (it won’t air again for 3 weeks) with 0.6, up a tick from last week.

CW:  At 0.3 (down 0.1), you have to wonder just how low NIKITA‘s numbers would have to get before even its international value makes it untenable for the US.  For what it’s worth, CULT was up 0.1 to 0.2.

Like a deposed monarch reduced to living in shabby hotels, tonight SMASH arrives on Saturday nights, its one-time glamor now just a memory.  Later in the evening, Melissa McCarthy hosts a new SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE with musical guest Phoenix.

 



About the Author

Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."